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May 11, 2023 · By 1960, nearly three quarters of the population had television, and by the end of the sixties, nearly ninety-five percent. Britain only had two channels in 1960, BBC and IIV. A third channel BBC2 arrived in 1964. It was broadcast on 625 lines UHF, older sets could only receive 405 lines.
- Television in The 50S
There was also a period between 6pm and 7pm when no...
- Television in The 50S
- Overview
- The late 1960s and early ’70s: the relevance movement
- The new cultural landscape
After the introduction of television to the public in the 1940s, a distinct dichotomy emerged between entertainment programming (which made up the bulk of the most popular shows) and news, documentary, and other less-common nonfiction shows. Throughout the 1950s, for example, stories concerning the Cold War and the emerging civil rights movement were reported on the news and in the occasional documentary, but they were for the most part ignored on popular prime-time programs. This dichotomy became even more apparent in the 1960s.
During times of national crises, television galvanized the country by preempting regular programming to provide essential coverage of significant events. Memorable examples of this were seen during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 14 days in 1962 when the United States and the Soviet Union squared off over the placement of Russian missiles in Cuba, and the four days’ reportage of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy. The same was true with news coverage of the U.S. space program, especially the Moon landing in July 1969. Films of battlefield activity in Vietnam, as well as photographs, interviews, and casualty reports, were broadcast daily from the centres of conflict into American living rooms. As both international and domestic upheaval escalated in the 1960s, network news departments, originally conceived of as fulfilling a public service, became profit centres. CBS and NBC expanded their daily evening news broadcasts from 15 to 30 minutes in the fall of 1963, and ABC followed in 1967.
After the introduction of television to the public in the 1940s, a distinct dichotomy emerged between entertainment programming (which made up the bulk of the most popular shows) and news, documentary, and other less-common nonfiction shows. Throughout the 1950s, for example, stories concerning the Cold War and the emerging civil rights movement were reported on the news and in the occasional documentary, but they were for the most part ignored on popular prime-time programs. This dichotomy became even more apparent in the 1960s.
During times of national crises, television galvanized the country by preempting regular programming to provide essential coverage of significant events. Memorable examples of this were seen during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 14 days in 1962 when the United States and the Soviet Union squared off over the placement of Russian missiles in Cuba, and the four days’ reportage of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy. The same was true with news coverage of the U.S. space program, especially the Moon landing in July 1969. Films of battlefield activity in Vietnam, as well as photographs, interviews, and casualty reports, were broadcast daily from the centres of conflict into American living rooms. As both international and domestic upheaval escalated in the 1960s, network news departments, originally conceived of as fulfilling a public service, became profit centres. CBS and NBC expanded their daily evening news broadcasts from 15 to 30 minutes in the fall of 1963, and ABC followed in 1967.
CBS was the first of the three networks to radically overhaul its program schedule, eliminating several shows that were still delivering very high ratings. Such CBS hits as The Jim Nabors Hour (CBS, 1969–71), Mayberry R.F.D., and Hee-Haw were all in the top 30 the year they were canceled by the network. The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres were also eliminated at the end of the 1970–71 season, and not a single rural comedy was left on CBS, the network that had based much of its competitive dominance in the 1960s on that genre.
Even before 1971, however, more-diverse programming had gradually been introduced to network TV, most notably on NBC. The Bill Cosby Show (1969–71), Julia (1968–71), and The Flip Wilson Show (1970–74) were among the first programs to feature African Americans in starring roles since the stereotyped presentations of Amos ’n’ Andy and Beulah (ABC, 1950–53). Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In was proving, as had The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (CBS, 1967–69) a few seasons earlier, that even the soon-to-be-moribund variety-show format could deliver new and contemporary messages. Dramatic series such as The Mod Squad (ABC, 1968–73), The Bold Ones (NBC, 1969–73), and The Young Lawyers (ABC, 1970–71) injected timely social issues into traditional genres featuring doctors, lawyers, and the police. In another development, 60 Minutes (CBS, begun 1968) fashioned the modern newsmagazine into a prime-time feature.
Although 60 Minutes would rank in the Nielsen top 20 (including five seasons as number one) for more than 25 years after it settled into its Sunday night time slot in 1975, the other aforementioned innovative shows were off the air by 1974. They represented, nevertheless, the future of network entertainment television. In canceling many of its hit shows after the 1970–71 season, CBS had identified and reacted to an important new industrial trend. As the 1970s approached, advertisers had become increasingly sensitive to the demographic makeup of their audience, and the ratings services were developing new methods of obtaining more detailed demographic data. As television marketing grew in sophistication, advertisers began to target young audiences, who tended to be heavy consumers and who tended to be more susceptible to commercial messages. In 1970 these audiences also tended to be intensely interested in the cultural, social, and political upheaval of the times. CBS responded to advertisers with a new vision that—despite the high ratings of its older shows—aimed at a youthful audience.
Even without the advertising imperative, the TV landscape must have seemed very strange to many young viewers involved in the contemporary social movements. In 1968, for example, both civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and liberal presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated; riots and protests were common on campuses across the country, and major protests took place during the Democratic convention in Chicago; and the Tet Offensive was launched in Vietnam. That same year, the second highest rated TV show in the United States was Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a series following the activities of a Marine Corps private that never mentioned the Vietnam War. Mayberry R.F.D. (in fourth place), which took place in a small North Carolina town, never mentioned the issue of race. Other CBS hits such as Here’s Lucy (1968–74) and Gunsmoke seemed products of a bygone era and were of little interest to younger viewers. CBS executives also noticed that the few youth-oriented shows that were on the air were doing very well at the end of the decade. In the 1968–69 season, NBC’s controversial and hip Laugh-In, for example, was the highest-rated show of the year. So, in a move uncharacteristically bold for an American television network, CBS scrapped an assortment of its hit series and launched what turned out to be an unprecedented updating of prime-time television programming. Within four years, entertainment TV would look nothing like it did in 1969. The “real world” of social, familial, and national dysfunction, which had been ignored by TV for so long, was about to break into prime time. With the spectacular success of three strikingly new programs—All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and M*A*S*H, CBS redefined the medium.
Just as the world underwent dramatic social and cultural change, so television led the way in reflecting the Swinging Sixties. Television in the 1960s was very different from now. Today the TV set is part of our daily life. It’s often switched on continuously even if nobody is actually watching it.
Sep 7, 2021 · At the beginning of the 1960s, three quarters of the population of Britain had a television. By 1964, only four years later, that number was at 90%.
- Ed Gross
- ‘Overland Trail’ (1960, NBC) William Bendix (who had previously starred in the sitcom Life of Riley, assuming the lead role from Jackie Gleason) stars in this Western with Doug McClure.
- ‘Coronado 9’ (1960-61, Syndication) Rod Cameron is Dan Adams, a former US Navy intelligence officer turned private detective. The title of the show comes from his street address.
- ‘Checkmate’ (1960-62, CBS) Doug McClure, who we’d already met and said goodbye to on Overland Trail, is cast as American detective Don Corey, part of the Checkmate, Inc.
- ‘My Three Sons’ (1960-72, CBS) One of the big sitcoms of the 1960s, Fred MacMurray is widower Steven Douglas who is raising his three sons (including Barry Livingston’s adopted Ernie, who just happened to be a guest on our Classic TV podcast) along with his the boys’ maternal grandfather, “Bub” (William Frawley, aka Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy) and, later, Uncle Charley (William Demarest).
Television news proved its merits with five days of nearly continuous coverage of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963). Later in the decade, coverage of the Vietnam War (1954–75) and the Apollo moon landings helped make TV the primary way that Americans got their news.
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Apr 21, 2023 · In celebration of some of the great television that came from this turbulent decade in American history, Stacker referenced IMDb to compile a list of the top 100 TV shows of the 1960s.
