In American television in 1999, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and re-brandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
Kids' WB acquired the rights to the anime, Pokémon after it debuted on first-run syndication in 1998; and Pokémon made Kids' WB a household name until 2006, and made it as a huge franchise.
After three years of not being picked up by domestic distribution in the US, action series L.A. Heat finally airs on US television with the series airing on TNT.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire airs its first episode on ABC with Regis Philbin as host. It would go on to become the television season's highest-rated series and one of ABC's most successful shows.
Countess Vaughn leaves the cast of Moesha to star in her own television spin-off The Parkers with Mo'Nique, making her the first female African-American comedian to receive a spin-off.
PBS launches a 24-hour PBS Kids television network and new branding for its children's programming.
7
Viacom announced that the company would acquire CBS and its company, CBS Corporation (after CBS spun off Viacom in 1971 after the FCC forbids broadcast networks to own syndication units or more TV stations) which would cause the two companies to merge into one mega media empire. Which the merger would bring CBS and Paramount close.
After four years, WGN's superstation feed drops programming from The WB and Kids' WB at the request of the network. The network's programs are replaced by movie, sports from Chicago's sporting teams and other broadcasts.
24
The WB begins airing programming on Friday nights.
27
The Rock garners the highest cable rating in WWF history with Mankind in a segment entitled "This is your life" on Raw Is War, which draws a record 8.4 rating.[1][2][3]
ABC affiliate WPTY, and sister station WLMT, both in the Memphis area, begin allowing The WB programming, most notably on WPTY for late nights, and some kids shows, like Pokémon, airing on WLMT.[4][5]
The fourth and deciding game of the World Series airs on NBC. This is to date, NBC's 39th and final World Series. The New York Yankees defeat once again the Atlanta Braves, winning their second title in a row and 25th in franchise history.
John Carpenter becomes the first player on ABC's game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? to win $1,000,000. Carpenter is also the first known contestant in the history of American game show to win $1,000,000.
Richard Pryorappears in the cold open of the ABC sitcom Norm in what would prove to be his final television appearance. He would die in 2005, 6 years later.
15
NASCAR strikes a deal with Fox Sports, FX, NBC, and TBS (later moved to TNT) worth $2.4 billion for a new six-year package,[8] covering the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup) Series and Busch (now Xfinity) Series schedules. NASCAR wanted to capitalize on its increased popularity even more, so the organization decided that future deals would be centralized; that is, the networks would negotiate directly with NASCAR for a regular schedule of telecasts. The old deal arrangement saw each track negotiate with the networks to broadcast their races. As a result, NASCAR had races on CBS, TNN, ESPN, ABC, NBC, and TBS. However, NBC, which had just entered the sport, showed only one race in 2000. NASCAR wanted to increase the number of races by each partner, and have as many races on broadcast networks as possible, to prevent fans from missing races.
A channel broadcasting games shows and sports-related programs from Nickelodeon.
Starz Cinema Starz Family
Cable and satellite
May 1
HBO Comedy HBO Zone
Cable and satellite
May 6
First announced in April 1998, HBO Comedy airs comedic films plus HBO comedy series and stand-up specials, while HBO Zone airs programs aimed at young adults.
^"2001 TV Deal". Archived from the original on September 18, 2000. Retrieved 2017-09-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Quote: While many fans were upset that ESPN and CBS lost the rights, insiders say that their bids were close to $100 million annually under the winning bids from Fox and NBC.
