1951 in television

The year 1951 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1951.

Events

 * March 21 – XEW-TV began transmissions, being the second oldest in Mexico City, with the first one being XHTV.
 * March 22 – RCA introduces an eight-pound (3.6 kg) monochrome television camera with a 53-pound (24 kg) backpack transmitter, both operated by batteries. It is the first portable television camera.
 * May 28 – The US Supreme Court upholds the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the CBS color television system.
 * May 31 – Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), as predecessor of Nederlandse Omroep Stichting Televisie (NOS), a first regular television broadcasting service started in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
 * June 25 – CBS presents its first commercial color telecast featuring Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, and Faye Emerson.
 * June – RCA demonstrates its new electronic color system.
 * August 11 – The first baseball game is televised in color, a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.
 * September 4 – The first live transcontinental television broadcast occurs in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
 * September 29
 * The first live sporting event broadcast coast-to-coast, a college football game between Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised by NBC.
 * CBS broadcasts the first American football game in color, between the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia.
 * September 30 – WXIA-TV signed on the air at 5 p.m., as WLTV on channel 8. It was the first full time ABC affiliate for Atlanta, taking it over from WSB-TV (channel 2) and WAGA-TV (channel 5).
 * October 2
 * Danish language television station, DR1, first launched in Copenhagen.
 * NTS, The first television network in the Netherlands was launched at 8:15 pm.
 * October 3 – The first live coast-to-coast network telecast of a World Series baseball game.
 * October 12 – The Holme Moss transmitter is initiated in Northern England, making BBC Television available to the region for the first time.
 * October 17 – Television broadcasts begin in Argentina from Primera Televisora Argentina on channel 7, Buenos Aires.
 * October 20 – The CBS Eye logo makes its television debut.
 * November 11 – Bing Crosby Enterprises demonstrates black-and-white video recording using a modified Ampex tape recorder.
 * November 18 – Edward R. Murrow on See It Now presents a split screen view of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. It has erroneously been referred to as the first live transcontinental telecast.
 * December – TV Tupi in São Paulo (Brazil) begins broadcasting Sua Vida Me Pertence ("Your Life Belongs To Me") starring Vida Alves, pioneering the telenovela genre.
 * December 24 – The first televised opera composed for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti, is broadcast by NBC.
 * Ernie Kovacs' Time for Ernie and Ernie in Kovacsland television series premiere. Kovacs explores the boundaries of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.

Debuts

 * January 3 – Dragnet, crime drama, on NBC (1951–1959 Series One B&W, 1967-1970 Series Two Color)
 * January 8 - Say It with Acting, game show, on NBC.
 * March 3 – Watch Mr. Wizard on NBC (1951–1965)
 * March 12 - Miss Susan, soap opera on NBC (1951)
 * June 2 - The daytime version of A Date with Judy debuts on ABC.
 * June 16 – Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, variety show, with Faye Emerson and Skitch Henderson, on CBS
 * July 1 - G. E. Guest House debuts on CBS.
 * July 6 – Front Page Detective debuts on Dumont.
 * July 16 – A British version of the What's My Line?, game show, on BBC (Like its American counterpart, it became one of the top-rated programs for the rest of the decade and made a celebrity of its host, Eamonn Andrews)
 * August 3 - The Ad-Libbers, comedy sketch game show, on CBS. (1951)
 * August 3 - Tales of Tomorrow, a science fiction anthology series on ABC (1951-1953)
 * September 3 – The first long-running soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, on CBS (1951–1986)
 * September 11 - The Bill Goodwin Show, a talk/variety program on NBC. (1951-1952)
 * September 24 – Love of Life on CBS (1951–1980)
 * October 15 – Situation comedy I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, on CBS (1951–1957); produced on film in front of a studio audience, using three film cameras, instead of being broadcast live, and making Ball the world's first major female television star
 * October 28 - Out There, a science fiction program on CBS (1951-1952)
 * Television version of Amos & Andy (1951–1953)
 * The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957), on NBC, starring Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans
 * Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)

Television debuts

 * Rico Alaniz – The Adventures of Kit Carson
 * Mel Brooks – The Milton Berle Show
 * Raymond Burr – Stars Over Hollywood
 * Joseph Calleia – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
 * Wendell Corey – Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
 * Robert Coote – Robert Montgomery Presents
 * James Fox – Parent-Craft
 * Ben Gazzara – Danger
 * Stacy Harris – Chesterfield Sound Off Time
 * Pat Hingle – Suspense
 * Rochelle Hudson – Racket Squad
 * Barry Kelley – Stars Over Hollywood
 * Don Knotts – Search for Tomorrow
 * Robert Loggia – Search for Tomorrow
 * Vera Miles – Fireside Theatre
 * Elizabeth Montgomery – Robert Montgomery Presents
 * Alvy Moore – Space Patrol
 * Kathleen O'Malley – The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
 * Joan Plowright – Sara Crewe
 * Denver Pyle – The Cisco Kid
 * Lee Remick – Armstrong Circle Theatre
 * George C. Scott – The Bigelow Theatre
 * Lois Smith – Love of Life
 * Charles Starrett – Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre
 * Jan Sterling – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
 * Jack Weston – Out There