1952 in television

The year 1952 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1952.

Events

 * January 14 – Today is first aired on NBC in the United States with Dave Garroway as host.
 * January 16 – Sooty, Harry Corbett's little yellow glove puppet teddy bear, first appears on the BBC Television Service's Talent Night in the United Kingdom.
 * February 1 – The first TV detector van is commissioned in the U.K. as the beginning of a clampdown on the estimated 150,000 British households that watch television illegally without a licence.
 * March 14 – The BBC Television Service in Scotland is launched.
 * May 22 – The first televised atomic bomb detonation, billed as "Operation Tumbler–Snapper", is broadcast on KTLA in Los Angeles, and fed to the three major U.S. networks via a 140 mi microwave link.
 * July 7 – Turkey's first television station, ITU TV, is opened.
 * July 20 – Arrow to the Heart, the first collaboration between director Rudolph Cartier and scriptwriter Nigel Kneale, is broadcast by BBC Television in the United Kingdom.
 * August 1 – First television broadcast in the Dominican Republic by La Voz Dominicana, a station based on the radio station of the same name.
 * September 6 – Television debuts in Canada with the initiation of CBFT in Montreal, Quebec.
 * September 8 – CBLT in Toronto, Ontario begins broadcasting as Canada's second television station.
 * September 20 – The first commercial Ultra High Frequency (UHF) television station in the world, KPTV (later a Fox company affiliate), begins broadcasting in Portland, Oregon on channel 27.
 * October 7 – WFIL-TV Philadelphia's afternoon series Bandstand, which will become American Bandstand, changes emphasis to teens dancing to popular records
 * November 4 – 1952 United States presidential election: The first political advertisements have appeared on U.S. television. Democrats bought a 30-minute time segment for their candidate, Adlai Stevenson but he has received unfavorable mail for interfering with a broadcast of I Love Lucy. Dwight Eisenhower bought 20 second commercial segments and wins the election.
 * November 16 – CBS Television City in Hollywood, California opens, the network's first studio on the U.S. west coast.
 * The U.S. Federal Communications Commission reserves channels for non-commercial public broadcasting.
 * There are approximately 146,000 television sets in Canada and most antennas are pointed towards WBEN-TV (later WIVB) in Buffalo, New York.

Programs/programmes

 * Amos & Andy (1951–1953)
 * Author Meets the Critics (1947–1954)
 * Bozo the Clown (1948–present)
 * Café Continental (UK) (1947–1953)
 * Candid Camera (1948–present)
 * Cisco Kid (1950–1956)
 * The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950-1955)
 * Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995)
 * Dragnet (1951–1959)
 * Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960)
 * Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
 * Hawkins Falls (1950, 1951–1955)
 * Howdy Doody (1947–1960)
 * I Love Lucy (1951–1960)
 * Juvenile Jury (1947–1954)
 * Kaleidoscope (UK) (1946–1953)
 * Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958)
 * Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947–1957)
 * Life with Elizabeth (1952–1955)
 * Love of Life (1951–1980)
 * Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949–1954)
 * Meet the Press (1947–present)
 * Muffin the Mule (UK) (1946–1955)
 * Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
 * Television Newsreel (UK) (1948–1954)
 * The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971)
 * The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958)
 * The Goldbergs (1949–1955)
 * The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965)
 * The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957)
 * The Texaco Star Theater (1948–1953)
 * The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963)
 * Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
 * What's My Line (1950–1967)
 * Your Hit Parade (1950–1959)
 * Your Show of Shows (1950–1954)

Debuts

 * January 6 - Claudia on NBC (moved to CBS on March 31, 1952)
 * January 14 – The Today Show on NBC (1952–present)
 * March 1 – Death Valley Days in syndication (1952–1975)
 * June 19 – I've Got a Secret on CBS (1952–1967)
 * June 30 – the soap opera The Guiding Light (1952–2009) on CBS, which began on radio in 1937, becoming the longest-running regularly scheduled drama in television history
 * July 10 - The prime time version of A Date with Judy debuts on ABC.
 * September – the religious drama This Is the Life on DuMont, and ran until the late 1980s
 * September 19 – Adventures of Superman in syndication (1952–1958)
 * October 26 – Victory at Sea (1952–1953) on NBC, one of the first historic documentary series
 * October 3 – Our Miss Brooks (1952-1956) on CBS
 * November 1 – Hockey Night in Canada on CBC (1952–present)
 * November 6 – Biff Baker, U.S.A. on CBS (1952–1953)
 * November 8 – My Hero on NBC (1952–1953)
 * December 1 – The Abbott and Costello Show in syndication (1952–1954)
 * December 15 – Flower Pot Men on BBC Television (1952)
 * American Bandstand, originally called Bandstand, as a local program in Philadelphia (1952–1989)
 * Life Is Worth Living with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen on DuMont (1952–1955), then on ABC (1955–1957)
 * My Little Margie (1952–1955), starring Gale Storm
 * See It Now, hosted by Edward R. Murrow
 * The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ABC (1952–1966)
 * The Ernie Kovacs Show, where Kovacs explores the boundaries of television technology with his use of special effects (1952–1953)
 * Meet the Masters, a program about classical music, on NBC and WGN-TV
 * This Is Your Life in the U.S. (1952–1961)
 * Life with Elizabeth, a sitcom featuring Betty White (1952–1955)

Television debuts

 * Mabel Albertson – Chevron Theatre
 * Margaret Bert – Fireside Theatre
 * Claire Bloom – Sunday Night Theatre
 * Joe E. Brown – The Buick Circus Hour
 * G. Pat Collins – Mr. and Mrs. North
 * Buster Crabbe – The Philco Television Playhouse
 * Richard Crenna – I Love Lucy
 * Irene Dunne – Schlitz Playhouse
 * William Hickey – The Philco Television Playhouse
 * Allen Jenkins – Racket Squad
 * Carolyn Jones – Chevron Theatre
 * Peter Lorre – Lux Video Theatre
 * Steve McQueen – Family Affair
 * Sal Mineo – Hallmark Hall of Fame
 * Marilyn Monroe – The Jack Benny Program
 * Rita Moreno – Fireside Theatre
 * Audie Murphy – Lux Video Theatre
 * Pat O'Brien – Betty Crocker Star Matinee
 * Maureen O'Sullivan – Hollywood Opening Night
 * Geraldine Page – Lux Video Theatre
 * Donald Pleasence – Sunday Night Theatre
 * Sidney Poitier – CBS Television Workshop
 * Bert Remsen – Suspense
 * Mickey Rooney – Celanese Theatre
 * Chris Sarandon – Guiding Light
 * Peter Sellers – Don't Spare the Horses
 * Sylvia Sidney – Cameo Theatre
 * Ann Sothern – Schlitz Playhouse
 * Joe Turkel – Boston Blackie
 * Lee Van Cleef – Sky King
 * Dennis Weaver – Dragnet
 * Billie Whitelaw – The Secret Garden
 * Stuart Whitman – The Roy Rogers Show
 * Joanne Woodward – Tales of Tomorrow