| Date |
Event |
| January 1 |
CourtTV turns into TruTV |
| January 2 |
An interim agreement between Worldwide Pants Incorporated and the Writers Guild of America allows The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return with their full writing staffs, in spite of the ongoing WGA strike. By contrast, NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Last Call with Carson Daly and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, which are all produced by their respective networks, went back on the air without writers (except for Jay Leno, who writes his own material). |
| January 7 |
Due to the writers strike, plans to hold the 65th Golden Globe Awards ceremony were scrapped. A press conference which announced the winners was substituted for the program. |
| January 23 |
Konnie Huq presents her last episode of Blue Peter after over ten years, having become the longest-running female presenter and third longest-running overall in the shows' 50 year history. |
| January 31 |
A unique episode of the UK soap opera EastEnders is broadcast, consisting of just one character (Dot Branning) with a single monologue in the form of a taped message to her husband. This 'one-hander' is a first in UK soap history. |
| February 2 |
VH1 Uno is discontinued by MTV Networks to expand distribution of mtvU beyond college campuses and onto regular cable systems. |
| February 3 |
FOX's telecast of Super Bowl XLII surpasses Super Bowl XXX as the most watched Super Bowl game on television. It also becomes the second most watched television program trailing the 1983 M*A*S*H series finale and the highest rated telecast in Nielsen ratings since Super Bowl XXXIV. |
| February 8 |
The CW Television Network and the WWE announced that WWE Friday Night SmackDown will leave the CW prime time schedule at the end of the 2007-2008 season. The news comes after negotiations between the CW and WWE failed to reach a deal to keep the show on the CW lineup. Three weeks later on February 26, MyNetwork TV announced that they are picking up the program and will add it to its lineup in September. |
| February 9 |
Both the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach a tentative deal resolving the strike. Members vote three days later to end the strike. |
| February 12 |
The BBC Three "Blobs" are played out for the last time in the early hours of the morning. A new set of idents debuted the same day, this is the channels first ever rebrand since launching in early 2003. |
| February 17 |
The conversion of NTSC analog channels to DT channels using the ATSC system begins in the United States, with TV stations making last minute filings and their intentions about when they will start their switchover ahead of the February 17, 2009 mandatory date. Also, the US government starts mailing out (USD)$40.00 coupons/rebates to consumers to use in buying DTV converters before the switchover. |
| February 19 |
BBC One drama Hotel Babylon returns for its third series. |
| February 24 |
ABC's telecast of the 80th Academy Awards draws record low ratings in the history of the ceremony's telecast surpassing the ratings from the ceremony that took place in 2003. 31.76 million on average watched the show over its entire run with a Nielsen rating of 18.66 households watching. |
| April 3 |
Kate Ritchie's final episode of Home and away is broadcast in Australia on Channel 7. She has played the role of Sally Fletcher for 20 years and 3 months, making her role the record for a woman in Australian Television. She has played the role since she was 8 years of age. The only remaining member of the cast now who has been in the show since its start in 1988, is Ray Meagher who plays Alf Stewart |
| April 5 |
Doctor Who returns on BBC One. David Tennant returns as the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays Donna Noble, as the Doctor's companion. |
| April 20 |
The 2008 BAFTA Television Awards are held at the London Palladium. Winners included Dame Eileen Atkins (Best Television Actress), Bruce Forsyth (Academy Fellowship), Harry Hill (Best Entertainment Performance), James Corden (Best Comedy Performance) and the BBC Three Sitcom Gavin & Stacey |
| May 11 |
Former model Parvati Shallow was announced the winner of Survivor: Micronesia. It was also announced that the next season will be filmed in high definition. |
| May 16 |
The Wilmington, North Carolina television market is selected by the FCC to be the first television market in the United States to sign off their analog channels for ATSC early, starting September 8. |
| May 21 |
David Cook is selected as the winner of seventh season of American Idol. |
| May 29 |
Channel 4 broadcasts a rare live advertisement on British television. The 3 minute Honda advert is shown during the commercial break of the programme Come Dine With Me. |
| June 1 |
A large fire damages portions of Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles. |
| June 7 |
The Euro 2008 opens in Basel (Switzerland). About 200 broadcasting companies from all over the world showed it live. |
| June 17 |
Comedian Joan Rivers is asked to leave the ITV1 afternoon talk show Loose Women after swearing live on air. She was removed during the commercial break, and said that she didn't realise the show was going out live and thought her comments would be bleeped. |
| June 17 |
The third season premiere of NBC's America's Got Talent. |
| June 28 |
In Doctor Who episode The Stolen Earth, many previous characters return characters from Doctor Who spinoffs (Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper from Torchwood and Luke Smith from The Sarah Jane Adventures. Harriet Jones returned for the last time. Also including Martha Jones, present companion Donna Noble and Rose Tyler. Sarah Jane Smith returned aswell plus Mickey Smith. The Daleks returned aswell as old enemey Davros who last appeared in 1988. |
| July 7 |
The Jewelry Channel, a US home shopping service that was shown mostly on DirecTV and Dish Network, shuts down operations and launches a going out-of-business sale for its remaining items that was shown on the channel that will last until July 20. |
| July 28 |
MGM Television and Weigel Broadcasting announces the launching of a new DT2 subchannel in the United States called This TV. |
| August 1 |
FOX affiliate XETV/Tijuana and CW affiliate KSWB/San Diego switched network affiliations: KSWB to FOX, XETV to The CW. |
| August 7 |
Florence, South Carolina,Myrtle Beach, South Carolina get their own NBC affiliate WMBF-TV. |
| August 8 |
After 50 years of being served by WTAE-TV/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, CBS affiliate WTRF/Wheeling, West Virginia (covering the Wheeling-Stubenville TV market) and sister station WBOY-TV/Clarksburg, West Virginia (A NBC affiliate covering the Clarksburg-Fairmont TV market) adds ABC to their DT2 subchannels. Both stations had been ABC secondary affiliates in the past. |
| August 14 |
MHD is renamed Palladia. |
| September 12 |
WTMJ-TV/Milwaukee, Wisconsin will drop all of its syndicated shows and will feature a lineup that will consist of local news (including a four hour afternoon news block from 3 to 7PM, a first in the United States Central Time Zone) and NBC programming. |
