Jason Luna become the program's first (and only) $1,000,000 winner in the NBC's game show 1 vs. 100 during the program's second-season premiere titled Battle of the Sexes.[1][2]
Due to the writers strike, it is announced that plans to hold the 65th Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be scrapped. A press conference that announced the winners is substituted for the program, and NBC, which would have broadcast the ceremony, airs Golden Globe-related programming in its place.[3]
27
Discovery Times was renamed "Investigation Discovery".[4] In addition to the television network, an Investigation Discovery website was also launched. Contributors to the website include crime writers David Lohr, Corey Mitchell, and Gary C. King.[citation needed]
February
Date
Event
2
VH1 Uno is discontinued by MTV Networks to expand distribution of mtvU beyond college campuses and onto regular cable systems.
Animal Planet "relaunched" itself as part of a new branding campaign that "sheds its soft and furry side for programming and an image with more bite."[5] As part of the relaunch, Animal Planet replaced its elephant and spinning globe logo for a starker text image that allows more flexibility in its usage.[6]
The CW Television Network and the WWE announced that WWE Friday Night SmackDown would leave the CW primetime schedule at the end of the 2007–2008 season. The news stepped in 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, MyNetworkTV announced that they would pick up the program and would add it to its lineup in September.
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.
In a two-hour television film, Knight Rider returned to NBC with a new KITT being portrayed as a black 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang and voiced by actor Val Kilmer.
Adam Rose become the first $1,000,000 winner in Drew Carey's first primetime episode of The Price is Right on CBS. At $1,153,908 cash & prizes won, Rose surpassed Joanne Segeviano's winnings of A$664,667 (about $406,274.45; or $475,593 by Inflation as of 2025) from the Australian version as the franchise's largest winnings record in the show's history. Until James Holzhauer's Jeopardy! appearance in 2019, Rose was placed in the top ten largest game show winners in history until April 24, 2019 (Holzhauer's total game show career winnings at the time after the episode was $1,193,508.33 (including J!'s career winnings of $1,135,175; Holzhauer's final winnings were $2,464,216 after his defeat on his 33rd game on June 3, and $3,022,549 as of Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament, the latter currently was placed third in the top ten list)).[7]
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.
Fox Sports New York rebranded MSG Plus because Cablevision announced that it would be (branded in logos as "MSG+"), restructuring it as a spin-off of MSG Network.[9]
WNBC/New York City, NBC's flagship station, scraps the scheduled airing of Access Hollywood in favor of an infomercial for Lend America. Station GM Frank Comerford resigned in the wake of the controversy and the station management apologized a day after the incident.[12] 6 days after the incident, the station restored the "4 New York" branding for non-news programming and News 4 New York for news programming.[13]
In CBS, Cynthia Azevedo became the third and final $1,000,000 winner (the only winner who won the $1,000,000 bonus from a Pricing Game, Clock Game) on a prime-time episode of The Price is Right with a total winning of $1,089,017. Another contestant from the same episode won an $87,910 Dodge Viper on Golden Road, and this was the game's last win until December 23, 2014. Price would later cancel the $1,000,000 spectacular on May 7 due to budget.[14]
In FOX, former American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke became the first contestant in history to attempt, but unsuccessfully, the final level ($1,000,000 song; Ringo Starr's You're Sixteen) in the game show Don't Forget the Lyrics! and left with $100,000 that was raised for Camp Heartland. Locke, however, announced after the game that she would raise the $400,000 that she risked earlier along with the help of host Wayne Brady.
The ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters airs its second season finale, which depicts the wedding of Kevin Walker and Scotty Wandell. Although it is the ninth same-sex wedding ceremony to be portrayed on American network television, it is the first same-sex wedding of series regulars on an American television series.
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.
Superstation WGN changed its name to WGN America (initially, the use of the new name was limited to on-air promotions, as the Superstation WGN channel IDs remained in place). The new WGN America name and logo went into full-time use on May 26, 2008. The new logo was also the first used by the superstation feed to not incorporate WGN-TV's on-air logo branding in some capacity (the "WGN" text was similar in resemblance, although the "G" was not formed into an ovular arrow as it is in WGN-TV's logo), and its design featured the eyes of a female, which was used alongside the new slogan "TV You Can't Ignore".
Facing increased competition in the home-oriented programming sector, Discovery Communications planned a 24-hour channel focused on eco-friendly living in an attempt to capitalize on a rising environmental movement.[17] Discovery Home was relaunched as the environmentally-themed Planet Green at 6:00 p.m. ET.
17
Game 6 of the NBA Finals is broadcast on ABC. The Boston Celtics won their 17th world championship, and first since 1986, against the longtime rivals Los Angeles Lakers. Paul Pierce was awarded the Finals MVP. A memorable post-game interview had a very emotional Kevin Garnett claiming out loud that "anything is possible".
19
Big Ten Network and Comcast announced a carriage agreement deal. The channel was added to Comcast on August 15.
28
The first episode of Saturday Night Live is rerun on NBC following the death of first host George Carlin, who died six days earlier on June 22.
July
Date
Event
7
The Jewelry Channel, a U.S. home shopping service that was shown mostly on DirecTV and Dish Network, launches a going-out-of-business sale for its remaining items that was shown on the channel that would last until December 1. From December 1 onwards, TJC is now doing business as The Liquidation Channel.
15
ABC's soap opera One Life to Live (created by Agnes Nixon) celebrates its 40th anniversary, two years before another ABC soap opera All My Children (also created by Agnes Nixon) celebrates 40 years in 2010.
Bowing to concerns by the Fox network over its Mexican-based operations, XETV, its affiliate in San Diego licensed to Tijuana, Mexico, swaps affiliations with CW affiliate KSWB-TV.
6
Disney-ABC Television Group announced they would close Toon Disney in early 2009 and replace it with Disney XD, which would be aimed at kids from ages 6 and up.
7
The Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market gets its first-ever NBC affiliate, WMBF-TV. This move also gives Florence/Myrtle Beach in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks.
8
After 50 years of being served by WTAE-TV/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Wheeling-Steubenville and Clarksburg-Fairmont TV markets get their first full-time ABC affiliates (as well as in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks), as CBS affiliate WTRF/Wheeling, West Virginia adds an ABC affiliate on its DT3 subchannel and sister station & NBC affiliate WBOY-TV/Clarksburg, West Virginia does the same on its DT2 subchannel. Both stations had been ABC secondary affiliates in the past.
PBS Kids re-brands its idents and promos, which are created by Primal Screen; Primal Screen had produced promotional elements for PBS Kids since 2000.
Jessica Robinson become the program's first (of two) $1,000,000 winner in NBC's Deal or No Deal during the Million Dollar Mission special. Nearly two months later on October 29, Winnow "Tomorrow" Rodriquez became the second $1,000,000 winner after Rodriquez opened the last non-million briefcase before the final deal.
4
Stand Up to Cancer, an event designed to raise cancer awareness, airs on ABC, CBS, NBC and E! in the United States, and on CTV, Citytv and Global in Canada.
The Wilmington, North Carolina television market officially becomes the first TV market in the United States to have all of its stations broadcast exclusively in digital, using the ATSC system.
The 26th season of Wheel of Fortune premiered with a new wedge introduced from the Australian version where contestants acquiring said wedge can win up to $1,000,000 in the bonus round, replacing with the usual $100,000 top prize. Its first such bonus round did not occur until October 3, and was not won until the October 14 episode. The first top prize loss happened on April 2, 2015.
15
WTMJ-TV/Milwaukee drops almost all syndicated programming except for Better and weekend niche programs in late night, featuring a lineup that consists of local news (including a four-hour afternoon news block from 3 to 7 pm, a first in the United States Central Time Zone) and NBC programming.
20
After 11 years of run on the Cartoon Network, the successful action-adventure block, Toonami, has been canceled, effective 11 pm EST and later it returned in 2012.
Programming block Ready Set Learn ends on TLC and children's programming are moved over to Discovery Kids. It would be re-branded as The Hub two years later.
Jeopardy! veteran Ken Jennings won $500,000 in the FOX's game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? though he chose not to risk his $475,000 winnings to attempt the $1,000,000 question (in which he answered correctly); with the total winnings accounted to $3,623,414.29, Jennings, for the first time since 2005, surpassed Brad Rutter's (another Jeopardy! veteran and then-current All-time champion) record of $3,455,102 as the biggest game show winner in the history of American and international television, a record which he would hold till this day (Jennings' record was surpassed by Rutter between May 16, 2014, after the finals of Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades until January 14, 2020, on Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time).
14
Michelle Lowenstein became the first $1,000,000 winner in the game show Wheel of Fortune. At $1,026,080 in cash & prizes won, Lowenstein surpassed Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen's all-time winnings record of $146,529 back in February 1996, and Christine Denos and Jack Wagner's single-day record of $142,550 on February 28, 2006, to become the largest single-day winner in the show's history until on May 30, 2013, where another contestant Autumn Erhard (who won $1,030,340) surpassed Lowenstein's total.[19]
CBS announces it has signed an affiliation deal with ABC affiliate WENY-TV in Elmira, New York, giving the Elmira-Corning market both its first locally based CBS affiliate and in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks. The affiliation takes effect on cable on February 17, 2009 (when WENY-TV requests a flash-cut from analog to digital broadcasting), and over-the-air on WENY-DT2 at the end of May (when WENY-TV performs its flash-cut).
K07YM in Bend, Oregon, a translator of CBS affiliate KOIN in Portland, Oregon, is converted to a stand-alone station as KBNZ-LD, giving the Bend market both its first-ever CBS affiliate and in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks.
Kathy Cox, who earlier appeared in Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? as the first $1,000,000 winner on September 4, along with his husband, declared Chapter 7 Bankruptcy because of a $3.5 million debt that came from the failure of her husband's home construction business. Fidelity Investments, who's responsible for charging a fund for the donor schools, donated the winnings back to Fox in December 2008 from the schools and placed the $1,000,000 prize won in a limbo that would not benefit anyone.[22]
19
Flint, MichiganPBS member station WFUM-TV (a.k.a. Michigan Television) permanently turns off its analog signal and begins broadcasting exclusively in digital, 9 months before the federally mandated analog shut off date of June 12, 2009, becoming the first station in its market, as well as the first PBS station in Michigan, to do so.[23][24]
20
The CW announces that it has terminated its Sunday night deal with Media Rights Capital. At the end of the season, the network returns its Sunday night programming time to its local affiliates.[25]
29
To settle a court dispute between itself and rival NBC affiliate WLIO, Metro Video Productions, owners of three low-power stations in Lima, Ohio (Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WOHL-CA, CBS affiliate WLMO-LP, and ABC affiliate WLQP-LP), sells all three stations to West Central Ohio Broadcasting, a division of Block Communications (parent company of WLIO). The dispute stems from Fox's plans in late 2007 to leave WOHL-CA and enter into talks to join a digital subchannel of full-power WLIO, despite WOHL-CA outrating WLIO in primetime. The sale is finalized on February 5, 2009.
For the first time ever, a live music special is used to announce the nominees for the 51st Grammy Awards. As usual for the Grammies, the special is broadcast by CBS.
7
In CBS, siblings Nicholas "Nick" Spangler and Emily "Starr" Spangler won the thirteenth season of the five-time Primetime Emmy Award-winning reality show The Amazing Race, with a record of becoming the youngest winning team in the show's history, and a record seven legs won in one season (which would later tie with the winners of the fifteenth season nearly a year later) until the twentieth season, where it was first surpassed by winners Rachel & Dave Brown Jr. with eight legs in May 2012 (tying Rovilson Fernanzes & Marc Nelson's record of eight legs from The Amazing Race Asia 2 in last year, and Tom & Tyler later on The Amazing Race Australia 4 in November 2019).
The Tribune Company, owners of WGN-TV/Chicago and KTLA/Los Angeles, among other properties, files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
16
Contestant Terry Kniess became the first contestant to achieve a perfect showcase bid on The Price is Right by guessing the exact price ($23,743) of the showcase he was offered, amid allegations of cheating.[31]
27
After over eighteen years, Fox drops children's programming. Its final children's programming block, 4Kids TV, goes off the air, and 4Kids Entertainment directs its programming to The CW4Kids, the block it programs for The CW. 4Kids TV would later launch as an online-only website on the same day.
29
After four years, Adult Swim adds an hour to its operating day (the block, which used to begin at 11:00 p.m., now starts at 10:00 p.m. and runs to 6:00 a.m.)
31
Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks announce they are no longer carrying Viacom channels unless they come to an agreement with Viacom. They come to an agreement at the last minute.
A public television service provided by the Kentucky Educational Television network, the channel is devoted to Kentucky-related programming from several sources, including the statewide PBS member's vast in-house production archives.
A regional network providing high school and college sporting events and weather information throughout central and western Montana, the IdahoPanhandle, and eastern Washington state, by way of digital subchannels of several Cowles Company-owned stations.
^"Discovery Investigates". Newsday. January 26, 2008. Archived from the original on January 29, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2008. Tomorrow, the Discovery Times digital channel morphs into Investigation Discovery. (ID, get it?) Premiere night features "Deadly Women" (tomorrow at 8 p.m.), about female killers, and a related episode of "48 Hours: Hard Evidence" (tomorrow at 9 p.m., all on ID). Read the new channel's case file at blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report
