This is a list of American television-related events in 1951.
| Date | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Federal Communications Commission's approval of the Columbia Broadcasting System's color television system is upheld by the United States Supreme Court. | |
| June 25 | CBS presents its first commercial color telecast, featuring Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, and Faye Emerson. | |
| August 11 | A double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves becomes the first baseball game to be televised in color. | |
| September 4 | The first live transcontinental television broadcast occurs in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference. | |
| September 29 | CBS presents the first American football game to be presented in color, a college game between the University of California Bears and the University of Pennsylvania Quakers, taking place in Philadelphia | |
| NBC broadcasts the first live sporting event coast-to-coast, in all time zones. It was a college football game between the Duke University Blue Devils and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. | ||
| October 3 | The first-ever color telecast of a World Series baseball game. | |
| October 20 | CBS debuts its trademark eye logo. | |
| November 11 | Bing Crosby Enterprises demonstrates black-and-white video recording through using a modified Ampex tape recorder. | |
| December 6 | The National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (NARTB) establishes the Television Code, a set of ethical standards for television broadcasting in the public interest. It would be abolished in January 1983. | [1] |
| December 23 | The 1951 NFL Championship Game becomes the first professional football game ever to be telecast on a live, coast-to-coast basis on the DuMont Television Network. DuMont purchased the rights to broadcast the championship game for the next five years. The game resulted in the Los Angeles Rams winning their second pre-Super Bowl era NFL championship by defeating the Cleveland Browns, 24-17. | [2] [3] |
| Date | Show | Network | Debut | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 7 | Rhythm Rodeo | August 6, 1950 | |||
| January 16 | The Alan Dale Show | 1948 | |||
| January 19 | Time for Reflection | DuMont | June 27, 1949 | ||
| January 22 | Visit with the Armed Forces | DuMont | July 3, 1950 | ||
| January 30 | Buck Rogers | ABC | April 15, 1950 | ||
| March 11 | With This Ring | January 21, 1951 | |||
| March 15 | The Nash Airflyte Theater | CBS | September 21, 1950 | ||
| March 27 | The Billy Rose Show | October 3, 1950 | |||
| Prudential Family Playhouse | October 10, 1950 | ||||
| March 31 | Saturday Night at the Garden | October 7, 1950 | |||
| April | Eloise Salutes the Stars | October 1950 | |||
| April 3 | Sure as Fate | July 4, 1950 | |||
| April 7 | Dick Tracy | September 11, 1950 | |||
| April 17 | October 22, 1950 | ||||
| April 20 | Manhattan Spotlight | January 17, 1949 | |||
| May 2 | Ladies Before Gentlemen | February 28, 1951 | |||
| May 15 | Once Upon a Tune | March 6, 1951 | |||
| June 17 | Music from Chicago | April 15, 1951 | |||
| June 23 | Small Fry Club | DuMont | March 11, 1947 (with the title "Movies for Small Fry") | ||
| June 23 | Foodini the Great | CBS | August 23, 1948 | ||
| June 26 | Court of Current Issues | February 9, 1948 | |||
| June 29 | Jacqueline Susann's Open Door | DuMont | May 7, 1951 | ||
| June 30 | The Victor Borge Show | February 3, 1951 | |||
| July 6 | Okay, Mother | DuMont | November 6, 1948 (on WABD) | ||
| July 18 | Four Star Revue | unknown | unknown | [29] | |
| August 9 | The Al Morgan Show | September 2, 1949 | |||
| August 24 | Broadway Open House | May 29, 1950 | |||
| August 29 | Stars Over Hollywood | September 6, 1950 | |||
| August 31 | The Ad-Libbers | CBS | August 3, 1951 | ||
| September 25 | Cavalcade of Bands | January 17, 1950 | |||
| September 27 | Crawford Mystery Theatre | September 6, 1951 | |||
| September 28 | Club Seven | ABC | August 12, 1948 | ||
| November 1 | Washington Exclusive | DuMont | June 21, 1953 | ||
| November 14 | International Playhouse | DuMont | May 30, 1951 | ||
| November 21 | The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong | August 27, 1951 | |||
| November 23 | Mohawk Showroom | NBC | May 2, 1949 | ||
| December 6 | Football This Week | DuMont | October 11, 1951 | ||
| December 11 | Hands of Murder | DuMont | August 24, 1949 | ||
| December 10 | Somerset Maugham TV Theatre | CBS NBC | October 18, 1950 | ||
| December 25 | Cosmopolitan Theatre | October 2, 1951 | |||
| December 27 | The Bigelow Theatre | CBS DuMont | December 10, 1950 | ||
| December 28 | Miss Susan | NBC | March 12, 1951 | Also known as Martinsville, U.S.A. |
| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 15 | Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico | 7 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | First Mexican-licensed television station meant to serve an American-based audience | |
| September 30 | 11 | now WXIA-TV, an NBC affiliate. | |||