2000
- February 4
- Death of Phil Tonken, American radio and television announcer (born 1919). [21]
- February 5
- Death of Ward Cornell, Canadian radio/TV broadcaster and educator (born 1924). [21]
- September 17
- Death of Paula Yates, British television presenter and journalist (born 1960). [21]
- October 30
- Death of Steve Allen; American comedian, composer, talk show host, and author (born 1921). [5] [21]
2001
- January 7
- The Wrestling promotion, ECW airs its final pay-per-view, Guilty as Charged before declaring Bankruptcy. [22]
- January 13
- The TV series Disney's House of Mouse premieres, part of Disney's One Saturday Morning. [6]
- January 18
- The British digital television channel e4 launched. [5]
- March 12
- Death of Morton Downey Jr., American television personality (born 1933). [22]
- June 4
- The Travel Channel airs Voyager: Beyond The Cruise. The show gives a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's largest cruise ship afloat, Royal Caribbean International's Voyager of the Seas. [79]
- July 22
- Death of Frances Rappaport Horwich (Miss Frances), children's show host (born 1907). [22]
- September 7
- Death of Spede Pasanen, Finnish television personality (born 1930). [22]
- September 11
- Death of David Angell, American television producer (born 1946). [22]
- Death of Barbara Olson, American television commentator (born 1955). [22]
- September 18
- The 2001 anthrax attacks commence as anthrax letters are mailed from Princeton, New Jersey to ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post, and the National Enquirer. [22]
2002
- January 13
- Death of Ted Demme, American film and television director (born 1963). [23]
- February 15
- Death of Howard K. Smith, American television journalist (born 1914). [23]
- May 13
- Death of Ruth Cracknell, Australian theatre and television actor (born 1925). [23]
- May 27
- The French-Canadian national television network TVA announces the nomination of Sophie Thibault as their solo news anchor, a North American first. [23]
- June 19
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling makes its debut on Pay-Per-View (the first weekly wrestling show on PPV). [23]
- August 7
- Tama-chan, a bearded seal native to the Arctic, is first spotted in Tama River in Tokyo, Japan. The seal subsequently becomes a national celebrity with TV stations tracking its every move. [23]
- August 18
- Death of Dean Riesner, film and television screenwriter (born 1918). [23]
- September 14
- The ABC TV network begins airing the show Fillmore on ABC Kids. [6]
- October 30
- British digital terrestrial television (DTT) service Freeview starts transmitting throughout parts of the United Kingdom. [5]
- November 9
- In Los Angeles, California, television and film actor Merlin Santana is shot to death. [23]
2003
- February 27
- Death of Fred Rogers, American children's television host (born 1928). [24]
- April 7
- The National Association of Broadcasters holds a luncheon honoring the Disney franchise. Company chairman Michael Eisner announces Disney will begin testing a new video-on-demand service called Movie Beam later in the year. A television set-top box will download new film releases over regular television broadcast signal to a local storage device for later playback. [6]
- May 9
- Disney announces negotiations for a second Lizzie McGuire movie and extension of the television series had ended unsuccessfully. [6]
- June 11
- Death of David Brinkley, American television reporter (born 1920). [24]
- June 19
- Death of Laura Sadler, British TV actress (born 1980). [24]
- August 26
- ESPN debuts the Playmakers television show. [6]
- September 23
- Death of Yuri Senkevich, Russian TV anchorman (born 1937). [24]
- September 29
- Disney subsidiary Buena Vista Datacasting introduces the video-on-demand service MovieBeam in three cities in the United States: Spokane, Washington, Jacksonville, Florida, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The service lets users download and store films for up to 24 hours on a television set-top device. Rental of the device costs US$6.99 per month, with film costs of US$1.99-3.99 per title. [6]
- November 10
- Death of Irv Kupcinet, American columnist and television personality (murdered) (born 1912). [24]
- December 29
- Death of Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (born 1928). [24]
2004
- January 27
- Death of Jack Paar, American television show host (born 1918). [25]
- April 28
- Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq is revealed on the US television show 60 Minutes II. [25]
- May 4
- A WNBC helicopter crashes in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. This event is covered by rival station WABC-TV. [25]
- July 10
- German TV actress Inge Meysel dies at age 94. During the previous 40 years she had starred in over 100 TV productions. [37]
- September 8
- In the "Rathergate" affair, the first Internet posts appear pointing out that documents claimed by CBS News to be typewritten memos from the early 1970s appear instead to have been produced using modern word processing systems. [25]
- September 22
- In the USA, ABC airs the premiere of the TV series Lost. [50.90]
- October 29
- An Osama bin Laden video airs on Arabic TV, in which he threatens terrorist attacks on the United States, and taunts U.S. President George W. Bush over the September 11 Terrorist attacks. [25]
- November 30
- Longtime Jeopardy! (TV show) champion Ken Jennings finally loses, leaving him with $2,520,700, television's all-time biggest game show haul. [5]
2005
- January 23
- Death of Johnny Carson, American television host (born 1925). [5] [26]
- April 5
- Death of John Sichel, British film and television director. [26]
- June 26
- Death of Richard Whiteley, British journalist and television presenter (born 1943). [26]
- August 7
- Death of Peter Jennings, Canadian-born news anchor (former host of World News Tonight on ABC) (born 1938). [26]
- October 2
- Death of Nipsey Russell, American actor and game show personality (born 1918). [5] [26]
- October 12
- In San Jose, California, Disney Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger announces the availability of Disney- and ABC-owned TV show episodes through Apple Computer's online iTunes store. Certain TV shows will be available for download for US$1.99 one day after initial airing on broadcast TV. [6]
- November 19
- Death of Erik Balling, Danish television and film director (born 1924). [26]
- November 22
- Ted Koppel steps down as host of TV show Nightline after 25 years with the program. [26]
2006
- February 25
- Death of Florian ZaBach, American musician and TV personality (born 1931). [27]
- March 13
- Death of Peter Tomarken, American game show host (born 1942). [27]
- April 10
- Disney says it will begin allowing the download of television shows from Web site abc.com, for a two month trial period. [6]
- May 2
- Death of Louis Rukeyser, American television host (born 1933). [27]
- June 23
- Death of Aaron Spelling, American television producer (born 1923). [27]
- July 30
- The world's longest running music show, Top of the Pops, broadcasts for the last time on BBC Two. [27]
- September 4
- Death of Steve Irwin, Australian environmentalist and television personality (born 1962). [27]
- September 19
- A memorial service for recently deceased Australian personality Steve Irwin takes place at Australia Zoo, Queensland, Australia. The service is broadcast across Australia and other parts of the world. [27]
- September 20
- In the USA, the CW Television Network (a merger of The WB and UPN) officially begins operations. [27]
- December 3
- Death of James Kim, American television personality (born 1971). [27]
- December 24
- Death of Frank Stanton, American television executive (born 1908). [27]
2007
- January 7
- Death of Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic-born television presenter (born 1929). [38]
- January 16
- Death of Benny Parsons, American race car driver and television personality (born 1941). [38]
- January 17
- Protests occur in India and the United Kingdom against the British television series Celebrity Big Brother after Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara are alleged to have been racially abusive towards Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty. [38]
- January 31
- The Mooninite scare occurs in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, when devices used in a guerrilla marketing campaign for the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force are mistaken for improvised explosive devices. [38]
- April 17
- Death of Kitty Carlisle Hart, American singer, actress and talk show panelist (born 1910). [38]
- May 12
- The Walt Disney Company debuts a new kids' TV show, My Friends Tigger & Pooh. The show introduces a new character, Darby, a six-year-old girl. [6]
- May 27
- Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is taken off the air after the government of Venezuela refuses to renew its license. This action results in protests. On July 16, RCTV resumes broadcasting via cable and satellite. [38]
- June 12
- Death of Don Herbert, American television personality, "Mr. Wizard" (born 1917). [38]
- June 15
- In the USA, Bob Barker makes his last appearance on TV show The Price is Right. [38]
- July 29
- Death of Tom Snyder, American talk show host (born 1936). [38]
- August 12
- Death of Merv Griffin, American TV personality (born 1925). [5] [38]
- August 17
- Disney film High School Musical 2 is shown on TV in the USA, becoming the single most-watched basic cable telecast, with about 17.2 million viewers. [6]
- September 1
- Finland switches off all of its analogue terrestrial television signals as part of the digital switchover. [38]
- October 15
- Fox Television Stations Group launches a new business television cable channel in the USA. [189.70]
- October 17
- Whitehaven, England becomes the first place in the United Kingdom to have one of its analog terrestrial television signals switched off as part of digital switchover. [38]
- October 26
- Death of Friedman Paul Erhardt, German American pioneering television chef (born 1943). [38]
- December 25
- Queen Elizabeth II broadcasts her 50th televised Royal Christmas Message to the Commonwealth. [38]
2008
- January 6
- In the USA, Home Box Office airs the first episode of the fifth and final season of The Wire. [47.4]
- January 8
- In the USA, CBS airs the 34th Annual People's Choice Awards. [47.43]
- January 13
- In the USA, Fox airs the debut of the TV show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. [48.29]
- January 15
- In the USA, Fox airs the 7th season premiere of the TV show American Idol. [48.43]
- January 25
- In the USA, Spike TV debuts the GameTrailers TV series, airing trailers, industry news, interviews, and more. [49.60]
- January 31
- In the USA, ABC airs the season four premiere of series Lost. [50.60]
- February 7
- In the USA, CBS airs the premiere of the reality TV show Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites. [51.60]
- February 12
- In the USA, CBS airs the premiere of the reality TV show Big Brother 9. [52.47]
- In Los Angeles and New York, film and television writers vote to lift their 100-day-old strike against major studios and return to work. Writers Guild of America members voted 92.5 percent in favor of ending the strike, with a new three-year contract approved in principle. [35]
- February 27
- Death of William F. Buckley, at age 82 in Stamford, Connecticut; American writer, commentator, host of Firing Line TV show from 1966-99, credited with founding the modern conservative movement in U.S. politics, founded National Review magazine. [35] [109.38] [310]
- February 29
- American TV show The Young and the Restless has now been the number one rated daytime drama for 1000 consecutive weeks in the US, since December 1988. [156.13]
- March 8
- Debut of The Spectacular Spider-Man on TV in the US and Canada. [155.23]
- April 6
- In Canada, CTV airs the 2008 Juno Awards. [156.31]
- April 11
- NBC airs the Miss USA 2008 show from Las Vegas. [156.62]
- April 20
- In London, England, the British Academy Television Awards ceremony is held. Some winners:
- Best actor: Andrew Garfield for Boy A,
- Best actress: Eileen Atkins for Cranford,
- Best entertainment performance: Harry Hill for Harry Hill's TV Burp,
- Best comedy performance: James Corden for Gavin and Stacey,
- Best single drama: The Mark Of Cain,
- Best drama serial: Britz,
- Best entertainment programme: Harry Hill's TV Burp,
- Best situation comedy: Peep Show,
- Best feature: Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
[57]
- May 21
- In the final episode of TV's American Idol, rock singer David Cook is declared the winner. [35]
- August 9
- American actor/comedian Bernie Mac (The Bernie Mac Show, Ocean's Eleven, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Transformers) dies in a Chicago hospital from complications due to pneumonia, at age 50. [105] [310]
- September 3
- The CW network in the USA debuts the new 90210 TV Show. [35] [293.43]
- September 24
- TV series Knight Rider debuts in the US. [294.70]
- October 5
- Animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars debuts in the USA. [296.31]
- December 7
- In Canada, the final episode of Trailer Park Boys airs, after seven seasons. [297.4]
2009
- April 26
- In London, England, the British Academy Television Awards ceremony is held.
- Best actor: Stephen Dillane for The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall
- Best actress: Anna Maxwell Martin for Poppy Shakespeare
- Best entertainment performance: Harry Hill for Harry Hill's TV Burp
- Best comedy performance: David Mitchell for Peep Show
- Best single drama: White Girl
- Best drama serial: Criminal Justice
- Best drama series: Wallander
- Best continuing drama: The Bill
- Best factual series: Amazon with Bruce Parry
- Best entertainment programme: The X Factor
- Best situation comedy: The IT Crowd
- Best comedy programme: Harry and Paul
- Best single documentary: Chosen
- Best feature: The Choir: Boys Don't Sing
- Best international show: Mad Men
- Best specialist factual: Life in Cold Blood
- Best current affairs: Saving Africa's Witch Children - Dispatches
- Best news coverage: News at Ten - Chinese Earthquake
- Best sport: ITV1 F1: Brazilian Grand Prix
- Best interactivity: Embarrassing Bodies Online
- Audience award: Skins
- Special Award: Jane Tranter
- Bafta Fellowship: French and Saunders.
[57]
- May 29
- Jay Leno ends 17 years hosting NBC's The Tonight Show. [35]
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