In American television in 2006, notable events include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.
Notable events
January Date Event1The final episode of the original NFL Primetime airs on ESPN, followed by the network's final Sunday Night Football game.2After several years as part of The WB's weekday programming lineup, the network ends its weekday afternoon Kids' WB block, which is relegated to Saturday mornings. Daytime WB is launched, filling the time left over by the weekday animation block.4The Rose Bowl Game between the Texas Longhorns and USC Trojans is broadcast on ABC. Now considered by many to not only be the greatest college football national championship game of all time, but the greatest Division 1-A college football game ever played, this Rose Bowl also has the distinction of being the final game ever called by longtime broadcaster Keith Jackson. It was also the final Rose Bowl to be telecast under ABC Sports branding; the 2007 Rose Bowl would be an ESPN on ABC presentation.12Dari Alexander (anchor of afternoon portions of Fox News Live on weekends) and Rick Folbaum (anchor of Fox Report Weekend) are transferred from Fox News Channel to the Fox flagship station WNYW/New York City. They are replaced by Jamie Colby and Trace Gallagher, respectively (the latter effective on February 4, when the network introduced the weekend editions of Studio B). Folbaum, however, would return to the network in 2009.The second live episode of the program Will & Grace is broadcast by NBC on both the East and West coasts of the United States.14The NHL on NBC returned for the first time since broadcasting the 1994 NHL All-Star Game, featuring a regional tripleheader. It marked NBC's first non-All-Star Game broadcast of the NHL since the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals.24CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. announce the initiation of The CW Television Network for the 2006–2007 season. This network is, in a sense, a merger of The WB and UPN and is designed to replace both of those networks.NFL player Bob Griese donated a total of $114,310 (including the standard $100,000 grand prize) on his appearance in Wheel of Fortune to his charity for Judi's House (founded by his son Brian, also an NFL alumnus). The winning puzzle, "Brains and Brawn", would later be reprised on December 16, 2010, where another contestant, Hillary Light, solved the exact same puzzle with a similar result.28The Directors Guild of America name Tony Croll and J. Rupert Thompson as best reality television directors for the programs Three Wishes and Fear Factor, respectively. Best director of a dramatic series is Michael Apted for Rome. Television comedy series director is Marc Buckland for My Name Is Earl. Directors Joseph Sargent (Warm Springs) and George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues) share best television movie awards. General Hospital Owen Renfroe is named best daytime television serial director.29World News Tonight co-anchor Bob Woodruff and ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt are injured.
February Date Event2Mad Linx returns to host Rap City after a 4-month absence, while J-Nicks leaves the show to work as a radio DJ.5After 36 years, ABC broadcasts its final National Football League game when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Seattle Seahawks 21–10 in Super Bowl XL. NFL football will not be seen on the network for 9 years until January 9, 2016, and again on January 7, 2017.22Fox announces plans for a new network, named MyNetworkTV. The network was planned to be broadcast by UPN and WB affiliates which are not included in the initiation of The CW.28The Bold and The Beautiful actor Jack Wagner along with contestant Christine Denos won $142,550 in Wheel of Fortune, setting a record for its one-episode winnings total in the show, and the second-largest winnings record since Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen in 1996. Both of these records would later be first surpassed on October 14, 2008, when Michelle Lowenstein won $1,026,080.
March Date Event16SportsNet New York is begun. It is home of the New York Mets and New York Jets.20Meg Oliver is named the new anchor of CBS News' Up to the Minute, replacing Melissa McDermott.26The last first-run episodes to date of the long-running TV series Soul Train air in syndication. Reruns of the previous season are broadcast until October, when "The Best of Soul Train" reruns from the 1970s and 1980s begin being broadcast instead of new episodes.
April Date Event1The Kids' Choice Awards ceremony is broadcast by Nickelodeon, with host Jack Black and featuring Robin Williams as the unfortunate victim of the network's trademark slime.28The 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony is broadcast by ABC.
May Date Event5The popular Disney Junior (then known as Playhouse Disney) show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, premieres on Disney Channel after the channel's premiere of the 2003 film, Finding Nemo.21A pair of finales: On CBS, Mike Wallace makes his last appearance on 60 Minutes, while the WB airs the series finale of Charmed, "Forever Charmed", ending the series after eight seasons.24On Fox, Taylor Hicks wins American Idol season five.25A press conference by President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, the broadcast aired live simultaneously on C-Span, as well as several local affiliates for FOX, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. The combined ratings for these broadcasts coincidentally made the event one of the most-watched events in every single media market in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Indiana, Idaho, Wisconsin, New Jersey and the Pennsylvania regions of Northwestern Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh, Northeastern Pennsylvania and South Central Pennsylvania.Resource Guide - 2006, Ratings Information31Katie Couric's final episode as co-host of the Today Show airs on NBC.
June Date Event9Richard Karn hosted his final episode of Family Feud. He would replaced by John O'Hurley on September 11.28After 19 years, Charles Gibson's final episode as co-host of Good Morning America airs on ABC.
July Date Event3In anticipation of the launch of MyNetworkTV in September, Fox affiliate WUFX (now WLOO) and WB affiliate WDBD swap affiliations, returning Fox to WDBD after a 5-year absence and clearing the way for WUFX's impending switch to MyNetworkTV.10Terrence and Rocsi, winners from BET's "New Faces" talent search, become the new hosts of 106 & Park, replacing the temporary hosts Big Tigger and Julissa.24The pilot for Aquaman, previously not broadcast, becomes available for download on the iTunes Music Store.
August Date Event14Rap City host Mad Linx quits the show and is replaced by Q45.21Stargate SG-1 is canceled officially by Sci Fi Channel after the premiere broadcast of the show's 200th episode after just five low-rated episodes. The tenth, and possibly final, season makes the show the longest broadcast science fiction series in American television history.25The Cheetah Girls 2, a sequel to The Cheetah Girls premieres on the Disney Channel and becomes the highest-rated Disney Channel original movie at that time, with ratings more than 8.1 million, exceeding that of High School Musical.27The NBC comedy The Office wins Outstanding Comedy Series and the Fox drama 24 also wins for Outstanding Drama Series at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards on NBC.31After 1 year of the row, Bob Schieffer's final episode as an anchor of CBS Evening News.
September Date Event2ESPN takes over production of ABC Sports broadcasts, rebranding them as ESPN on ABC. Both networks are owned by The Walt Disney Company.5On CBS, Katie Couric becomes the first female sole anchor of the CBS Evening News, replacing the temporary anchor Bob Schieffer.6The longest-broadcast television drama program, Guiding Light, broadcasts its 15,000th televised episode on CBS.7NBC broadcast its first NFL regular season or playoff game since Super Bowl XXXII in 1997, taking over the rights to the NFL Kickoff Game. Three days later, it broadcast its first regular season Sunday Night Football game.9Qubo debuts as a Saturday morning block on NBC as well as a Spanish-dubbed version on Telemundo and a Friday afternoon programming block on i: Independent Television. The block is broadcast on Saturdays and a Spanish block on Saturdays and Sundays on NBC and Telemundo. The block replaced two former weekend morning blocks on NBC and Telemundo - Discovery Kids on NBC and Telemundo Kids.KOHD in Bend, Oregon signs on the air, giving the Bend market its first full-time ABC affiliate.11Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! become the first game shows to be broadcast in High Definition.John O'Hurley replaces Richard Karn as the host of Family Feud.12On CBS, Mike Malin is named the winner of Big Brother: All-Stars and wins the $500,000 prize. Runner-Up Erika Landin wins $50,000.Fox officially shuts down Foxnet, a cable service for television markets that did not have a local Fox affiliate. This prompts stations in the few markets that still carry Foxnet to launch Fox-affiliated subchannels: CBS affiliate WAGM-TV in Presque Isle, Maine moves its affiliation to DT2 on this day and joins Fox. Meanwhile, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, ABC affiliate WBKO-TV launches a Fox-affiliated DT2 subchannel at around the same time, returning Fox to Bowling Green for the first time since Fox left now-NBC affiliate WNKY in 2001 in a dispute.WBKO | Fox - FAQ. Archived from the Original July 20, 2006.13Meredith Vieira begins co-hosting duties of the NBC program Today, replacing Katie Couric.Two new Fox affiliates hit the air due to the shutdown of Foxnet. In the Beckley-Bluefield-Oak Hill area, Lewisburg-based CBS affiliate WVNS-TV adds a Fox affiliation on its DT2 subchannel, returning Fox to the market for the first time since WVNS-TV itself dropped the network in 2001 to join CBS (and giving the area in-market affiliates of all four major commercial broadcast networks). Meanwhile, in the Mississippi Delta, Greenville-based ABC affiliate WABG-TV also launches a Fox affiliation on its DT2 subchannel.16Following the Viacom/CBS split, the Nick Jr. on CBS block is replaced by KOL Secret Slumber Party, a female-oriented Saturday morning block produced by DiC Entertainment. Rebrandings took place a year later when it became KEWLopolis, and with the merge to Cookie Jar Entertainment in the fall of 2009, Cookie Jar TV.18Vickyann Sadowski wins $147,517 worth of cash and prizes for her performance on the season 35 premiere of The Price Is Right on CBS. This not only made Sadowski (at the time) the biggest winner of the daytime show's history, it also surpassed Press Your Luck contestant Michael Larson, making her then-the biggest one day winner in the history of American network daytime game shows in general (Sadowski's record has since surpassed by five other contestants as of 2019, with the first being Sheree Heil on December 30, 2013, who won $170,345;"'Price Is Right' Hands Out Biggest Prize in Game Show's History," from The Hollywood Reporter, 12/30/2013 the current record holder was Michael Stouber on October 14, 2019, who won $262,743).20Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is seriously injured after crashing a jet-powered car at 280 mph.25Fox & Friends co-anchor E.D. Hill quits the show and is replaced by Gretchen Carlson.
October