In American television in 2011, notable events include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel launches, closures and re-branding, as well as information about controversies and carriage disputes.

Events

January Date Event1PBS member station KCET/Los Angeles becomes an independent public/educational station. KOCE-TV/Huntington Beach, a secondary PBS affiliate serving nearby Orange County, replaces KCET as the LA market's primary PBS member station, rebranding as PBS SoCal.Dish Network and Frontier Radio Management fail to reach a new carriage agreement, leaving Macon customers without both ABC and Fox, where both networks come from WGXA.Dish, Frontier Fail To Reach Carriage Agreement NextTV January 1, 2011 DirecTV removes the stations of Northwest Broadcasting due to a carriage dispute.Northwest Broadcasting Pulls Five Stations From DirecTV In Retrans Dispute NextTV January 1, 2011 The sides reach a temporary deal on February 1, in time for Super Bowl XLV.DirecTV, Fox reach temporary agreement NBC Right Now February 2, 2011Comedy Central retires the skyscraper-and-globe-themed logo, which it used in one form or another since its 1991 debut, and adopts a new logo mark featuring two "C"'s (which resemble a copyright symbol), with one of them and the word "Central" turned upside-down.Comedy Central Flips With New Logo NextTV December 9, 2010 3The Second Circuit Court of Appeals throws out a fine the FCC levied against ABC for a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue in which Charlotte Ross' character was viewed with a bare back."Court Throws Out FCC Fine Against ABC For 'NYPD Blue'", NextTV, 1/4/2011 ESPN fires play-by-play announcer Ron Franklin for making derogatory remarks to colleague Jeannine Edwards during prep work for a December 31 telecast of the 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Prior to the firing, Franklin was pulled from ESPN Radio's January 1 coverage of the Fiesta Bowl over the incident."ESPN pulls announcer for calling female colleague 'sweet baby'" , Yahoo.com (January 4, 2011)5The 37th People's Choice Awards are aired from the Nokia Theatre on CBS.7History announces that its first scripted miniseries, The Kennedys, will not air on the network, with a spokesperson stating, "This dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand." The content of the 8-part multimillion-dollar project (produced in Canada in partnership with History's Canadian counterpart, History Television) had been the source of controversy; various sources claimed inaccuracies in the script, while the miniseries' director and production company countered that History officials gave approval on the final draft script and final cuts before dropping their broadcast plans. The producers would then begin shopping the production around to other networks, and on February 1 reached a deal with ReelzChannel, which would air the miniseries in April (this after Showtime, Starz, FX, and Audience Network took a pass).DirecTV Passes on 'The Kennedys' The Hollywood Reporter January 24, 2011"'Kennedys' Miniseries Lands Home, Will Air on ReelzChannel" from The Hollywood Reporter, 2/1/2011Both Joan and Melissa Rivers announce that they will no longer do red carpet specials."Joan Rivers Says Her Red Carpet Reporting Days Are Over" Hollywood Reporter (January 7, 2011)15After a lengthy dispute and two deadline extensions, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Time Warner Cable reach an agreement in principle to keep 28 Sinclair-owned-or-operated stations in 17 markets on Time Warner cable television systems.TWC, Sinclair Come to Retrans Deal TV News Check January 15, 2011 A more formal agreement would be announced on February 2, which includes plans for TWC to produce newscasts for Sinclair's ABC affiliate in the Greensboro market, WXLV-TV, beginning in 2012."Sinclair, TWC Reach Retrans Deal" , from TVNewsCheck, 2/2/201117Citing lack of air time, Marissa Jaret Winokur announces she will leave CBS' daytime series The Talk."Marissa Jaret Winokur Leaves CBS' 'The Talk'", from hollywoodreporter.com, 1/17/2011Piers Morgan Tonight, the replacement for the long-running Larry King Live, debuts on CNN, with Oprah Winfrey as Morgan's first guest."Piers Morgan CNN Show Beats Larry King's Ratings by 200%" , from hollywoodreporter.com, 1/18/201118Turner Broadcasting System announces it will turn over day-to-day control of its Atlanta station WPCH-TV to Meredith Corporation, who will operate the station through its CBS affiliate WGCL-TV. Additionally, production for Atlanta Braves broadcasts on WPCH (45 per year) will be handled by cable rights-holders Fox Sports South and SportSouth, making 2011 the first Braves season since 1972 in which Turner Sports will not produce local Braves telecasts."Meredith To Run Turner's WPCH Atlanta", from TV Newschck, 1/18/2011Changes at PTV end Turner's Braves broadcast production Atlanta Journal-Constitution January 18, 2011 After a lengthy review process, the FCC and Department of Justice approve (with conditions) Comcast's purchase of a controlling share of NBC Universal., from tvnewscheck.com, 1/18/2011 The deal officially closes before midnight on January 28, with Comcast owning 51% of NBCU and General Electric 49%."Comcast to take over NBC Universal at midnight", from Associated Press via Yahoo! News, 1/28/2011 GE completed a purchase of Vivendi's 12.3% share of NBCU on January 26.Vivendi Exits NBCU NextTV January 26, 2011 20Houston PBS outlet KUHT announces that they will merge their operations with its FM sister station to become Houston Public Media."University of Houston to merge KUHF and Channel 8, creating unified Houston Public Media" Culture Map Houston (January 20, 2011)The American version of Skins premieres on MTV. The series' controversial content prompts the Parents Television Council to ask the show's producers be charged with child pornography and exploitation, alleging a violation of 18 USC 1466A.PTC Calls on Feds to Investigate "Skins" on MTV for Child Pornography and Exploitation Parents Television Council Press Release January 20, 2011 The controversy also leads major advertisers to pull their advertising from the program, among them Taco Bell, Wrigley Company, General Motors, Subway, H&R Block and Schick.Taco Bell Pulls Ads From Controversial MTV Show 'Skins' Amid Child Porn Accusations Fox News January 20, 2011 Wrigley, H&R Block Pull Ads from Skins TV Guide January 22, 2011Schick is Sixth Company to Pull Ads from 'Skins' The Hollywood Reporter January 24, 2011 MTV would cancel the show in June after one season.21Countdown with Keith Olbermann airs for the final time on MSNBC after its titular host abruptly departs the network.Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC . TV Newser. Retrieved 2011-01-21.25U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his second State of the Union Address, which is followed by not one but two opposition responses: the official Republican Party rebuttal from Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin 1st) and a Tea Party response by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota 6th). CNN is the only major network to carry Bachmann's response live, during which she does not speak directly to the TV camera."About (Late) Last Night: 'Conan' and 'The Daily Show' poke fun at Michele Bachmann", from the Show Tracker blog at latimes.com, 1/27/201128CBS announced that Two and a Half Men would go on a production hiatus after series star Charlie Sheen is admitted into a rehabilitation center, one day after his hospitalization for a hernia condition."Charlie Sheen Has Entered Rehab; 'Two and a Half Men' on Hiatus", from hollywoodreporter.com, 1/28/2011

February