In American television in 2024, notable events included television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and re-brandings; stations changing or adding their network affiliations; information on controversies, business transactions, and carriage disputes; and deaths of those who made various contributions to the medium.
Notable events January Date Event Ref. 4 The NCAA and ESPN announce an eight-year deal, beginning September 1 and running through the 2031–32 academic year, that would see ESPN and its sister networks carry championship events in 21 women's and 19 men's sports across the three NCAA divisions, most notably continued coverage of the Division I women's basketball tournament. 5 Nigel Lythgoe announces he has resigned from his role on So You Think You Can Dance in the wake of two sexual misconduct lawsuits filed against him. Lythgoe, who has denied the accusations, co-created the Fox reality competition series in 2005, and had served as its executive producer and lead judge.7 Rather than stay with the network as a commentator and fill-in anchor, Medhi Hasan concludes the last episode of his self-titled MSNBC weekend show by stating he would depart the network entirely. The Mehdi Hasan Shows cancellation was announced in November 2023 by MSNBC as part of a revamp of its weekend schedule that took effect the weekend of January 13–14. The 81st Golden Globe Awards aired on CBS and Paramount+, with notable winners including Best Motion Pictures Poor Things (Musical or Comedy) and Oppenheimer (Drama, among its five wins) and TV series Succession (Best Drama Series, among four wins in a night-leading nine nominations), The Bear (Best Musical or Comedy Series, among its three wins), and Beef (Best Limited Series, Anthology, or Film, among its three wins). The ceremony was hosted by Jo Koy, whose opening monologue was poorly received by guests and critics; Koy defended himself by saying he was hired only ten days prior after several other comedians reportedly declined to host. It also marks the ceremony's return to CBS after a 42-year absence (it previously aired on the network from 1981 to 1982); NBC had televised the Globes since 1996, aside from a one-year absence in 2022. 9 The Oklahoma City Thunder reach an agreement with Griffin Media to air eight Friday night games from its remaining 2023–24 regular schedule sublicensed from longtime cable partner Bally Sports Oklahoma (per a clause in parent Diamond Sports Group's 2023–24 NBA contract that allows teams to offer a selection of over-the-air telecasts to local stations within their broadcast territory). The regional sports network would produce and employ its on-air staff for the telecasts (beginning with a January 26 away game against the New Orleans Pelicans), which airs on Griffin-owned MyNetworkTV affiliate KSBI/Oklahoma City (which previously aired Thunder games from 2008 to 2011) and local news subchannel KOTV-DT3/Tulsa. 10 Two events featuring Republican Party hopefuls for president are concurrently telecast from Des Moines, Iowa: CNN hosts the fifth GOP debate of the campaign season featuring Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, while Fox News counterprograms with a town hall featuring nomination frontrunner Donald Trump, the former president's first live appearance on that network since 2022. 13 The Miami Dolphins play the Kansas City Chiefs in an NFL Wild Card game. Peacock broadcasts the contest nationally, the first NFL playoff game to be carried exclusively on a streaming service (though NBC's Miami and Kansas City affiliates carry it locally to satisfy the league's local broadcast requirements). 14 The 29th Critics' Choice Awards were held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, with notable winners including films Oppenheimer and Barbie (with eight and six wins, respectively) and television programs The Bear, Beef (with four wins each) and Succession (with three wins). Chelsea Handler hosted the ceremony on The CW, which used the broadcast to unveil a new brand identity that drops the "The" from its redefined logo (though "The CW" remains the network's name) and replaces its long-time green signature color with a red–orange "hot sauce" palette. 15 The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards aired on Fox from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles with Anthony Anderson as host. Notable winners include The Bear and Succession (both with six major wins each, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Drama Series, respectively), and Beef (with five awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series). The ceremony was rescheduled from its original date of September 18, 2023 due to the Hollywood labor disputes. 17 Diamond Sports Group, owner of the Bally Sports regional networks, announces a bankruptcy restructuring agreement (subject to court approval) that would see Amazon become a minority investor in the company (acquiring a 15% share, in exchange for a $115 million investment) and have Prime Video become its primary streaming partner. The Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since March 2023, and the deal will also see Sinclair make a $495 million cash payment to settle a lawsuit (filed in July 2023) alleging that Sinclair received about $1.5 billion in transactions that were designed to benefit itself while damaging Diamond's finances.23 World Wrestling Entertainment and Netflix announce a ten-year, $5 billion deal to carry WWE Raw in the United States and Canada beginning in January 2025, which resulted in the end of the program's run on cable television after 31 years across two networks (USA Network from 1993 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2024, and Spike TV from 2000 to 2005). Under the same deal, Netflix eventually gained global rights to Raw, and international rights to all other WWE programming, as existing contracts expire. The Dallas Mavericks reach an agreement with Tegna-owned WFAA/Dallas–Fort Worth to air ten games from its remaining 2023–24 regular schedule sublicensed from Bally Sports Southwest (per a clause in Diamond Sports' NBA contract for the season, see January 9 entry), which produces and employ its on-air staff for the telecasts. The package of Bally-produced games (which began with a March 1 away game against the Boston Celtics) joins three national ABC-televised games that were already slated to air on WFAA through April (including a January 24 home game against the Phoenix Suns). The Mavericks last televised their games over-the-air on CBS-owned KTXA from 2000 to 2021, when longtime cable home Bally Sports Southwest became their exclusive regional TV partner. 24 Comedy Central announces that Jon Stewart would return to The Daily Show as an executive producer and through the 2024 U.S. election cycle, host on Monday nights (beginning February 12), with members of the show's correspondents roster anchoring the rest of the week. Stewart had served as the show's host from 1999 to 2015. 28 The Milwaukee Bucks reach an agreement with Weigel Broadcasting to air a package of ten games from its remaining 2023–24 regular schedule on independent WMLW, along with regional simulcasts on stations throughout Wisconsin and in the Quad Cities, to be produced by Bally Sports Wisconsin under a sublicensing agreement. Two of the scheduled games were simulcast on WMLW's Milwaukee-area sister stations: a February 23 away game against the Minnesota Timberwolves (the first of the slate) that also airs on co-owned CBS affiliate WDJT, and a March 4 home game against the Los Angeles Clippers that will be presented in Spanish on Telemundo affiliate WYTU. They are the first local over-the-air Bucks telecasts since the team's 19-year relationship with WCGV ended in 2007.
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