In American television in 2012, notable events included television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and rebrandings; stations changing or adding their network affiliations; and information about controversies and carriage disputes.

Events

January Date Event1Regional sports networks MSG and MSG Plus go dark on Time Warner Cable systems in the New York City area and upstate New York after Time Warner and the networks' parent, MSG Media, fail to reach a new fee-for-carriage agreement. The two sides reached a resolution to restore the signals on February 17, a deal that also restores MSG-owned music channel Fuse TV to Time Warner systems (TWC had dropped Fuse in December 2011).Three stations and their related satellites in the Casper and Cheyenne, Wyoming, markets vanish from the Dish Network lineup due to a retransmission dispute. The stations are Casper's KTWO-TV (ABC), KGWC (CBS), and KFNB (Fox) and Cheyenne's KLWY (Fox/ABC)."DISH Network viewers lose local channels in Casper, Cheyenne," from Casper Star-Tribune, 1/2/20122Versus rebrands as NBC Sports Network, reflecting the sports channel's common ownership and synergies with NBC Sports.4The Walt Disney Company and Comcast announce a 10-year distribution agreement to deliver content from Disney-owned networks and ABC owned-and-operated stations to Comcast's multiple Xfinity platforms, including TV, online, video on demand, smartphones, and tablet computers."Disney, Comcast Set Major Carriage Deal," from TVNewsCheck, 1/4/20125Neal Tiles steps down from his position as president and CEO of G4 and is replaced by Adam Stotsky.G4 President Neal Tiles Steps Down Deadline January 5, 2012Former NBC Marketing Chief Adam Stotsky Named General Manager Of G4 Deadline January 5, 2012Cowles Media announces a reorganization in the news department of its stations in the Santa Maria/Santa Barbara market, KCOY-TV (CBS) and KKFX-CA (Fox), that includes several layoffs of on- and off-screen personnel, the elimination of its sports department, and the move of the evening anchor desk out of market to Monterey Bay area sister station KION-TV."KCOY, KKFX lays off employees," from Santa Maria Times, 1/6/20129CBS This Morning, the network's attempt at a unique news-and-analysis-intensive morning show, makes its debut, featuring a host team of Erica Hill, Gayle King, and Charlie Rose."CBS News launching all-new morning broadcast," from CBSNews.com, November 15, 201113A week-long commemoration of Today's 60th anniversary culminates in a gathering of past and current personalities from the NBC morning program."TODAY marks 60th with an anchor homecoming from MSNBC.com, January 13, 2012After more than 11,000 episodes, long-running daytime drama One Life to Live ended its nearly 44-year-run on ABC."'One Life to Live' Says Goodbye to Daytime," from MSN Entertainment (January 16, 2012)14Sunbeam Television's stations in Miami (WSVN) and Boston (WHDH-TV and WLVI) go dark on DirecTV after talks to increase the retransmission fees by a reported 300% failed."Sunbeam Television shuts out DirecTV NFL fans in Miami in attempt to extract 300 percent pay increase from The Street.com, January 14, 2012 The two sides reached an agreement on January 26 to restore the signals."Sunbeam and DirecTV Reach Retrans Agreement," from Broadcasting & Cable, January 26, 201216Lionsgate Entertainment and One Equity Partners announce that they will explore a sale of their TV Guide Network, whose conversion over the years from a listings guide to an entertainment channel has made it profitable enough for a sale by the two companies.DailyHeadlines "TV Guide Network sale ramps up" from Variety (January 16, 2012)17Food Network personality Paula Deen, known for her high-calorie recipes, reveals on Today that she has Diabetes mellitus type 2, and was diagnosed with the condition in 2008 (choosing not to reveal her condition until now in part to avert health rumors)."Paula Deen reveals she has Type 2 diabetes," from Los Angeles Times (January 17, 2012)23NBC Sports reaches a four-year deal for exclusive rights (on NBC and NBC Sports Network) to the Breeders' Cup thoroughbred horse racing championships beginning with the November 3 event. The deal includes the first prime time staging of event's premiere race, the Breeders' Cup Classic."Breeders' Cup Moves to Prime Time on NBC," from The New York Times, January 23, 2012 The deal reunites the Breeders' Cup with NBC, which broadcast the first 21 editions of the event (with ESPN holding rights from 2006 to 2011).25Bill Myers steps down from his position as president and CEO of Starz Entertainment after 10 years with the company."Starz Entertainment President Bill Myers Resigns," from The Hollywood Reporter, January 25, 201230Following the lead of Telemundo (who has done it in one form or another since 2003), Univision becomes the second Spanish-language network to provide English subtitles (appearing as closed captions on CC3) on its weeknight telenovelas, an effort to attract viewers who do not speak or are not fluent in the Spanish language.30–31A shakeup in the on-air makeup of Fox's The X Factor takes place: The network confirms on the 30th that host Steve Jones and judge Nicole Scherzinger will not return for the show's 2nd season in the fall. The next day, judge Paula Abdul confirms she will not return either."Paula Abdul Confirms Exit from 'X Factor,'" from Broadcasting & Cable, January 31, 2012

February Date Event2The FCC approves Time Warner Cable's $3 million purchase of Insight Communications, giving TWC access to Insight's 750,000 customers in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio."TWC Cleared to Take Over Insight," from Broadcasting & Cable, February 2, 20123The FCC rules that television stations have the right to refuse to air ads under "reasonable access" provisions of the law pertaining to political candidates. The ruling comes after WMAQ-TV/Chicago rejected an anti-abortion ad that activist and presidential candidate Randall Terry wanted the NBC O&O to run during Super Bowl XLVI.NFL Network announces it will expand its Thursday Night Football package from eight to 13 games beginning with the 2012 NFL season.NFL Network To Add Five 'Thursday Night Football' Telecasts in 2012 Season Multichannel News, February 3, 20125NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI, in which the New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots, attracts 111.3 million viewers. This is the third straight year that the NFL's championship event sets the all-time record for total viewership."Super Bowl sets records..." from Yahoo! News, 2/6/2012During a Super Bowl halftime show headlined by Madonna, guest singer M.I.A. appears to deliver a curse word and obscene gesture that escapes the reach of NBC's censors. The network and the NFL (the event's producer) both issue apologies afterwards for the incident."Apologies from NFL, NBC after M.I.A. flips bird," from Yahoo! News, 2/6/20126Video distributor Netflix makes its original programming debut with the release of the comedy-drama series Lilyhammer.8CNN suspends commentator Roland S. Martin after he posted homophobic messages on his Twitter and Facebook pages the night of the Super Bowl.CNN Suspends Roland Martin Broadcasting & Cable, February 8, 201212CBS' broadcast of the 54th Grammy Awards—an event marked by remembrances of Whitney Houston (who died the previous day) and six wins for Adele—attract 39 million viewers, the biggest audience for the Grammys since 1984."TV Ratings: Whitney Houston Tributes Push Grammys to Largest Audience Since 1984," from The Hollywood Reporter, February 13, 201217MSNBC announces that it has parted ways with political commentator Pat Buchanan, who was suspended by the network in October 2011 after the publication of a book he had authored that drew controversy for its content."Pat Buchanan Officially Out At MSNBC," from Associated Press via TVNewsCheck, February 17, 201219The 500th episode of The Simpsons, "At Long Last Leave", airs, marking the record for the highest number of episodes for a scripted television series."WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to guest on 'The Simpsons,'" from Entertainment Weekly, 1/30/201220Roberts Broadcasting announced it was exploring the possibility of selling one or all four of its television stations to raise enough cash to pay off its creditors.Roberts Broadcasting mulls sale of TV stations , St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 20, 2012.21Fulfilling a caveat in its 2011 purchase of NBCUniversal, Comcast announces it will launch four minority-owned networks on its cable systems within the next two years: the children-oriented BabyFirst Americas (which has planned April 2012 launch date); Aspire (summer 2012 launch), which will include positive, family-oriented programming; Revolt (2013 launch), a music- and artist-oriented channel; and El Rey (2014 launch), a general entertainment network. from TVNewsCheck, February 21, 201224In a cost-saving move, the E.W. Scripps Company announces that they will drop certain syndicated programs from its television stations beginning in September in favor of in-house programming and expansion of local content."Scripps To Swap Syndie Fare For Own Shows" from TV News Check (February 24, 2012)27Thanks to the event's first ever postponement (due to rain), the Daytona 500 is run for the first time on a Monday night. Fox's broadcast of the race attracts 36 million viewers, the event's second biggest TV audience ever."Daytona 500 night to remember," from USA Today, February 28, 201229Molly Solomon is named executive producer for Golf Channel, becoming the first woman to hold such a position on a national TV sports network."Solomon Tees Off as Golf Channel Executive Producer," from Multichannel, February 29, 2012Video blogger James O'Keefe sues Keith Olbermann and Current TV after Olbermann says O'Keefe was convicted of rape (a charge which was actually reduced to harassment).Olbermann sued by video blogger The New York Post, February 29, 2012

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