THIRTEEN'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY
Forty Years of Television Landmarks from Thirteen
1962 Sunday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m., Thirteen goes on the air, debuting with the call letters WNDT ("New Dimensions in Television"); opening night broadcast is hosted by Edward R. Murrow.
1963 THE FRENCH CHEF makes the irrepressible Julia Child a household name.
1964 Joseph Campbell teaches MASK, MYTH AND DREAM over Thirteen's airwaves.
1965 Telephone call-in pledge nights make their debut, as does NEW YORK TELEVISION THEATER, featuring such noted actors as Sada Thompson, Gene Hackman, and James Earl Jones.
1966 With SUNDAY SHOWCASE and NET PLAYHOUSE, Thirteen sets the stage for the finest in the performing arts.
1967 Thirteen begins broadcasting seven days a week -- and in color. WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW, which today remains Thirteen's longest-running series, premieres.
1968 BLACK JOURNAL covers issues of concern to the black community, while SOUL! features a weekly line-up of top black entertainers.
1969 One of television's most famous addresses, SESAME STREET, can now be found on Thirteen, and THE FORSYTE SAGA introduces the mini-series to American audiences. Thirteen's long relationship with documentarian Fred Wiseman begins with LAW AND ORDER.
1970 Thirteen merges with NET (National Educational Television), a program producer, and changes its call letters to WNET. Premiering series include WALL STREET WEEK and CIVILISATION.
1971 Bill Moyers and Bill Buckley come to Thirteen, and Alistair Cooke begins his long residence as host of MASTERPIECE THEATRE. The Emmy Award-winning satire series THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE is heralded as an intellectual LAUGH-IN. Thirteen's coverage of The Knapp Commission Hearings follows the unfolding drama of police corruption in the city.
1972 GREAT PERFORMANCES premieres, as do THE 51ST STATE, ZOOM, and VD BLUES. Thirteen's TELEVISION LABORATORY is established to encourage the work of independent filmmakers, presenting a wide range of pioneering projects.
1973 Real-life drama unfolds on two fronts -- the cinéma vérité portrait of AN AMERICAN FAMILY and the live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Watergate Hearings -- riveting viewers and changing the public's expectations of television forever. Thirteen also presents the first college course ("Man and Environment") offered for credit on television in New Jersey.
1974 Thirteen introduces audiences to the inspired lunacy of MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS.
1975 The station stages its first on-air fund-raising auction, art historian Kenneth Clark looks at "The Romantic Rebellion" and Dr. Jacob Bronowski chronicles "The Ascent of Man."
1976 THE ADAMS CHRONICLES, Thirteen's bicentennial gift to the nation, wins four national Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. DANCE IN AMERICA premieres in January.
1977 Pavarotti sings Puccini as LIVE FROM THE MET premieres with "La Bohéme," Twyla Tharp choreographs especially for television in MAKING TELEVISION DANCE, and Dick Cavett engages in the fine art of conversation on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW.
1978 NEW JERSEY NIGHTLY NEWS is the first news show in the U.S. to report on an entire state. Thirteen's WE INTERRUPT THIS WEEK is public television's first game show.
1979 Thirteen begins its six-year presentation of the complete works of William Shakespeare.
1980 Thirteen viewers explore the mysteries of the universe in COSMOS and enter the world of espionage in TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY.
1981 I REMEMBER HARLEM, the documentary by William Miles, traces the history of Harlem over four centuries. The station's Gateway studio/office facility in Newark is completed and first used for coverage of the New Jersey primaries in June.
1982 Thirteen completes the consolidation of its broadcasting and production facilities in its headquarters on West 58th Street. AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE and NATURE debut, BRIDESHEAD REVISITED garners critical and popular acclaim, and Ken Burns begins his illustrious career with BROOKLYN BRIDGE.
1983 THE MACNEIL/LEHRER NEWSHOUR becomes the first hour-long nightly national news program.
1984 Video artist Nam June Paik welcomes the new year with the global extravaganza GOOD MORNING, MR. ORWELL. Other notable series follow: ADAM SMITH'S MONEY WORLD; HERITAGE: CIVILIZATION AND THE JEWS, and THE BRAIN.
1985 NEW TELEVISION provides a showcase for avant-garde video art. Thirteen establishes Learning Link, a computer-based communications system for educators.
1986 The station begins transmitting its entire schedule in stereo. THE STORY OF ENGLISH, AMERICAN MASTERS, NEW TELEVISION, and THE AFRICANS make their mark.
1987 Thirteen expands its broadcast day to 24 hours, carries live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Iran-Contra hearings and presents the American television premiere of the epic documentary SHOAH.
1988 With JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE POWER OF MYTH and A WORLD OF IDEAS, Bill Moyers proves that "talking heads" can make compelling television. THE MIND, METRO WEEK IN REVIEW, and THE POWER OF CHOICE debut.
1989 Thirteen undertakes the largest opera telecast in American history with its presentation of Wagner's "Ring" cycle on THE METROPOLITAN OPERA PRESENTS. The National Teaching Training Institute is launched, providing educators with ideas, strategies, and resources for bringing technology into the classroom. Thirteen holds its first Teen Leadership Day. THE ELEVENTH HOUR, SHINING TIME STATION, and BOOKMARK join Thirteen's program line-up.
1990 Broadcasting the first Three Tenors concert, Thirteen makes television history and launches a new tradition. NATURE introduces a new audio technology, Dolby Surround Sound, which adds a whole new dimension to specials like MONKEYS ON THE EDGE. Ken Burns rivets American viewers with THE CIVIL WAR and a national television critics' poll names AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "Best PBS Series." Thirteen inaugurates its annual Adult Literacy Day.
1991 The station airs comprehensive coverage of the Persian Gulf war; the pre-war Congressional debates; expanded editions of THE MACNEIL/LEHRER NEWSHOUR, hourly updates, and special programming to help children understand and cope with the crisis. In September, CHARLIE ROSE debuts. Also that month, Thirteen becomes the first public television station in the country to air GED en Español.
1992 Thirteen celebrates its 30th birthday and covers the 1992 presidential race. BEHIND THE SCENES, the first national children's series on the visual and performing arts, receives the largest NEA grant ever given to a television series. Bill Moyers' LISTENING TO AMERICA premieres and Thirteen commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day with Lodz Ghetto.
1993 As part of its Kids Matter! campaign, jointly sponsored by the Fund for New York City Public Education and Thirteen, the station televises a town hall meeting of mayoral candidates and area parents to address the educational needs of children. In honor of World AIDS Day, December 1, Thirteen devotes programming to the crisis and creates a telephone helpline.
1994 On AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE, Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" is one of the most talked-about series of the year. A GLORIOUS ACCIDENT takes a close-up look at the human condition at the end of the 20th century.
1995 Thirteen Online hits the Web. CITY ARTS showcases the cultural diversity of the city. Robin Williams, Debra Winger, and other stars visit the natural habitats of the animal kingdom on IN THE WILD. Wynton Marsalis helps young people understand the spirit of music in MARSALIS ON MUSIC.
1996 ITZHAK PERLMAN: IN THE FIDDLER'S HOUSE, a GREAT PERFORMANCES presentation, wins the Emmy for Outstanding Cultural Music-Dance program.
1997 STEPHEN HAWKING'S UNIVERSE delves into the mysteries of time and space. RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, a first-of-its-kind television journal dealing with the religious and ethical facets of the current political landscape, takes to the airwaves.
1998 SAVAGE EARTH rocks the world with its exploration of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. Some 12 million people tune in to the March premiere of MOYERS ON ADDICTION: CLOSE TO HOME. In August, Thirteen introduces its cable arts channel, MetroArts/Thirteen and premieres A WALK DOWN 42ND STREET WITH DAVID HARTMAN AND HISTORIAN BARRY LEWIS, the first of its popular "Walking Tours" series. Thirteen launches, wNetSchool, its online educational resource site. The station relocates to its state-of-the-art digitally equipped production and broadcast center on West 33rd Street.
1999 Ric Burns' epic New York: A Documentary Film makes headlines.
2000 EGG the arts show takes viewers on off-beat tours of the arts world. The "hands-on history" program THE 1900 HOUSE transports a family from the Information Age back to Victorian times, while AUSTRALIA: BEYOND THE FATAL SHORE explores the land and cultures "down under." ON OUR OWN TERMS: MOYERS ON DYING relays the powerful stories and candid conversations of Americans coping with death. Other premieres include SREBRENICA: A CRY FROM THE GRAVE and STAGE ON SCREEN.
2001 Ken Burns' JAZZ traces the genre's evolution across the 20th century. Viewers go behind the scenes with RECORDING "THE PRODUCERS." AFRICA offers an epic journey across the continent, through the eyes of the people who populate it. On July 11, Thirteen begins transmission of its digital broadcast signal, from the World Trade Center. On July 31, the merger of Thirteen/WNET New York and WLIW21 New York is announced. Two months later, Thirteen's digital and broadcast antennas are destroyed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center; viewers are able to receive Thirteen's signal via cable and satellite television, and later from an emergency antenna at Alpine, New Jersey and then a provisional one on the Empire State Building. In the aftermath of the attacks, the station offers news, commentary, community, outreach, concerts, and other programs offering information, analysis and comfort.
2002 CYBERCHASE, Thirteen's first series for kids in a decade, presents the facts of math in a whole new way. It launches to great acclaim, as does WIDE ANGLE, a new series of international documentaries. NOW WITH BILL MOYERS provides weekly perspective on a changed world. AMERICAN MASTERS profiles Gene Kelly and Ralph Ellison. FRONTIER HOUSE, the "hands-on-history" sequel to THE 1900 HOUSE, challenges three families to live like pioneers and becomes one of public television's most popular programs ever.
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Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for public television, bringing such acclaimed series as NATURE, GREAT PERFORMANCES, AMERICAN MASTERS, CHARLIE ROSE, RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, and EGG THE ARTS SHOW -- as well as the work of Bill Moyers -- to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers each week, airing the best of American public television along with its own local productions such as CITY ARTS, CITY LIFE, THE NEW YORK WALKING TOURS, and REEL NEW YORK -- and reaching vast new audiences through its MetroArts/Thirteen cable arts programming. With educational and community outreach projects that enhance the value of its productions, Thirteen takes television "out of the box." And as broadcast and digital media converge, Thirteen is blazing trails in the creation of Web sites, CD-ROMs, educational software, and other cutting-edge media products. More information about Thirteen can be found at: www.thirteen.org.