2021 in American television

In American television in 2021, notable events include television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and re-brandings; stations changing or adding their network affiliations; and information about controversies and carriage disputes.

Awards

Category/Organization	79th Golden Globe Awards January 9, 2022	12th Critics' Choice Television Awards March 7, 2022	Producers Guild and Screen Actors Guild Awards February 27–March 19, 2022	74th Primetime Emmy Awards September 12, 2022
Best Drama Series	Succession
Best Comedy Series	Hacks	Ted Lasso
Best Limited Series	The Underground Railroad	Mare of Easttown		The White Lotus
Best Actor in a Drama Series	Jeremy Strong Succession	Lee Jung-jae Squid Game
Best Actress in a Drama Series	Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Pose	Melanie Lynskey Yellowjackets	Jung Ho-Yeon Squid Game	Zendaya Euphoria
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	O Yeong-su Squid Game	Kieran Culkin Succession	—	Matthew Macfadyen Succession
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Sarah Snook Succession		—	Julia Garner Ozark
Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Jason Sudeikis Ted Lasso
Best Actress in a Comedy Series	Jean Smart Hacks
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	—	Brett Goldstein Ted Lasso	—	Brett Goldstein Ted Lasso
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	—	Hannah Waddingham Ted Lasso	—	Sheryl Lee Ralph Abbott Elementary
Best Actor in a Limited Series	Michael Keaton Dopesick
Best Actress in a Limited Series	Kate Winslet Mare of Easttown			Amanda Seyfried The Dropout
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series	—	Murray Bartlett The White Lotus	—	Murray Bartlett The White Lotus
Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series	—	Jennifer Coolidge The White Lotus	—	Jennifer Coolidge The White Lotus

Notable events

January

Date	Event	Source
5	Caillou was cancelled by PBS Kids after 20 years, as PBS lost the rights to air the series. The show's "cancellation" attracts widespread online celebration from critics of the show.
6	Due to news coverage of the attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC swap its primetime schedule for continuing news coverage, while Fox and The CW carry their normal lineups during that evening.
8	Jeopardy! airs the final episode (pushed back from Christmas Day) of Alex Trebek's hosting tenure, recorded 10 days before his November 8, 2020, death from stage IV pancreatic cancer. Starting with the January 11 episode and for the rest of the season, a series of guest hosts, the first being highest-winning Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings, fill in at the host lectern Trebek had occupied for 36 years.
10	While sister network CBS airs an NFL playoff between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints, Nickelodeon airs a special children-oriented version of the game. The broadcast added classic Nickelodeon gags such as CGI-created slime cannons "spraying" the end zones after touchdowns; prerecorded explanations of penalties, offered by Young Sheldon star Iain Armitage; and announcer and former NFL star Nate Burleson analogizing successful plays with such childhood activities as staying in school. Although Nickelodeon's broadcast was aimed at younger, new-to-football viewers, it was reportedly enjoyed more so by Generation X and millennial parents who grew up watching the channel in its 1980s/1990s heyday.
	The 1st Critics' Choice Super Awards, an event honoring films in the science fiction, action, horror and superhero genres, airs on The CW. The virtual ceremony saw The Boys as the top winner with four awards (including "Best Superhero Series").
22	Tom Brokaw announces his retirement from NBC News. A special correspondent and commentator since ending a 22-year run as Nightly News anchor in 2004, Brokaw spent 55 years with NBC, including roles as anchor/reporter at O&O KNBC/Los Angeles, White House correspondent, co-anchor of Today, and interim moderator (after Tim Russert's 2008 death) of Meet The Press.
23	Food Network pulls all content related to season 20 of Worst Cooks in America (which aired in Summer 2020) from its linear, streaming and social platforms (including discovery ), after season winner Ariel Robinson and her husband, Austin Robinson, were charged in the January 14 death of their adopted three-year-old daughter at their Simpsonville, South Carolina, home. Ariel Robinson would be convicted and sentenced to life in prison for homicide by child abuse in May 2022, one month after Austin had pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the killing.
25	Two top executives of the CBS Television Stations group, division president Peter Dunn and Senior VP/News David Friend, are placed on administrative leave after a Los Angeles Times investigation reveals, among other allegations, their discriminatory and disparaging behavior concerning Black and female news employees at the station level, in particular at KYW-TV/Philadelphia. CBS would commission a third-party investigation into the matter and the broad culture within the station division; by the time it concludes in July, both Dunn and Friend would depart CBS (on April 7), and the general managers at CBS stations in Chicago (WBBM-TV) and Los Angeles (KCBS-TV/KCAL-TV) would be dismissed.

February

Date	Event	Source
1	Gray Television announces its intent to acquire Quincy Media's broadcasting properties for $925 million. The deal—which was completed on August 2—saw Gray acquire eleven television (and two radio) stations, which was to have expanded its portfolio to 198 TV outlets in 102 markets with a collective reach of 25.4% of U.S. television households (as estimated prior to Gray's purchase of 16 additional stations from Meredith Local Media, see May 3 entry). The expanded portfolio would not include stations Gray had to divest to alleviate market conflicts with existing Gray properties (see April 29 entry). Quincy's newspaper holdings were sold to Phillips Media Group in a separate transaction announced on February 13.
	Marilyn Manson is dropped from future episodes of American Gods and Creepshow due to multiple abuse allegations against him. The following day, Creative Artists Agency announced that it had dropped Manson as a client.
3	Country music channel CMT joins numerous country radio stations, including those owned by Cumulus Media and iHeartMedia among others, in pulling Morgan Wallen's music from its video library after he was captured on video saying a racial slur that was posted by TMZ. In addition, he was dropped from his record labels, Big Loud and Republic Records along with being pulled from consideration for the Academy of Country Music Awards.
5	Fox Business cancels Lou Dobbs Tonight, the network's highest-rated show. The cancellation came one day after its host, Lou Dobbs, was one of several Fox hosts – and Fox itself – were sued for $2.7 billion by electronic voting system producer Smartmatic for defamation, regarding Dobbs and others' role in spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 United States presidential election. Fox News hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro and frequent Fox News guests and ex-President Donald Trump's former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell were also named in the suit.
7	The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LV and become the first team to win the championship game in their home stadium. The game aired on CBS in English and ESPN Deportes in Spanish. The game was watched by 90.8 million people on linear television and another 5.6 million people on streaming platforms. It was the smallest audience since Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.
10	Gina Carano is fired from The Mandalorian due to her controversial social media posts, with Lucasfilm announcing that they are ending their relationship with her. Carano is also dropped by United Talent Agency as a client.
24	NBC pulls from digital distribution an episode of the medical drama Nurses that aired on the network on February 9. Titled "Achilles Heel," a plotline in the episode features an Orthodox Jewish patient and his father objecting to a bone graft from a cadaver to treat a leg injury; the characters' depiction received criticism from Jewish rights groups for "demonizing" those of the Jewish faith, and of the ethical quandary presented in the plot being completely fictional. The episode of the Canadian-produced Nurses had already aired in that country in February 2020 (host network Global would follow NBC's suit in pulling "Achilles Heel" from its own digital platforms).
28	The 78th Golden Globe Awards aired on NBC with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as the hosts. The COVID-19 pandemic moved it from its usual first Sunday of January berth, along with film awards season in general. Jane Fonda was honored with the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. Norman Lear was honored with the Carol Burnett Award. This was the first Golden Globe Awards ceremony to go bicoastal with Fey co-hosting from the Rainbow Room in New York City, and Poehler co-hosting from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

March

Date	Event	Source
7	TV series Ted Lasso and The Crown and the motion picture Nomadland are among notable winners at the 26th Critics' Choice Awards. The event aired on The CW, with Taye Diggs hosting for the third consecutive year.
	In a two-hour special airing on CBS, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, talk with Oprah Winfrey about their separation as working members of, and relationships with, the British royal family.
10	The National Hockey League announces a new seven-year deal with ESPN, covering the 2021–22 through 2027–28 seasons. The deal includes 25 games each season on ESPN or ABC; 75 games on ESPN (which replaces NHL.tv as the league's out-of-market streaming home); exclusive rights to the All-Star Game and Skills Competition; and half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs each season, including four Stanley Cup Finals series exclusively. The deal marks a reunion of the NHL with ESPN, which last carried the league in 2003–04, forming one half of a two-carrier deal with the league (see April 26 entry).
	The Talk co-hosts Sharon Osbourne and Sheryl Underwood get into a heated on-air discussion over Osbourne's defense of Piers Morgan, who came under fire in Great Britain for dismissing Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's talk about her mental health during her March 7 interview with Oprah Winfrey (and would storm off ITV's Good Morning Britain on March 8, resigning from that show a day later). Osbourne would state on Twitter that her defense of Morgan was not meant to be racially motivated, and that she had been blindsided by The Talk producers into having the conversation. It leads to CBS launching an internal review of the incident and The Talk suspending production on March 15, initially for two days but eventually extended (see March 26).
12	WLS-TV/Chicago and sports anchor Mark Giangreco announced they have come to a separation agreement. A long-time Chicago TV/radio personality (and a 27-year veteran of the ABC O&O), Giangreco had been on administrative leave since a January 28 newscast in which, while presenting a video of a house being painted by a hockey player on roller skates, he equated fellow anchor Cheryl Burton to a "ditzy, combative interior decorator" of a hypothetical DIY Network home improvement show, with Burton asking for some kind of action to be taken after he had done the same previously.
13	The 2021 Kids' Choice Awards air on Nickelodeon with simulcasts on TeenNick, Nicktoons and the Nick Jr. Channel; Kenan Thompson served as the host, and Justin Bieber was the headlining performer. Television winners included Alexa & Katie (for "Favorite Kids' TV Show"), Stranger Things (for "Favorite Family TV Show"), Jace Norman (of Henry Danger for "Favorite Male TV Star"), Millie Bobby Brown (of Stranger Things for "Favorite Female TV Star"), America's Got Talent (for "Favorite Reality Show") and SpongeBob SquarePants (for "Favorite Animated Series"). The broadcast resulted in the setting of two Guinness World Records: for the Most People Gunged/Slimed Simultaneously Online (with 195 participants) and Most Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Won by a Music Group (BTS, who won three awards, joining their two prior wins, respectively, in 2018 and 2020).
14	The 63rd Grammy Awards air on CBS with Trevor Noah as the host. The awards were originally scheduled to be held on January 31, but were moved to March after Los Angeles County began experiencing a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
18	The National Football League announces new TV deals covering the 2023 through 2033 seasons. The deals ensure Sunday afternoon broadcasts remain on CBS and Fox, keeps Sunday Night Football on NBC, and gives Amazon Prime Video exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football (transferring it from Fox and NFL Network). It also expands ESPN's Monday Night Football presence to include doubleheader games with ABC; late-season flex scheduling of more compelling games; and ABC/ESPN simulcasts of two Super Bowls.
	Nischelle Turner is named the new co-anchor of Entertainment Tonight, becoming the first Black woman to host the 40-year-old showbiz newsmagazine.
22	NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon brings in a limited, socially distanced, and fully-masked live audience to its regular home at Studio 6B of 30 Rockefeller Plaza; sidekick/announcer Steve Higgins also returns to the studio (he had been recording Tonight's intros from home), as well as the return of the show's pre-pandemic opening theme and street-side intro, albeit with special edits featuring host Jimmy Fallon and house band The Roots wearing masks (the original mask-free intro would return in May after the CDC's guidelines were updated). Prior to returning to 6B (which would bring back a full audience on June 7), Tonight had spent the pandemic either "at home" or in temporary audience-free space at Studio 6A in the 12 months before this evening's episode.
24	Warner Bros. Television fires All Rise executive producer Greg Spottiswood in the wake of an internal investigation over his alleged use of offensive remarks and other insensitive actions in the CBS legal drama's writers' room. It is the second such incident involving Spottiswood at All Rise; the first, in late 2019, resulted in five writers leaving the show, and a corporate coach (a Black woman) being brought in, after the writers clashed with Spottiswood (who is white) over the show's depiction of gender and race, specifically people of color.
25	Dick Stockton announces his retirement after a 55-year sportscasting career, most notably covering the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, and the Winter Olympics for Fox, CBS, and Turner Sports, as well as local broadcasts of the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics.
26	After The Talk's hiatus is extended past March 16, when reports surfaced that former co-hosts Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete accused Sharon Osbourne of saying racist and homophobic slurs about Robinson Peete and fellow former panelists Julie Chen and Sara Gilbert, CBS finishes its review of the March 10 on-air incident, stating that Osbourne's actions "did not align with our values for a respectful workplace," and that Osbourne (the last remaining member of The Talk's original 2010 host panel) would not return to the show. The Talk would eventually return to air on April 12, when the show's remaining panelists sat down to discuss the incident and their reactions.
31	T-Mobile US announces the shutdown of its fledgling vMVPD service TVision, effective April 29. Launched in November 2020 as a streaming-only version of the wired TVision Home IPTV service (launched in 2019), TVision saw early criticism from Discovery Inc., ViacomCBS and NBCUniversal for, without their prior input and running afoul of channel bundling obligations set under their carriage deals, excluding certain networks they each own from the provider's higher-end "Live" packages despite having included them in its discount "Vibe" tier. Existing TVision subscribers were offered $10/month discounts off of either Philo or YouTube TV's respective base packages due to the closure. (Prior to the announcement, TVision had intended to begin selling its packages to customers outside of T-Mobile's consumer base by the end of 2021.)

April

Date	Event	Source
1	Dish Network and Sling TV drop MASN (home of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals), on the first day of the 2021 Major League Baseball season, due to a carriage dispute. Additionally, the providers drop NBC Sports Washington (home of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals); NBC Sports California (home of the Oakland Athletics, San Jose Sharks, and Sacramento Kings); and NBC Sports Bay Area (home of the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors) for the same reason.
	Former Williamson County, Texas, sheriff Robert Chody turns himself in to authorities in neighboring Travis County on charges of evidence tampering for ordering the destruction of video footage, captured by Live PD, during a 2019 traffic stop that ended in the killing of Javier Ambler. It is the second time Chody is indicted for the crime (Williamson County charged him in September 2020), and it comes two days after Travis County charged two of his former deputies with manslaughter for their role in the incident.
13	American Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications and Mexico-based Televisa announce the combining of their respective entertainment assets into one company, to be known as Televisa-Univision. The $4.8 billion deal would result in Univision, UniMás and their respective O&Os as well as the company's cable properties (including Galavisión, Fusion TV and TUDN) being united under one company with the Televisa entertainment assets that Univision has long relied on to supply programming. Fusion however would close at year's end.
14	ABC News taps Kimberly Godwin as its new president, set to succeed outgoing chief James Goldston. A veteran of local and network news operations (including the last 14 years at CBS News), Godwin becomes the first Black executive to lead a broadcast news operation upon joining ABC News the following month.
18	The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards aired on CBS from three locations in Nashville: the Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium, and the Bluebird Café. Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton (who became the first African-American woman to serve as host) were the hosts for the telecast. Luke Bryan won "Entertainer of the Year" and Chris Stapleton (for Starting Over) won "Album of the Year"; Maren Morris, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice won the most awards during the event, earning two each.
25	The 93rd Academy Awards aired on ABC. Originally scheduled to be held on February 28, it was moved to April 25, the latest scheduled date for the ceremony in its history. The ceremony was presented from two locations in Hollywood: the Dolby Theatre and the Union Station. Nomadland earned the most wins with three awards: "Best Picture", "Best Director" (for Chloé Zhao, who became the first woman of color and the second woman overall to win in the category), and "Best Actress" (for Frances McDormand, who became the seventh person and fourth actress ever to win three acting Oscars over their career). Anthony Hopkins' "Best Actor" win for The Father (which, at 83, made him the oldest winner in an acting category) sparked some criticism as many viewers believed that the ceremony's producers broke with tradition in moving the lead acting categories to be presented after the "Best Picture" winner presentation on assumption that Chadwick Boseman (nominated for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) would receive a posthumous "Best Actor" award in tribute.
26	The National Hockey League announces a new seven-year deal with Turner Sports, covering the 2021–22 through 2027–28 seasons. The "'B' package" with Turner (the ESPN/ABC deal announced on March 10 has been termed the "'A' package") sees TBS and/or TNT carry up to 72 regular season games each season; the New Year's Day Winter Classic; half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs each season; three Stanley Cup Finals series exclusively on TNT; and live streaming and simulcast rights for HBO Max (which, alongside ESPN , replaces NHL.tv as the league's out-of-market streaming home), marking the service's entry into live programming. The Turner and ESPN/ABC deals mean that NBC Sports' relationship with the NHL (one that dated to the 2005–06 season) would conclude at the end of the truncated 2021 season (see July 7), this after NBC pulled out of negotiations for the partial contractual rights.
27	Contestant Laura Trammell wins $398,690 in cash and prizes (including a Latitude Margaritaville house worth $375,000) during that evening's episode of Wheel of Fortune, making her the fourth biggest winner in the show's history (and the biggest outside of three other $1 million winners); it is also the expensive non-grand prize win outside the $100,000 grand prize, since a Winnebago Intent was offered and won in a 2019 episode. For the week of April 26–30, a special wedge was added to the wheel which allowed a contestant to add a second Latitude Margaritaville house envelope in the bonus round, similar to the Million Dollar Wedge (which was intact in the contestant's possession and is susceptible to any bankrupt wedge hits). It is also the third week to feature a collaboration between Margaritaville and Wheel, after previous sponsorships in 2018 and 2019.
29	Nearly three months after announcing its intent to acquire Quincy Media's broadcast properties (see February 1 entry), Gray Television announces it will sell seven Quincy-owned stations (including corresponding satellites belonging to four ABC affiliates) to Allen Media Broadcasting to address local cross-ownership conflicts with existing Gray properties. The $380-million deal results in the Entertainment Studios unit acquiring NBC affiliates KVOA/Tucson, KWWL/Cedar Rapids and WREX/Rockford, and ABC affiliates WKOW/Madison, WXOW/La Crosse, WAOW/Wausau and WSIL/Paducah.
30	The CW removes the British police procedural Bulletproof (which has aired on the network since 2019, under license from distributor Sky Vision) from its streaming platforms following an April 29 report in The Guardian detailing accusations of misconduct against star Noel Clarke from 20 women, in which he was accused of sexual harassment, unwanted groping, bullying, making inappropriate on-set comments, and sharing sexually explicit photos and videos without consent. Clarke has denied the allegations except for those pertaining to inappropriate comments he admits to have made about one of the women.

May

Date	Event	Source
3	Gray Television announces its acquisition of the Meredith Local Media broadcasting unit from the Meredith Corporation for $2.7 billion. (Meredith would concurrently spin off its print/digital unit to current company shareholders.) The deal, upon its completion on December 1, resulted in Gray adding 16 stations in 11 markets to the company's portfolio, as well as making Gray the third-largest TV station group in the U.S. (behind Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group), with 101 stations serving 113 markets that reach 36% of U.S. households (or 25% when factoring in the UHF discount). (See also July 14, concerning the sole station spin-off associated with the deal.)
	Two months after awarding Thursday Night Football rights to Amazon Prime Video (see March 18 entry), the National Football League announces the streamer's exclusive commitment to the package will begin one season earlier than announced, from 2023 to 2022. The move means that 2021 is the last season TNF will be available on over-the-air (Fox) and conventional cable (NFL Network) services, outside of broadcast stations in the competing teams' home markets.
10	Believing that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association needs ample time to properly execute organizational and membership reforms (including initial changes approved on May 6), NBC announces it would not air the HFPA's Golden Globe Awards ceremony in January 2022. It is one of several stands (and boycotts) taken by studios, talent, agents, and PR firms against the HFPA in light of recent reports about its lack of membership diversity, as well as its long history of insular culture, suspect financial practices, and other questionable conduct.
	Calling himself a "salary cap casualty," Kenny Mayne announces his departure from ESPN after 27 years as an anchor and correspondent for the sports network; his last on-screen appearance occurs on May 24.
13	HBO cancels taping of the May 14 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher (scheduled to feature Neil deGrasse Tyson as the interview guest, and Max Brooks and Dan Carlin as panelists) after the comedian/political satirist tests positive for COVID-19, with Maher being asymptomatic, following weekly PCR testing for the disease conducted by the premium channel ahead of the scheduled broadcast. Maher is one of several rare "breakthrough" COVID-19 cases that occurred despite prior vaccination. (HBO aired reruns of Real Time and Mare of Easttown, respectively, in place of the canceled May 14 and May 21 episodes.) Maher returned to the program on May 28.
16– 17	The 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards aired on MTV (and simulcast on ViacomCBS-owned sister channels including Nick at Nite, BET, Comedy Central, TV Land and Paramount Network) with Leslie Jones as the host. The ceremony, held at the Hollywood Palladium, saw Sacha Baron Cohen be honored with the Comedic Genius Award and Scarlett Johansson honored with the MTV Generation Award. Among television nominees, WandaVision earned the most accolades with four awards (including Best Performance in a Show and co-lead Elizabeth Olsen for Best Show). It is also the first telecast to be split over two nights: the second night (on May 17) marked the inaugural edition of MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted, a ceremony devoted exclusively to awards in reality television. (In addition to airing on MTV, the event was simulcast on MTV2, VH1 and CMT.) The ceremony, hosted by Nikki Glaser, saw RuPaul's Drag Race earn the most wins with three awards (including Best Competition Series and RuPaul for Best Host).
17	AT&T and Discovery, Inc. reach a definitive agreement to combine the respective media assets of WarnerMedia (such as HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., CNN, TBS and a 50% share of The CW) and Discovery (such as Discovery Channel, Discovery , Food Network, HGTV and TLC) in a cash/securities/stock deal worth $43 billion, plus WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt. The deal is structured as a Reverse Morris Trust, as AT&T would spin out WarnerMedia into an independent company (unwinding its $85-billion 2017 acquisition of the former Time Warner) that concurrently acquires Discovery. Closed on April 8, 2022, AT&T shareholders own 71% of the company and Discovery shareholders own the remaining 29% share, with each shareholder group appointing representative board members; Discovery President/CEO David Zaslav leads the new company, taking over from WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who would depart.
18–22	The 2021 Eurovision Song Contest (held at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands) airs live on Peacock, with the semi-finals airing on May 18 and May 20, and the final (in which Italy won with Måneskin's "Zitti e buoni") airing on May 22. It marked the first time that an entire Eurovision Song Contest event (both semi-finals and the final) have been carried live-to-air on a U.S. television service.
22	CNN terminates its contract with political commentator and former politician Rick Santorum in response to racist and historically inaccurate comments he made about Native Americans at an event in April.
23	The 2021 Billboard Music Awards air on NBC from the Microsoft Theater, with Nick Jonas as the host. The Weeknd won 10 awards from among his 16 nominations, including for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Album (for After Hours) and Top Hot 100 Song (for "Blinding Lights").
	HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver airs a segment on the practice of local television stations featuring sponsored content on newscasts and daytime advertorial lifestyle programming (and its impact on journalistic integrity). During the segment, host John Oliver revealed that the show had created a fake product, the "Venus Veil" (a regular blanket that it intentionally deceptively marketed as "the world's first sexual wellness blanket"), and hired an actress to pitch the product on three unsuspecting stations, KTVX/Salt Lake City, KVUE/Austin and KMGH-TV/Denver (all ABC affiliates).
26	Juan Williams announces he will depart from the host panel of Fox News Channel's The Five rather than commute between his Washington, D.C., home and Fox News' New York City studios, where the show would return to production on June 1. Williams, who had been with The Five since its launch in 2011, remains with Fox as a Washington-based senior political analyst.
	In light of the 2019 killing of Javier Ambler that was filmed by Live PD's cameras, Texas governor Greg Abbott signs into law the first statewide measure in the U.S. (a bill named in Ambler's memory) that prohibits law enforcement agencies from authorizing TV crews to film on-duty officers "for the purpose of creating a reality television show". The bill, authored by Democratic State Representative James Talarico (whose district includes Williamson County, where Ambler was killed), had passed with near-unanimous support in both houses of the Texas Legislature.
27	HBO Max, which marked the one-year anniversary of its launch on this date, releases Friends: The Reunion, a special reuniting the main cast of the 1994–2004 NBC sitcom (Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer). Moderated by James Corden, it featured taped and in-person guest appearances from former guest stars (such as Tom Selleck, Elliott Gould, James Michael Tyler [in one of his last appearances before his death from metastatic prostate and spinal cancer on October 24], and Reese Witherspoon) and celebrity fans (such as David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Cindy Crawford, and Lady Gaga). Filming of the special – which was recorded in front of a studio audience at the sitcom's former Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank – took place in April, after having been delayed twice in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
	The 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards air on Fox from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, one year after the 2020 ceremony was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic (its winners were announced through a virtual press conference). Usher serves as host, with Elton John (recipient of the iHeartRadio Icon Award) among the honorees.
28	Longtime KSAT/San Antonio reporter Paul Venema retires from the Graham Media Group-owned ABC affiliate after 47 years.

June

Date	Event	Source
3	The internal networks of Cox Media Group's television and radio stations are struck by what is described as a ransomware attack. The IT incident disrupts the stations' online streams; forces employees to use personal devices for communication instead of company-owned computers and phones; and impacts the production of live news broadcasts, including the pre-emption of full newscasts on at least one of Cox's television stations (WSB-TV/Atlanta).
7	Chris Harrison reaches a non-disclosure agreement with ABC and Warner Horizon Unscripted Television to end his 19-year run as host (and co-executive producer) of The Bachelor franchise. Harrison had been taking a sabbatical from its various series following a controversial February 9 Extra interview, in which he defended Season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell during a discussion with former contestant Rachel Lindsay concerning photos of Kirkconnell at a 2018 Antebellum South plantation-themed fraternity formal, and accusations she liked racist social media posts and had bullied a high school classmate for dating Black men. (Guest hosts were slated for all scheduled 2021 editions of the franchise – including Season 17 of The Bachelorette, which premiered the night prior – starting with the Season 25 edition of The Bachelor: After the Final Rose.) On September 28, ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer—who starred in the flagship series’ fifth season in 2004—was named host of The Bachelor effective with the 26th season in January 2022.
	GAC Media, a newly incorporated holding company co-founded by Hicks Equity Partners and former Crown Media Family Networks CEO William J. Abbott, announces it had reached separate agreements to acquire Great American Country from Discovery, Inc. and equestrian sports-focused Ride TV from Ride Television Network, Inc. for undisclosed prices. Abbott becomes GAC Media's president and CEO.
14	For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert broadcasts before a live audience at New York's Ed Sullivan Theater, with Jon Stewart as Colbert's primary in-studio guest. The show is adhering to New York state's adoption of CDC guidelines, including audience members proving full vaccination, optional wearing of face masks, daily testing and screening of staff, and a compliance officer monitoring and enforcing all safety protocols. In the 15 months before this broadcast, Late Show originated from either Colbert's home or within the confines of a closet-sized studio above the Sullivan.
24	TBS' Conan airs an extended (even for its original format) final episode that features guest appearances by Jack Black (in-studio) and Will Ferrell (via Zoom), an animated cold open "exit interview" with Homer Simpson, and clip packages from previous episodes. The finale marks host Conan O'Brien's departure from late-night TV; his 28 years working on Conan and NBC's The Tonight Show and Late Night trail only the 33 and 30 years respectively spent by David Letterman and Johnny Carson in the daypart.
25	The 48th Daytime Emmy Awards air on CBS, with Sheryl Underwood serving as host and notable winners including General Hospital (Outstanding Drama Series) and Jeopardy! (Outstanding Game Show), as well as posthumous wins for Larry King (Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host) and Jeopardy!'s Alex Trebek (Outstanding Game Show Host).

July

Date	Event	Source
3	With TNT's broadcast of the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA Eastern Conference-winning victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Marv Albert heads into retirement, closing out a sports announcing career that dates back to the 1960s and included TV work covering NBA, NFL, NHL, boxing, and Olympic coverage for Turner Sports, NBC, and CBS, as well as local teams including the New York Knicks.
7	The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Montreal Canadiens 1–0 in Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals to win their second consecutive and third overall championship in franchise history. This game also marked the final NHL broadcast for NBC Sports after 16 seasons, with ESPN/ABC and Turner Sports becoming the new U.S. NHL broadcasters starting with the 2021-22 season. Game 5 attracted 3.6 million viewers and the series averaged 2.52 million viewers overall for NBC.
13	All remaining analog television stations, as mandated by the FCC, shut off their analog signals and broadcast only in digital. This transition comes twelve years and one month after the digital transition for full-power television stations in 2009; only existing low-power broadcasters have been allowed to broadcast in analog since then. The few remaining analog low-power stations are mostly distant rural translators in large geographical television markets and a few urban-area stations operating primarily as radio stations on 87.7 FM; digital television is incompatible with either digital or analog radio, which forces the 87.7 stations to change frequencies or cease their radio operations altogether.
14	The Talk announces that frequent guest panelist Jerry O'Connell (who had been recurring on the program since May, when the series began employing a rotation of male guest hosts) would join the CBS daytime show in September as a permanent panelist, the first male to join what had been an all-female panel throughout its 11-year history.
	Gray Television announces it will sell its ABC affiliate in the Central Michigan market, WJRT-TV/Flint, to Allen Media Broadcasting. The $70 million deal—which closes on September 23, prior to the closure of the Gray-Meredith deal—resolves the only single-market overlap created by Gray's pending acquisition of Meredith Corporation's broadcast assets (see May 3 entry), and allows Gray to keep another "top-four-ranked" station in the market, Meredith-owned CBS affiliate WNEM-TV/Bay City.
16	In a surprise on-air announcement, Kasie Hunt announces her departure from NBC News and MSNBC, where she has hosted MSNBC's early morning program Way Too Early since its revival in 2020 which continued with rotating guest hosts in the interim(see October 25 entry).
20	The Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Phoenix Suns 105–98 in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals to win their second overall championship. This ends the city's 50-year championship drought dating back to 1971.
23–August 8	The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, take place after their one-year postponement was made on March 24, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. NBC and its cable networks carry coverage in the United States. (NBCSN offered event coverage for the last time as it was scheduled to close at the end of the year; see "Networks and Services" below for details.) Although the International Olympic Committee stated it would be held as scheduled, postponement of the Summer Olympics to the following year was made in March 2020. The new opening/closing ceremony date range was announced on March 30, 2020.
28	Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby issues a cease-and-desist letter to ESPN, demanding the network end correspondence with the conference's member schools and other NCAA Division I conferences and accusing ESPN—without providing evidence—of having "actively engaged" in discussions with the SEC and American Athletic Conference about approaching Big 12 members for membership in those conferences to "destabilize the Big 12" and allow the universities of Oklahoma and Texas (which informed the Big 12 two days earlier that they will not renew their grant of media rights after the 2024–25 academic year, intending to join the SEC in 2025–26, an invitation approved by that conference the day after the letter's release) to avoid having to make buyout payments should the Big 12 fold. (ESPN maintains television and streaming rights to all three NCAA conferences.) Representatives for ESPN dismissed Bowlsby's claims as having "no merit."
29	Ending a 33-month-long retransmission dispute, Dish Network and Home Box Office, Inc. reach an agreement that allows the satellite provider to resume distribution of HBO and Cinemax (offering five of seven HBO and three of eight Cinemax linear channels, not counting West Coast versions of their primary feeds that were also added, plus SVOD content from both networks), as well as offer access to HBO Max for the first time. (Dish concurrently offered customers a 20% discount on HBO Max's ad-free tier through October 27.) Dish Network and Sling TV dropped HBO and Cinemax in October 2018, which Dish blamed on AT&T (owner of HBO parent WarnerMedia) leveraging its ownership of HBO to help boost Dish rival DirecTV. (Sling TV is not included in the Dish/HBO carriage agreement.)
30	Ramar Communications reaches an agreement to sell its television station cluster in the Albuquerque market—Telemundo affiliate KASA-TV and its network of repeaters (KTEL-CD and its Carlsbad satellite KTEL-TV, and 40 low-power translators), MeTV affiliate KRTN-LD (and its Durango, Colorado, satellite KRTN-TV), Movies! affiliate KUPT-LD, and Heroes & Icons affiliate KUPT/Hobbs—to Telemundo Station Group for $12.5 million. The sale will result in KASA becoming a Telemundo O&O (resulting in Telemundo parent NBCUniversal obtaining its 31st O&O market for the Spanish-language network), though it is unclear if the KRTN and KUPT stations will be spun off to a separate buyer or converted into repeaters of KASA. It will also mark Ramar's exit from television broadcasting, after having previously sold its Lubbock television cluster (led by Fox affiliate KJTV-TV, CW affiliate KLCW-TV, and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYL-LD) to Gray Television (owner of local NBC affiliate KCBD) and SagamoreHill Broadcasting in October 2020; the company will retain ownership of its eight-station radio cluster in Lubbock.
	Waypoint Media announces its intent to exit broadcasting with the sale of its television stations and its centralized News Hub to Coastal Television Broadcast Group. It is Waypoint's second attempt to sell the stations, after a previously announced sale to Standard Media collapsed earlier in the year. Both Coastal and Waypoint own stations mostly in small cities and rural areas of the United States; Waypoint's owners stated that consolidation into a larger media company was a necessity to achieve the economy of scale to survive in the modern American media landscape and had previously divested its other broadcast assets to HC2 Holdings, Family Life Ministries and Seven Mountains Media over the course of the late 2010s and early 2020s.

August

Date	Event	Source
8	ABC airs an exclusive special edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, a rivalry game between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, in which the White Sox won 9–3 (marking their first three-game series sweep at Wrigley Field since May 2012). The telecast marked the first regular season Major League Baseball game shown on ABC since August 1995 (during its involvement in the short-lived Baseball Network consortium with NBC), and the first time that ABC had broadcast a regular season MLB game produced by ESPN, which fully absorbed the network's sports division in 2006. (ABC resumed airing MLB games of any kind on a limited basis in September 2020, by arrangement with ESPN for the league's wild card round.)
11	Jeopardy! distributor Sony Pictures Television announces two new permanent hosts for the show: executive producer Mike Richards was assigned to helm the daily syndicated version, while actress Mayim Bialik hosts primetime and spinoff versions, including a "National College Championship" slated to air on ABC in 2022. Both Richards and Bialik were among Jeopardy's guest hosts in the months after former host Alex Trebek's death. Richards subsequently resigned as host on August 20 and was later fired as showrunner of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (both of which he oversaw since succeeding longtime producer Harry Friedman in May 2020, after the latter's retirement) on August 31, amid scrutiny over misogynistic and offensive remarks he made on his 2013–14 podcast The Randumb Show, and prior wrongful termination lawsuits filed by two models dismissed during his 2009–19 producing tenure on The Price is Right. The five completed syndicated episodes that Richards hosted—filmed the day before his resignation—would air as scheduled to kick off the new season the week of September 13, with Bialik and Ken Jennings alternating multi-week stints for the remainder of it.
19	Bally Sports Detroit suspends Detroit Tigers color commentator Jack Morris after he used an offensive Asian accent while talking about Japanese Los Angeles Angels utility player Shohei Ohtani during a game on August 17. Morris apologized for the incident later in the game and Ohtani said he was not offended after seeing the video.
	Actress Briana Thomas (who had a background role as a barista for multiple episodes from 2018 to 2019) filed a discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against The Young and the Restless distributor Sony Pictures Television and CBS, alleging that Anthony Morina—who has served as the soap opera's executive producer/showrunner since 2018—had sexually harassed her on multiple occasions (including complimenting her body, offering her a "private acting lesson", and asking her to remove a sarong during the filming of one scene in order to see her fully in a bikini), and had publicly verbally abused her on-set before firing her from Y&R via email in retaliation for spurning his advances.
20	Carrie Ann Inaba announces her departure from The Talk after three seasons. Inaba, who assumed the moderator/co-host slot previously held by Julie Chen in January 2019, had been on sabbatical from the CBS daytime talk show since April, a move she then cited was "to focus on [her] well-being". Inaba's departure was the first in a series of hosting changes for The Talk: Elaine Welteroth, who joined the panel in January 2020, subsequently announced on August 31 that she would also be leaving the program; American Ninja Warrior co-host Akbar Gbajabiamila (who guest co-hosted multiple episodes between April and July) was announced to occupy one of the vacancies on September 2, followed by the addition of journalist Natalie Morales (who announced three days prior that she would depart NBC News after 22 years with the network news division) on October 3.
	Disney Media Distribution announces that ABC News would assume production oversight of Tamron Hall, effective with the syndicated daytime talk show's third season, which would premiere on September 6. The division already oversees two of ABC's daytime programs: The View (originally overseen by the network's daytime division from 1997 to 2014) and the news-based Good Morning America extension program GMA3: What You Need To Know (originally formatted as a lighter talk show from 2018 to 2020, when it was overhauled into its current hard news/interview format amid the COVID-19 pandemic).
25	ESPN removes Rachel Nichols—who had been a host and sideline reporter for the network in two different stints since 2004 (she left ESPN in 2013 for Turner Sports, working there for three years)—from her NBA coverage assignments, along with canceling The Jump (a daily basketball analysis program she had hosted since its 2016 debut), in the wake of a recorded 2020 phone conversation with Adam Mendelsohn (an advisor to LeBron James) leaked on July 4, in which Nichols lamented Maria Taylor (who is Black) being assigned to cover the 2020 NBA Finals over herself, implying Taylor got the assignment because of "pressure" toward ESPN to address their "crappy longtime record on diversity," remarks which earlier resulted in the network dropping Nichols from covering the 2021 Finals. (Taylor left ESPN on July 31, subsequently joining NBC Sports as a correspondent through a deal signed ten days prior.)
	Kirstyn Crawford, a former producer for Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos, files a civil lawsuit against ABC and former GMA and World News Tonight executive producer Michael Corn (who was named president of news at NewsNation on May 28) in the New York Supreme Court. The suit alleges sexual assault and attempted sexual coercion by Corn toward Crawford (by repeatedly forcing her head into his chest, kissing her and rubbing her legs during an Uber ride, and fabricating the loss of his hotel key to be invited into her room for sex during a 2015 assignment to cover the 87th Academy Awards for GMA) and ex-WNT staffer/supporting claimant Jill McClain (by groping and forcing himself on her during two separate 2010 assignments for World News Tonight, which he executive produced from 2010 to 2014), that Corn fostered a toxic work environment at both programs, and that ABC News management did not investigate the complaints against Corn (including one filed by Stephanopoulos on Crawford's behalf). Corn dismissed the claims as "demonstrably false," pointing to emails between him and Crawford that he claims contradict her allegations.
29	Hours after Hurricane Ida makes landfall as a Category 4 near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, Nexstar's New Orleans duopoly of WGNO (ABC) and WNOL (CW) suffers significant wind and flood damage to their shared studio building at the Metairie-based Galleria office complex. A section of the ceiling above the control room was peeled away, forcing duopoly personnel to be evacuated from that area during WGNO's hurricane coverage and causing flooding within the building (including its newsroom); some of the facility's exterior walls and a satellite relay dish were also damaged. Gray-owned Fox affiliate WVUE is forced to temporarily relocate some of its anchors and personnel to the studios of sister stations WBRC/Birmingham and WAFB/Baton Rouge the next day, after its studio building loses generator power following a "catastrophic" electrical outage that affected over 90% of homes and businesses in Orleans Parish (including the majority of New Orleans proper). Over 350,000 cable subscribers in the storm's path were left without TV and/or internet service (338,115 of them being in Louisiana, including New Orleans-area customers of Cox, Spectrum and U-verse).
	ESPN's High School Showcase airs a high school football contest between IMG Academy and the Bishop Sycamore Centurions, only realizing partway through the game—which IMG would ultimately win 58–0—that there were numerous inconsistencies in the claims that Bishop Sycamore had made to secure the national television slot, including questions on the identities and credentials of Bishop Sycamore's players, many of whom were revealed as graduates of other schools who had gone unrecruited; the team's playing of another game less than 48 hours before against the rules of every high school sanctioning body in the United States; and the organization of Bishop Sycamore itself, which did not exist before 2019 and has scant evidence of being a high school as it claims. Both ESPN and its scheduler Paragon Marketing Group admitted they had failed to do their due diligence in scheduling the Centurions.

September

Date	Event	Source
2	Locast indefinitely suspends operations, two days after New York Southern District Judge Louis Stanton denied the streaming service a summary judgment that would have exempted it from copyright liability; the ruling set up a likely trial in 2022 for an infringement lawsuit filed in 2019 by the owners of NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. Locast contended it was exempt from liability under the Copyright Act because it seeks $5 monthly donations from users—earning around $4.3 million to date, nearly twice the $2.4 million it incurred in operational expenses—to cover costs of "maintaining and operating an expanding system" that streams retransmitted broadcast signals to users within the markets it operates. Stanton asserted the donations amounted to surcharges to allow Locast users to receive uninterrupted streams following a 15-minute free viewing window (occurring four times per hour until a donation is made, a feature it suspended on September 1 in light of the ruling), and asserted no provision exists that would allow the donations to be used for expansion of the service into additional markets.
6	Buzzr began rerunning the cult 1979–80 game show Whew! for the first time, returning the show to television for the first time in 41 years, in a licensing agreement with owners Burt Sugarman and Jay Wolpert, who retained ownership of the series.
7	CBS revamps its weekday morning show franchise, relaunching it as CBS Mornings and incorporating feature segments during its second hour to tie the program in more closely with CBS Sunday Morning. The changes, which also involve the addition of sportscaster and former NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson as tertiary co-anchor (alongside co-anchors Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil, both holdovers from the preceding CBS This Morning format) and the incorporation of the abstract sun motif and "Abblasen" trumpet fanfare used by Sunday Morning since its January 1979 debut (mirroring the unified 1979–82 Morning format), coincides with the network moving production of its morning shows to a new studio at One Astor Plaza in Times Square. The Saturday edition, retitled CBS Saturday Morning and which already incorporates feature segments similar to those on Sunday Morning, followed suit—retaining its existing anchors—on September 18.
15	The NBA's Milwaukee Bucks announce Lisa Byington as their new play-by-play announcer for local TV broadcasts on Bally Sports Wisconsin, succeeding the retired Jim Paschke. Byington becomes the first female to call TV play-by-play on a full-time regular-season basis for a major men's pro sports team.
18	Adult Swim and TBS' rights to Family Guy expire and the show has their final airings on those networks. FXX and Freeform begin airing the first fifteen seasons. The show also joins FX's lineup that month. These deals did not affect the syndication rights held by local broadcast stations. The show's departure from Adult Swim on September 18, 2021, was commemorated with a remembrance bumper created by the network, which played after the final airing (the episode "Stewie is Enceinte"). The bumper showed animations of several Adult Swim characters bidding farewell to Family Guy, including shots of Peter crying at the beginning and the Griffin family waving goodbye towards the end.
19	The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards air on CBS. Cedric the Entertainer serves as host of a ceremony that sees Netflix earn 10 Emmys (out of a record-tying 44 when combined with the previous weekend's Creative Arts Emmys); the service's The Crown and The Queen's Gambit respectively win outstanding Drama Series and Limited or Anthology Series; and Apple TV 's Ted Lasso claim Outstanding Comedy Series.
20	Dancing with the Stars premieres its 30th season on ABC, which features a regular same-gender dance pairing for the first time in the reality competition's history: singer/actress JoJo Siwa (who came out as pansexual in April 2021, and, on August 26, was among the first two celebrity contestants announced to appear that season, alongside Olympic gold-medal gymnast Sunisa Lee) is paired with a female professional partner, announced as Jenna Johnson on the season premiere. (Season 22 contestants Nyle DiMarco and Jodie Sweetin were both paired with pro dancers of the same gender for one-time routines in 2016; certain international versions of the franchise have featured occasional same-gender partnerships dating to 2010, when the Israeli version Rokdim Im Kokhavim paired sportscaster Gili Shem Tov with female dancer Dorit Milman.) NBA shooting guard Iman Shumpert (the first NBA player to become a finalist and winner in the show's history) and professional partner Daniella Karagach (in her first partner victory) would win the Season 30 mirror ball trophy on November 22.
22	In the midst of the Climate Week NYC summit, the topic of climate change takes the late night spotlight for "Climate Night": All seven of the major broadcast and cable late-night talk shows — TBS' Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Late Show with James Corden, and NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers — feature segments on and activists involved in the issue of climate change.
24	About 15 minutes into that morning's live broadcast, co-host Sunny Hostin and recurring guest co-host Ana Navarro (both of whom were fully vaccinated) are asked to leave the set of The View after rapid antigen tests taken before the live taping revealed they both had tested positive for COVID-19. Their test results were later revealed on-air by fellow panelists Joy Behar and Sara Haines, and resulted in a scheduled in-studio interview with Vice President Kamala Harris to be delayed (and abbreviated) so it could instead be conducted remotely from a separate room elsewhere within New York's ABC Broadcast Center. A White House official stated that Harris had not interacted with Hostin and Navarro prior to the broadcast. The initial results were later found to have been false positives as subsequent rapid tests taken backstage came back negative, resulting in Hostin and Navarro being cleared to host the following Monday's (September 27) broadcast.
26	The 74th Tony Awards air on CBS and Paramount from New York's Winter Garden Theatre. Originally scheduled for June 7, 2020, at Radio City Music Hall, the ceremony had long been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic that kept Broadway theatre shut down from March 2020 until a return date weeks before this ceremony. The 74th Tonys were expanded to a four-hour event, with acting, directing, and technical awards (nominations for which were announced in October 2020) presented in a two-hour segment shown exclusively on Paramount and hosted by Audra McDonald, then continued on CBS with a two-hour concert billed as The Tony Awards Present: Broadway's Back! (hosted by Leslie Odom Jr.) that featured live Broadway performances and the awarding of the Tonys for Best Play (The Inheritance), Best Play Revival (A Soldier's Play), and Best Musical (Moulin Rouge!).
27	In an unusual move, KATU/Portland, OR has what one staffer terms a "No News Monday": The morning, afternoon, and early evening newscasts at the Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned ABC affiliate are cancelled for the day (rebroadcasts of KATU-produced specials air in their place) so that the station's news staff can attend a seminar designed to deal with job-related trauma and stress.
29	Xavier Prather becomes the first Black HouseGuest to win the main U.S. version of Big Brother, defeating Derek Frazier (son of the late Joe Frazier) for the $750,000 grand prize (increased from $250,000 in past seasons) by a unanimous 9–0 vote of its "jury" of evicted contestants in the Season 23 finale. Prather, Frazier and "America's Favorite HouseGuest" honoree Tiffany Mitchell (who won $50,000, up from the prior $25,000 for the viewer-voted prize) were members of "The Cookout," an all-Black alliance formed early in the season by six of the initial 16 contestants (eight of whom were persons of color, a byproduct of CBS casting policies instituted in response to the George Floyd protests requiring BIPOC participants represent at least 50% of the contestants cast on its reality competition shows) with the intent of securing the historic feat. Among the U.S. versions of the franchise, Prather is preceded in this distinction by Tamar Braxton, who won the show's celebrity edition in 2019.
	In the FCC Enforcement Bureau's first penalty action pertaining to Internet-transmitted closed captioning, ViacomCBS settles an investigation into violations of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (which require live and pre-recorded video programming delivered via internet television services incorporate captions if broadcast with captioning in original linear TV airings) concerning multiple reported instances, dating to January 2018, of captions being absent from certain programs featured on Pluto TV's linear streaming channels and VOD menu. Under the consent decree, the company agreed to pay $3.5 million in fines and to implement a compliance plan to ensure captions are included on all Pluto TV content.
30	Dish Network drops three channels it carried among the four regional AT&T SportsNet/Root Sports networks (AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and Root Sports Northwest) from the satellite provider's lineup, after Dish and the regional sports network group's parent, AT&T Sports Networks LLC, fail to reach terms on a renewed carriage agreement before the existing deal's midnight (ET) expiration deadline.

October

Date	Event	Source
1	On the 60th anniversary of the Christian Broadcasting Network's first broadcast, Pat Robertson—who had hosted the Christian-oriented news/talk show since its April 1966 premiere—announced he is stepping down as regular co-host of The 700 Club after that day's telecast to focus on his role as chancellor and CEO of Virginia Beach-based Regent University (which Robertson founded in 1977). The elder Robertson will continue to appear on the monthly 700 Club Interactive and make occasional appearances on The 700 Club. CBN CEO Gordon Robertson, who has also served as a co-host and executive producer of the program since 1998, succeeded his father as primary co-host of the ministry's flagship program on October 4.
	A disagreement between Comcast and network parent Madison Square Garden Entertainment results in the cable provider dropping MSG Network and MSG Plus from its Xfinity systems in New Jersey and Connecticut.
	DirecTV removes Bloomberg Television from the lineups of its namesake direct-broadcast satellite service, DirecTV Stream and U-verse. The DirecTV satellite service had carried the financial news network since its 1994 inception (both via its standalone 24-hour feed as well as the time-lease blocks that Bloomberg had run on USA Network until 2004 and on E! thereafter until 2009).
2	With the network's annual two-night season lead-off telecast of the iHeartRadio Music Festival, The CW begins regularly offering prime-time programming on Saturdays (running from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. ET/PT), replacing syndicated series, feature film packages and/or local programs (including in some cases, paid programming) that its affiliates had run on that night. It marks the first time The CW has programmed that night in its 15-year history and makes it only the sixth conventional U.S. English-language commercial broadcast network—counting the modern "Big Four" and the now-defunct DuMont—ever to maintain a seven-night-a-week schedule. (Fox, which has programmed Saturdays since July 1987, was the last network to start offering a full weekly schedule upon adding prime-time programming on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in January 1993; CW predecessors The WB and UPN never programmed Saturday prime time during their existences.) As a trade-off for the move, the network shuttered its daytime block on September 3, giving that one hour per weekday back to its affiliates effective September 6 and leaving its Saturday morning E/I block, One Magnificent Morning, as the only non-prime-time programming remaining on The CW's schedule. The night's regular schedule debuted the following Saturday (October 9), consisting of returning unscripted shows Whose Line Is It Anyway? and World's Funniest Animals.
6	Dish Network removes 64 Tegna-owned local stations from nearly 3 million customers in 53 markets across the country. On October 18, Dish Network filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Tegna.
	A Reuters investigation reported that, according to court documents from depositions in 2019 and 2020, Robert Herring founded far-right news/opinion channel One America News Network—which has been the subject of criticism and legal issues related to its promoting of false claims of election fraud during the 2020 presidential election, among other falsehoods and conspiracy theories—at the urging of executives at AT&T (which owns competitor CNN through its WarnerMedia unit) who felt that an additional conservative news channel was needed to counterbalance existing left- and centrist-leaning news channels being offered on DirecTV and U-verse (spun off by AT&T in April). Documents also disclosed that AT&T had provided up to 90% of the revenues to OAN, and the network had promised to "cast a positive light" on AT&T during newscasts.
11	The Talk's host panel returns to five permanent spots with the addition of Natalie Morales; she joins the CBS daytime talk show after a 22-year tenure with NBC News, where her duties included serving as correspondent for Dateline and West Coast anchor for Today.
	Mark Harmon makes his final appearance as a cast regular on NCIS, with his character, Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, choosing to stay behind in the relative peace of Alaska after solving a case there. Harmon, who had been in the CBS drama series' cast since its first season in 2003, remains associated with the show as an executive producer.
17	Sinclair Broadcast Group is struck by a ransomware attack that resulted in data being taken from its IT networks, and knocked internal servers, email servers, corporate phone lines, and workstations and news graphics systems at its television stations offline. Programming was also disrupted over subsequent days: production of live news broadcasts were impacted—many stations had to produce their newscasts using limited internal resources, while a few were forced to preempt them outright (substituted by syndicated programs or a feed of The National Desk)—as were scheduled NFL game telecasts on its NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates on the 17th; Sinclair also supplied alternative feeds, mainly from company-owned multicast networks like Charge! and TBD, to fill airtime on some of the affected stations. The hackers are believed to be connected to the Russian cybergang Evil Corp. (which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2019), and to have breached the stations’ internal broadcasting systems by disseminating the Macaw ransomware strain (linked to an October 10 cyberattack on Olympus Corporation) via an interconnected Active Directory domain linked across Sinclair's internal network.
	Actress Melissa Joan Hart wins $1 million for her charity of Youth Village on that night's Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, raising a total of $1,039,800 (largest overall in the show's Primetime version) and becoming the fourth overall contestant to win the grand prize since Sarah Manchester on the September 17, 2014, episode. For the celebrity episodes, four Million Dollar Wedges (without showing the bankrupts) are available from the second round which enables a celebrity to play for the prize by replacing one of the four $100,000 envelopes in the bonus round if claimed.
20	Jesse Spencer makes his final appearance as a series regular on Chicago Fire. During the series’ 200th episode, Spencer's character, Fire Capt. Matthew Casey, prepares to move to Oregon to take care of the sons of fallen firefighter Andrew Darden (who was killed in the line of duty in the show's pilot episode). Citing his involvement as a television series regular for 18 consecutive years (having played Dr. Robert Chase in House for eight seasons beforehand), Spencer, who had been with the NBC drama series since its first season in 2012, left to pursue other projects and to take care of his family.
25	MSNBC and Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announce that Jonathan Lemire is named permanent anchor of MSNBC's early morning program Way Too Early, succeeding Kasie Hunt who left MSNBC and NBC News in July to join CNN.(see July 16 entry)

November

Date	Event	Source
2	Game 6 of the World Series is broadcast on Fox. The Atlanta Braves defeat the Houston Astros, winning their first title since 1995 and second since moving to Atlanta. It was the second time the Astros lost the series to an National League East team since 2019 (with the Nationals) and the third time they lost at Minute Maid Park since 2005 (with the White Sox). This also marked Joe Buck's last appearance as an announcer for Fox Sports broadcasts after 27 years. He will later sign a multi-year deal with ESPN and ABC along with Troy Aikman in 2022.
8	ABC confirms that Ingo Rademacher was released from his contract with General Hospital, where he played the character of Jasper "Jax" Jacks off-and-on since 1996, after not complying with a November 1 deadline for the soap opera's cast and crew to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. (He has been a vocal critic of such mandates.) The news of Rademacher's exit also came one day after he shared a meme by conservative author Allie Beth Stuckey on Instagram labeling Assistant Health Secretary Rachel Levine (who is transgender) a "dude"; the post—which also mocked both the notion that Levine is "an empowering woman" and the assertion that Virginia Lieutenant Governor-elect Winsome Sears (a Black Republican) could be deemed a "white supremacist"—drew criticism from fellow castmates, among them transgender actress Cassandra James (recurring character Dr. Terry Randolph). Rademacher made his last on-air appearance on November 22. He later filed suit against ABC on December 13, challenging the network's vaccine mandate on constitutional, religious discrimination and privacy grounds.
10	The 55th Annual Country Music Association Awards air on ABC from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, with Luke Bryan as host for the first time, making him the first solo host in 18 years. Notable winners included Luke Combs (for "Entertainer of the Year"), Chris Stapleton (who won four awards including "Male Vocalist of the Year" and "Album of the Year" for Starting Over) and Jimmie Allen (for "New Artist of the Year").
17	The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announces the formation of a new Emmys ceremony dedicated to children's and family programming, the Children's & Family Emmy Awards, after such programming of all dayparts fell under their jurisdiction for the first time for the 48th Daytime Emmy Awards, at which children's and family programming had a dedicated night.
21	The 49th American Music Awards aired on ABC from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, with Cardi B as host. (She also won "Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Song" for "Up" during the ceremony, becoming the first three-time winner in that category.) BTS (for "Artist of the Year", "Favorite Duo or Group – Pop", and "Favorite Song – Pop" for "Butter"), Doja Cat (for "Favorite Female Artist – R&B", "Favorite Album – R&B" for "Planet Her", "Collaboration of the Year" for "Kiss Me More" ft. SZA), and Megan Thee Stallion (for "Favorite Female Artist – Hip-Hop", "Favorite Album – Hip-Hop" for Good News, and "Favorite Trending Song" for "Body") won three awards each.
23	Steve Burton, who played the character of Jason Morgan off-and-on since 1991 (with a hiatus from 2012 to 2017), confirmed he was released from his contract with General Hospital, becoming the second actor (after Ingo Rademacher, see November 8 entry for details) to be let go from the ABC soap opera after declining to comply with a November 1 proof of COVID-19 vaccination deadline for cast and crew. Burton, who contracted COVID-19 in August, disclosed in an Instagram post that he unsuccessfully sought approval from the show's production staff for medical and religious exemptions to the vaccine requirement; Burton's last on-air appearance on the show aired on November 19.
30	Surgeon and TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat representing Pennsylvania that Pat Toomey will vacate (via retirement) at the end of his third term in January 2023. Oz's announcement leads to stations located in or which have significant broadcast/cable reach into Pennsylvania pulling The Dr. Oz Show from their schedules on December 1, among them Fox-owned WTXF/Philadelphia and WNYW/New York City, Nexstar-owned WJW/Cleveland, Sinclair-owned WPGH/Pittsburgh and WATM/Altoona, and Hearst-owned WGAL/Lancaster; following suit were SJL-owned WICU/Erie and Nexstar-owned WBRE/Scranton–Wilkes-Barre on December 6, and Nexstar-owned WBGH/Binghamton on December 13. The stations make the move out of concerns that leaving the show on their schedule would require them to give equal time to Oz's rival candidates should they request it.

December

Date	Event	Source
1	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia premieres its 15th season on FXX, becoming the longest-running live-action comedy series in TV history by number of seasons, surpassing The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet's 14-season run.
4	CNN fires Chris Cuomo—permanently ending his program, Cuomo Prime Time—four days after the network initially placed him on indefinite suspension following the November 29 release of documents in the sexual harassment investigation against his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, which revealed the anchor had a more participatory role in his brother's defense than he had previously disclosed. The transcripts and exhibits, released by the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James, included text messages showing Cuomo had sought to use his media sources to conduct research on the former governor's accusers, had offered to help the governor's office prepare its defense, and had dictated statements for his brother to use in depositions. (Shortly before his brother's resignation from office in August, Cuomo had apologized for having advised his brother's senior political aides and advisers in relation to the investigation, an act widely viewed as having breached traditional ethical barriers between journalists and lawmakers.) Rotating fill-in programs (starting with an expanded edition of Anderson Cooper 360°, which filled the slot from November 30–December 2) air in Cuomo Prime Time's former 9:00 p.m. ET slot until a permanent replacement show is announced.
7	The 47th People's Choice Awards are held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, with Kenan Thompson as host. This was the first ceremony to air simultaneously on both E! and NBC, with the latter marking its return to broadcast television when CBS last aired the ceremony in 2017. BTS (for "Group of 2021", "Song of 2021" and "Music Video of 2021", the latter two for "Butter") and Dwayne Johnson (for the "People's Champion Award", "Comedy Movie Star of 2021" and "Male Movie Star of 2021", the latter two for his role in Jungle Cruise) were the most-awarded nominees, earning three awards each. Television winners included Loki for "Show of 2021", Grey's Anatomy for "Drama Show of 2021", Never Have I Ever for "Comedy Show of 2021" and Keeping Up With the Kardashians for "Reality Show of 2021".
9	Former 19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar is convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography on federal charges tied to his April 29 arrest by U.S. Marshals following a two-year federal investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Facing a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each count, he ultimately is sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in May 2022.
	Jussie Smollett is found guilty of five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct from a January 2019 incident during which Smollett falsely reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime. It is believed and testified that he actually staged it. At the time, the fallout of the incident resulted in his being written out of Empire, on which he starred. In March 2022, Smollett is sentenced to five months in jail, 30 months of felony probation and was fined $25,000. He also must pay $120,000 in restitution.
	Brian Williams leaves NBC News after 28 years, a tenure that included anchoring NBC Nightly News from 2004 to 2015 (as well as a prior stint as the program's weekend anchor from 1993 to 1999), Rock Center with Brian Williams from 2011 to 2013, and MSNBC's The 11th Hour, which began in September 2016 and continued with rotating hosts in the interim (see January 27 entry)
12	In a surprise on-air announcement, Chris Wallace announces his departure from Fox News, where he had hosted its Sunday morning news discussion program Fox News Sunday since 2003. Later in the day, it is revealed that Wallace would join CNN , where he would debut Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? when the ill-fated streaming service launched in March 2022.
14	The Voice names trio Girl Named Tom the winners of the 21st season, the first group to do so on the American version.
	Woods Communications Corp. reaches an agreement to sell its Montgomery, Alabama, television station cluster—Fox affiliate WCOV-TV, Cozi TV affiliate WIYC (also a part-time MyNetworkTV affiliate via its DT2 subchannel), and True Crime Network affiliate WALE-LD—to Allen Media Broadcasting for $28.5 million in cash. The sale marks the Woods family's exit from television broadcasting: David Woods purchased WCOV (then a CBS affiliate) in 1985 and owned WDFX/Dothan from 1991 to 1999, while his late father, Charles, owned several stations in the Southern U.S. for many years through a separate company (including WTVY/Dothan, which he built and signed on in 1955 and owned until 2000). The sale was completed on April 14, 2023.
	In response to the growth of streaming television, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announce a major realignment of the Daytime and Primetime Emmys. Beginning in 2022, the two ceremonies' scopes revolve around factors such as the themes and frequency of such programming, rather than strictly follow whether programs air in daytime or primetime. Among the major changes, daytime dramas, as defined as "any multi-camera, weekday daily serial, spin-off or reboot", remain in the Daytime Emmys but all other drama programs move to the Primetime Emmys. All children's programming moves to the newly created Children's & Family Emmy Awards. Morning shows move from the Daytime Emmys to the News & Documentary Emmys. Talk shows will now be divided between the Daytime and Primetime Emmys based on "format and style characteristics reflective of current programming in the daytime or late night space".
15	Jeff Garlin exits his role of family patriarch Murray Goldberg on the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs following multiple misconduct allegations and human resources investigations. He had been a series regular for all nine seasons, however by this point with a reduced schedule.
17	Jay Johnston is reported to have been "banned" from the recurring role of Jimmy Pesto Sr. on the animated Fox sitcom Bob's Burgers, due to his alleged participation in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (He has not been arrested or charged in connection to the attack, but is alleged to have been in an FBI suspect-of-interest poster and in riot footage.) Johnston had been voicing the character since the show's premiere in 2011. The character's most recent appearance was "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy", which aired on May 2.
18	NBC's Saturday Night Live decides to air its scheduled new episode—hosted by Paul Rudd in his fifth guest-host role—as a recorded, scaled-down broadcast, citing COVID-19 safety concerns: the episode was taped with no studio audience or musical guest (a scheduled performance by Charli XCX was canceled hours prior to the taping), featured a limited cast and crew (Rudd, cast regulars Kenan Thompson and Michael Che, and guest stars Tina Fey and Tom Hanks were the only performers present on-set, while Steve Martin taped his guest appearance), and included mostly taped and classic sketches (including some filmed during pre-show rehearsals). The episode's emergency format change is believed to be due to concerns about exposure to cast and crew after scheduled guest star (and former cast member) Jimmy Fallon, who was fully vaccinated, tested COVID-positive after the December 17 taping of The Tonight Show (which tapes in the same building as SNL). Fey and Seth Meyers would later confirm in an April 19, 2022, interview on Late Night that Colin Jost had also contracted COVID.
	YouTube TV drops all Disney-owned networks it carries (including ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, Freeform and FX), having failed to reach an agreement. A deal would be reached the following day, restoring the channels to the service.
20	Chris Noth is fired from the CBS crime drama The Equalizer, on which he played William Bishop, following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the actor (including from two women who detailed their rape and assault allegations in a December 16 Hollywood Reporter article; and by actress Zoe Lister-Jones, who claimed that he was "consistently sexually inappropriate" and drunk while filming during her 2005 guest role on Law & Order: Criminal Intent). Noth denies the accusations and claims the assaults alleged were consensual encounters. His just-debuted Peloton advertisement made in response to plot developments in the Sex and the City followup And Just Like That... was also pulled due to the allegations (on December 17), while his scene in the first-season finale of the HBO Max series, which would air in February, was revealed the next month to have been cut. His final episode as Bishop would air January 2, 2022, and the character is killed off in the April 10 episode.
21	Dish Network removes NESN after failing to reach a new carriage agreement, leaving the satellite provider with no regional sports networks remaining on its lineup. (Dish had been paring back its regional sports network offerings since the July 2019 removal of the Fox Sports Networks, since rebranded as Bally Sports, while also refusing to carry RSNs that fetch higher subscriber fees like YES Network, AT&T SportsNet Southwest and Spectrum SportsNet.) In order to cut programming costs, Dish reportedly offered to sell NESN a la carte or restrict its carriage to higher-priced channel packages, offers which the network refused.
	Fox cancels its scheduled New Year's Eve special, Fox's New Year's Eve Toast & Roast 2022 (which was to be hosted by Ken Jeong and Joel McHale, who hosted the special's inaugural edition the year prior), citing health and safety concerns related to the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. The network scheduled reruns of Beat Shazam, Gordon Ramsay's Road Trip and I Can See Your Voice in place of the special. It was the first time since 1990 that Fox had not provided a national New Year's Eve special on broadcast television.
31	Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve airs on ABC, hosted by Ryan Seacrest in Times Square and Ciara in Los Angeles (for pre-recorded concert segments); and featuring correspondents Liza Koshy (at Times Square), Billy Porter (at Jackson Square in New Orleans), and Roselyn Sánchez (at Distrito T-Mobile in San Juan). The 2022 edition marked the special's 50th anniversary (it premiered on NBC in 1971, and moved to ABC in 1974), and was the first to feature midnight celebrations for the Atlantic Time Zone (along with being the network's first Atlantic Time countdown since the day-long millennium telecast ABC 2000 Today, which aired in place of Rockin' Eve in 1999), as well as a Spanish-language countdown (presented from San Juan), in addition to the Times Square Ball and New Orleans fleur-de-lis drops. (The Puerto Rico countdown was interrupted on some ABC stations in the Eastern and Central Time Zones by late local programming in the 11:00/10:00 slot.) The special featured performances by headliners Ashanti, Ja Rule and Journey (the latter becoming the first group or band to serve as the show's midnight headline performer since NKOTBSB—the combined Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block—performed in the 2011 edition) as well as, among others, Daddy Yankee, OneRepublic, Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. (LL Cool J, due to contracting COVID-19; and Chlöe and Karol G, both for unspecified reasons, respectively cancelled their scheduled performances prior to broadcast.) The 2022 edition is also the first not to be produced by Dick Clark Productions, which MRC (which began producing Rockin’ Eve through its MRC Live & Alternative unit with that broadcast) discontinued as a studio imprint in September 2021.
	After a 21-year absence, CBS returned to broadcasting New Year's Eve live programming with New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash, broadcast live from the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, and various locations across the city. Hosted by Bobby Bones and Rachel Smith, the special featured performances by headliners Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Dan Shay, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Brooks & Dunn, among others, as well as the event's renowned music note drop and fireworks display at midnight (CT). (Three other scheduled acts canceled their performances the day before the broadcast: Sam Hunt and Elle King, due to unspecified COVID-19 protocols; and the Zac Brown Band, due to Brown re-contracting COVID-19 following a prior bout in August.) This marked the network's first New Year's Eve special and the fourth one since America's Millennium (broadcast in 1999), and its predecessors Happy New Year, America (broadcast from 1979 to 1995) and New Year's Eve With Guy Lombardo (broadcast from 1956 to 1978).
	Miley's New Year's Eve Party airs on NBC, hosted by Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson; and featuring performances by 24kGoldn, Anitta, Billie Joe Armstrong, Brandi Carlile, Jack Harlow, Kitty Cash, and Saweetie. The two-hour special—which replaced the Carson Daly-led NBC's New Year's Eve specials aired from 2004 to 2020, and was not split between prime time and late-night segments, with late local programming being moved to an hour earlier (which resulted in scheduling conflicts involving local late-night newscasts, many of which were simulcast on the partner outlet to compensate, in certain markets where an NBC-affiliated station produces a separate primetime newscast for a non-Big Three network affiliate, an independent station or a subchannel)—was developed as part of an overall content and development deal between Cyrus and NBCUniversal signed on May 14.
	Peter Roth steps down as the chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group and is succeeded by Channing Dungey.

Television shows

Shows debuting in 2021

Further information: List of 2021 American television debuts

Shows changing networks

Show	Moved from	Moved to	Source
Stargirl	DC Universe/The CW	The CW
Doom Patrol	DC Universe/HBO Max	HBO Max
Titans	DC Universe
Young Justice
The Other Two	Comedy Central
Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?	Boomerang
Gen:Lock	Rooster Teeth
Thomas Edison Secret Lab	Qubo	Peacock
The DaVincibles	Qubo	Kabillion
Dr. Pimple Popper: This Is Zit	TLC.com	Discovery
Crikey! It's the Irwins	Animal Planet
See No Evil	Investigation Discovery
Evil Lives Here
Murder in the Heartland
Archibald's Next Big Thing	Netflix	Peacock
DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders
American Ninja Warrior Junior	Universal Kids
Home Sweet Home	NBC
Miss America
Younger	TV Land	Paramount
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars	VH1
Inside the NFL	Showtime
Evil	CBS
SEAL Team
Reno 911!	Quibi	The Roku Channel/Paramount
Punk'd		The Roku Channel
Dishmantled
The Rich and the Ruthless	Allblk	BET
The Last Cowboy	Paramount Network	CMT
It's Pony	Nickelodeon	Nicktoons

Milestone episodes and anniversaries

Show	Network	Episode #	Episode title	Episode airdate	Source
Ridiculousness	MTV	600th episode	"Chanel and Sterling CCLIII"	January 7
Teen Titans Go!	Cartoon Network	300th episode	"Lucky Stars"	January 23
Saturday Night Live	NBC	900th episode	"Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers"	February 6
Let's Make a Deal	CBS	2,000th episode	"Episode 2000"	February 19
American Housewife	ABC	100th episode	"Getting Frank with the Ottos"	February 24
The Simpsons	Fox	700th episode	"Manger Things"	March 21
Ridiculousness	MTV	650th episode	"Chanel and Sterling CCXCII"	April 9
Bunk'd	Disney Channel	100th episode	"Gi Whiz"	June 3
The Flash	The CW	150th episode	"Heart of the Matter, Part 1"	July 13
Ridiculousness	MTV	700th episode	"Chanel and Sterling CCCXXXII"	July 18
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon	NBC	1500th episode	"Kit Harington/Miranda Cosgrove/Duran Duran"	August 12
The Price Is Right	CBS	50th anniversary	"The Price Is Right 50th Anniversary Special"	September 30
Chicago Fire	NBC	200th episode	"Two Hundred"	October 20
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit		500th episode	"The Five Hundredth Episode"	October 21
Pardon the Interruption	ESPN	20th anniversary	N/A	October 22
The Voice	NBC	500th episode	"The Knockouts Part 2"	October 26
Legends of Tomorrow	The CW	100th episode	"wvrdr_error_100<oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n> not found"	October 27
The Challenge	MTV	500th episode	"500"
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee	TBS	200th episode	"December 8, 2021"	December 8
The Late Late Show with James Corden	CBS	1000th episode	"Mariah Carey"
Summer Camp Island	HBO Max	100th episode	"The Babies Chapter 3: Lem Is Nothing"	December 9
Riverdale	The CW	100th episode	"Chapter One Hundred: The Jughead Paradox"	December 14

Shows returning in 2021

The following shows returned with new episodes after being canceled or having ended their run previously:

Show	Last aired	Type of return	Previous channel	New/returning/same channel	Return date	Source
Monster Garage	2006	Revival	Discovery Channel	Discovery	January 4
Name That Tune	1985		First-run syndication	Fox	January 6
The Chase	2015		Game Show Network	ABC	January 7
Walker, Texas Ranger (as Walker)	2001	Reboot	CBS	The CW	January 21
Top Gear America	2017		BBC America	Motor Trend	January 29
The Equalizer	1989		CBS	same	February 7
Evil Lives Here	2020	New season	Investigation Discovery	Discovery	February 14
Modern Marvels	2015	Revival	History	same	February 21
Chain Reaction	2016		Game Show Network		February 22
Punky Brewster	1988		First-run syndication	Peacock	February 25
Dinner: Impossible	2010		Food Network	same	March 11
America's Most Wanted	2012		Lifetime	Fox	March 15
Wipeout	2014	Reboot	ABC	TBS	April 1
Kung Fu (modern-day version)	1997		First-run syndication	The CW	April 7
Younger	2019	New season	TV Land	Paramount	April 15
Kids Say the Darndest Things	2020		ABC	CBS	May 5
The Rich and the Ruthless	2019		Allblk	BET	May 13
In Treatment	2010	Reboot	HBO	same	May 23
Rugrats	2004		Nickelodeon	Paramount	May 27
Tuca & Bertie	2019	New season	Netflix	Adult Swim	June 13
iCarly	2012	Revival	Nickelodeon	Paramount	June 17
Evil	2020	New season	CBS		June 20
College Bowl (as Capital One College Bowl)	1970	Revival	NBC	same	June 22
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars	2020	New season	VH1	Paramount	June 24
Up Close	2001	Revival	ESPN	ESPN	June 30
Gossip Girl	2012		The CW	HBO Max	July 8
Pictionary	1998		First-run syndication	same	July 12
Johnny Test	2014		Cartoon Network	Netflix	July 16
Behind the Music			VH1	Paramount	July 29
On the Record with Bob Costas (as Back on the Record with Bob Costas)	2004		HBO	same	July 30
Fantasy Island	1999	Reboot	ABC	Fox	August 10
MTV Cribs	2017	Revival	Snapchat	MTV	August 11
Slasher	2019	New season	Netflix	Shudder	August 14
You Bet Your Life	1993	Reboot	First-run syndication	same	September 13
The Wonder Years (modern-day version)			ABC		September 22
Cops	2020	New season	Paramount Network	Fox Nation	October 1
Legends of the Hidden Temple	1995	Revival	Nickelodeon	The CW	October 10
NHL on ESPN	2004		ESPN	same	October 12
4400	2007	Reboot	USA Network	The CW	October 25
Head of the Class	1991	Revival	ABC	HBO Max	November 4
Dexter (as Dexter: New Blood)	2013		Showtime	same	November 7
Condor	2018	New season	Audience	Epix
The Game	2015	Revival	BET	Paramount	November 11
X-Play	2013		G4	same	November 17
Attack of the Show!					November 18
The Real Housewives of Miami		New season	Bravo	Peacock	December 16

Shows ending in 2021

End date	Show	Channel	First aired	Status	Source
January 11	Lazor Wulf	Adult Swim	2019	Canceled
January 15	Carmen Sandiego	Netflix		Ended
January 20	Thomas & Friends	PBS Kids		Canceled
January 27	Bonding	Netflix	2021
January 28	Total Bellas	E!	2016
February 4	Lou Dobbs Tonight	Fox Business	1980
	Esme & Roy	HBO Max	2018
	Haute Dog		2020
February 7	Kitten Bowl	Hallmark Channel	2014
February 15	The Crew	Netflix	2021
	Big Hero 6: The Series	Disney XD	2017	Ended
	The Tom and Jerry Show	Boomerang	2014
February 24	For Life	ABC	2020	Canceled
February 25	Punky Brewster	Peacock	2021
March 15	DuckTales	Disney XD	2017	Ended
March 18	The Unicorn	CBS	2019	Canceled
March 19	Country Comfort	Netflix	2021
March 21	American Gods	Starz	2015
March 23	The Misery Index	TBS	2019	Canceled
March 25	Superstore	NBC	2015	Ended
March 31	American Housewife	ABC	2016	Canceled
April 9	Wynonna Earp	Syfy		Ended
April 11	Ben 10	Cartoon Network
	Shameless	Showtime	2011
April 14	Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!	Netflix	2021	Canceled
April 15	Infinity Train	HBO Max	2019
April 22	Bigger	BET
April 27	Delilah	Oprah Winfrey Network	2021
April 30	MacGyver	CBS	2016	Ended
May 4	Selena: The Series	Netflix	2020
May 7	Shrill	Hulu	2019
	Jupiter's Legacy	Netflix	2021	Canceled
May 10	Race to the Center of the Earth	National Geographic
May 13	Castlevania	Netflix	2017	Ended
	Mom	CBS	2013
May 14	Just Roll with It	Disney Channel	2019	Canceled
May 16	Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist	NBC	2020
May 17	Cheaters	First-run syndication	2000
May 18	Prodigal Son	Fox	2019
	Mixed-ish	ABC
	Pooch Perfect		2021
May 19	Call Your Mother
May 20	Ellen's Next Great Designer	HBO Max
	Special	Netflix	2019	Ended
	Last Man Standing	Fox	2011
May 21	M.O.D.O.K.	Hulu	2021	Canceled
May 22	Iyanla: Fix My Life	Oprah Winfrey Network	2012	Ended
May 23	NCIS: New Orleans	CBS	2014
	Ellen's Game of Games	NBC	2017	Canceled
May 24	Debris		2021
	Black Lightning	The CW	2018	Ended
May 28	The Kominsky Method	Netflix
	Panic	Amazon Prime Video	2021	Canceled
June 3	A Little Late with Lilly Singh	NBC	2019	Ended
	Everything's Gonna Be Okay	Freeform	2020	Canceled
June 6	Pose	FX	2018	Ended
June 9	Queen of the South	USA Network	2016
June 10	Younger	Paramount	2015
	Rebel	ABC	2021	Canceled
June 14	Final Space	Adult Swim	2018
June 20	Bless the Harts	Fox	2019
	The Moodys
	Keeping Up with the Kardashians	E!	2007	Ended
June 24	Conan	TBS	2010
June 25	Bosch	Amazon Prime Video	2014
	Van Helsing	Syfy	2016
June 28	Vampirina	Disney Junior	2017
	In Treatment	HBO	2008
June 30	The Bold Type	Freeform	2017
July 7	NHL on NBC	NBC/NBCSN	2005
	Card Sharks	ABC	2019	Canceled
July 8	Generation	HBO Max	2021
July 9	Atypical	Netflix	2017	Ended
July 13	Mr Inbetween	FX	2018
	Good Eats: The Return	Food Network	2019
July 15	9 Months with Courteney Cox	Facebook Watch		Canceled
July 16	Betty	HBO	2020
July 19	Small Fortune	NBC	2021
July 20	The Haves and the Have Nots	Oprah Winfrey Network	2013	Ended
July 22	Good Girls	NBC	2018	Canceled
July 23	Judge Judy	First-run syndication	1996	Ended
July 25	Good Witch	Hallmark Channel	2015
July 28	Match Game	ABC	2016	Canceled
July 29	Why Women Kill	Paramount	2019
	Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy	Netflix	2020	Ended
	The Prince	HBO Max	2021	Canceled
August 1	Black Monday	Showtime	2019
August 4	Home & Family	Hallmark Channel	2012	Ended
	The Hills: New Beginnings	MTV	2019	Canceled
	Cooking with Paris	Netflix	2021
August 6	Hit & Run
August 16	The Celebrity Dating Game	ABC
August 18	Diary of a Future President	Disney	2020
September 2	A.P. Bio	Peacock	2018
	Q-Force	Netflix	2021
September 5	60 Minutes	Paramount
September 6	The Republic of Sarah	The CW
	CBS This Morning	CBS	2012	Ended
September 10	Lucifer	Netflix	2016
	Highly Questionable	ESPN	2011	Canceled
September 16	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	NBC	2013	Ended
September 21	The Ultimate Surfer	ABC	2021	Canceled
September 22	Dear White People	Netflix	2017	Ended
September 23	The Hustler	ABC	2021	Canceled
September 24	Goliath	Amazon Prime Video	2016	Ended
October 1	Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?	HBO Max	2019
	Mr. Corman	Apple TV	2021	Canceled
October 4	On My Block	Netflix	2018	Ended
October 6	Turner & Hooch	Disney	2021	Canceled
October 7	The Outpost	The CW	2018
October 8	Pretty Smart	Netflix	2021
	The Jump	ESPN	2016
October 10	Work in Progress	Showtime	2019
October 11	The Baby-Sitters Club	Netflix	2020
October 14	Another Life		2019		.
October 15	Liza on Demand	YouTube Premium	2018	Ended
October 24	DC Super Hero Girls	Cartoon Network	2019	Canceled
October 31	Chapelwaite	Epix	2021
November 1	Y: The Last Man	FX on Hulu
November 4	The Harper House	Paramount
	Head of the Class	HBO Max
November 5	Narcos: Mexico	Netflix	2018	Ended
November 9	Supergirl	The CW	2015
November 10	Gentefied	Netflix	2020	Canceled
November 11	Love Life	HBO Max
November 12	I Know What You Did Last Summer	Amazon Prime Video	2021
November 18	Craftopia	HBO Max	2020
	The Lost Symbol	Peacock	2021
November 19	Cowboy Bebop	Netflix
November 24	Saved by the Bell	Peacock	2020
	Hanna	Amazon Prime Video	2019	Ended
November 25	F Is for Family	Netflix	2015
	12 Dates of Christmas	HBO Max	2020	Canceled
November 26	Sydney to the Max	Disney Channel	2019	Ended
	Gabby Duran & the Unsittables			Canceled
November 27	Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team	CMT	2006
November 29	Cuomo Prime Time	CNN	2017
December 1	Lost in Space	Netflix	2018	Ended
	The Sinner	USA Network	2017
December 3	PEN15	Hulu	2019
	Disney's Magic Bake-Off	Disney Channel	2021
December 5	The Walking Dead: World Beyond	AMC	2020
December 6	The Big Leap	Fox	2021	Canceled
December 7	Centaurworld	Netflix		Ended
	Apple & Onion	Cartoon Network	2018
December 10	Crossing Swords	Hulu	2020	Canceled
December 13	Joe Pera Talks with You	Adult Swim	2018
	Squidbillies		2005	Ended
December 16	The Fungies!	HBO Max	2020	Canceled
	Finding Magic Mike		2021
December 17	Fast & Furious Spy Racers	Netflix	2019	Ended
December 21	The Last O.G.	TBS	2018	Canceled
December 24	Dickinson	Apple TV	2019	Ended
December 26	Insecure	HBO	2016

Entering syndication in 2021

A list of programs (current or canceled) that have accumulated enough episodes (between 65 and 100) or seasons (three or more) to be eligible for off-network syndication and/or basic cable runs.

Show	Seasons	In Production	Notes	Source
Chicago Fire	9	Yes
Bull	5
Young Sheldon	4
SEAL Team	4

Networks and services

Launches

Network	Type	Launch date	Notes	Source
Discovery	OTT streaming	January 4	Announced in September 2020 as a global expansion of its existing India service (launched in March of that year), Discovery, Inc. launched Discovery as a streaming service featuring original and archival content from Discovery's network and production properties (including the former networks of Scripps Networks Interactive acquired by the company in March 2018) as well as select programming from A&E Networks.
Twist	OTA multicast	April 5	Tegna revealed plans on February 24 to launch Twist, which joins True Crime Network and Quest in the company's multicast portfolio. Twist targets a female audience with factual lifestyle and reality programming, mainly home- and food-oriented shows sourced from the libraries of A&E Networks and NBCUniversal Lifestyle Network Group. The "exciting reveals" featured in these shows serve as the inspiration for the network's name.
MeTV		May 15	On May 3, Weigel Broadcasting announced plans to launch MeTV , an experimental spin-off of flagship network MeTV with a lineup of classic sitcoms, drama series, and comedic and animated shorts sourced from the libraries of Sony Pictures Television, CBS Media Ventures, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution and NBCUniversal Syndication Studios complementary to the offerings on its parent network. At the outset, MeTV —the second MeTV extension effort by Weigel, following a local "MeToo" service that ran on WMEU-CD/Chicago (now an independent station) from 2008 to 2013—launched on Weigel-owned Chicago flagship WCIU-TV and KMOH-TV/Kingman–Phoenix, occupying subchannels that carried Bounce TV (which shifted to local Ion stations owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, parent of Bounce owner Katz Broadcasting). If successful, Weigel plans to expand MeTV to stations that the company owns in other markets (including as a replacement for Bounce TV on Weigel stations that carried the network since its 2011 debut) and to affiliates owned by third-party station groups.
Defy TV		July 1	On March 2, the E. W. Scripps Company announced plans to add two new networks to its digital broadcast portfolio (joining its six existing networks, which include Ion, Bounce TV and Court TV). Defy and TrueReal (the latter had initially been billed as Doozy) would respectively target men and women in the 25-54 age range with factual lifestyle and reality programming. On Ion O&Os and INYO Broadcast Holdings-owned Ion affiliates, Defy TV and TrueReal primarily occupied subchannels formerly affiliated with QVC and HSN. (Qurate Retail Group, the parent of the respective home shopping networks, ended its channel-lease agreement with Ion Media on June 29.)
TrueReal
AccuWeather Now	OTT streaming	August 17	On July 29, AccuWeather announced plans to launch AccuWeather Now, a 24-hour live streaming weather news and information network. To differentiate from its cable and satellite channel AccuWeather Network, it would include liberal amounts of social media content, viral videos and feature stories in addition to its core product of weather forecasts. The service initially launched on The Roku Channel's live TV service on August 17.
El Rey Network	Relaunch as OTT streaming channel (previously on cable/satellite and digital from 2013 to 2020)		On August 7, 2021, Robert Rodriguez and FactoryMade Ventures announced they had entered into a partnership with Cinedigm to relaunch El Rey Network—which ceased operating as a traditional pay television network in December 2020, after AT&T and Spectrum dropped it from their systems as well as in the wake of Univision Communications's withdrawal as a minority stakeholder—as a free, ad-supported live streaming channel. As a streaming channel, the English-language Latino-oriented network initially debuted on The Roku Channel's live TV service on August 17.
Rewind TV	OTA multicast	September 1	On April 26, Nexstar Media Group announced plans to launch Rewind TV, a spin-off of Antenna TV targeting adults 25–54 (primarily towards Gen Xers) and focusing on classic sitcoms from the 1980s and 1990s. Rewind—which initially launched on subchannels of stations owned or managed by Nexstar in markets reaching 45% of U.S. television households, occupying subchannel slots vacated by Katz-owned networks being transferred to Scripps-owned network affiliates and Ion O&O/affiliate stations in some markets—draws from the libraries of Sony Pictures Television, CBS Media Ventures, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution and NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, and initially included many series (including Murphy Brown, The Facts of Life, Who's the Boss? and Family Ties) previously acquired for Antenna TV, which began phasing out post-1970s series from its lineup in April as it shifts to a narrowed focus on sitcoms from the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s (Antenna TV continued to offer a more limited lineup of post-1970s sitcoms in the interim).
Novelisima		September 4	On September 1, Grupo Cisneros announced it had entered into a distribution agreement with HC2 Broadcasting to launch Novelisima, a 24-hour multicast network focusing on imported telenovelas.
Fuse	OTT streaming	September 13	Following a beta launch in June, on September 13, Fuse Media officially launched Fuse , a subscription streaming service focusing on multicultural programming aimed at millennials. The service—which is priced at $1.99/month (or $19.99/year), with paywalled content accessible for free using login credentials provided to subscribers of participating cable and satellite services that carry either of its co-owned linear channels, Fuse and FM—incorporated an initial slate of over 500 hours of original content, consisting of Fuse original programs (with new episodes airing day-and-date with the linear channel), independent films and documentaries, along with a selection of supplemental music, Black cultural, hip-hop and archival home fitness programs that are also available through a free, ad-supported tier for non-subscribers.
Digi TV	OTA multicast	September 27	On September 8, Net X Holdings, LLC announced plans to launch Digi TV, a multicast network focusing on imported English-language programming. Initially launching primarily on subchannels of Univision and UniMás stations owned by Univision Communications and Tri-State Christian Television O&Os, the network airs a mix of scripted and reality-based entertainment, knowledge-based and lifestyle programming primarily sourced from the United Kingdom and Australia.
Fox Weather	OTT streaming/OTA multicast	October 25	On December 29, 2020, Fox News Media announced plans to launch Fox Weather, a 24-hour streaming weather channel intended to compete with The Weather Channel, AccuWeather Network and WeatherNation TV (the latter of which has long been streamed for free on the network's app and on ad-supported streaming platforms such as Pluto TV). The service would be available as a standalone app and website, and feature live programming utilizing resources of its own meteorologists and meteorologists from local Fox Television Stations properties as well as local, regional and national weather updates. Critics, citing shared management between the two services, have expressed concern that Fox Weather might express opinions dismissive of climate change mirroring similar commentary made in recent years by Fox News personalities and contributors. Those FTS stations also began carrying the network as a subchannel in the first quarter of 2022.
G4	Linear cable/satellite and digital	November 16	On July 24, 2020, the Twitter accounts of G4TV and G4's Attack of the Show! and X-Play, reactivated to post a teaser video of a G4 revival in some form (either as a wireline or streaming channel, though not disclosed at the time), slated for 2021. (On October 12, 2021, Comcast confirmed that the revived G4—like its original iteration—would be distributed as a cable-originated network, with Verizon Fios, Cox, Xfinity and Philo among its charter carriers.) The teasers were timed for Comic-Con@Home, the first virtual streaming edition of the annual fan convention, San Diego Comic-Con. Consequently, G4's website also redirected to a nonstop game of Pong (which if won, redirects to a mailing list sign up for updates), once again reflecting back to the network's original launch in 2002 and their shutdown in 2014.

Conversions and rebrandings

Old network name	New network name	Type	Conversion date	Notes	Source
Urban Movie Channel	Allblk	OTT streaming	January 6	AMC Networks rebranded Urban Movie Channel – launched in 2014 as the first streaming service dedicated to television programs and films aimed at Black audiences, and content made by Black filmmakers – as Allblk, citing the original name no longer fit the brand, its audience or culture (several "urban"-branded broadcasters, along with radio stations formerly under the urban contemporary banner, switched to other descriptive terms throughout 2020). The service also increases original programming, having debuted seven series in 2021.
Light TV	TheGrio	Over-the-air multicast/ OTT streaming	January 15	Following its acquisition of the network's satellite slot from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Allen Media Group relaunched the former channel space of family-oriented digital multicast network Light TV as TheGrio (branded after the Black cultural news and entertainment website of the same name acquired by parent company Entertainment Studios in 2016), adopting a focus primarily around movies, along with selected television series, news and lifestyle content aimed at African American audiences. There has been some confusion however, as Light TV continues to run on some affiliates and online, while some former Light TV affiliates stopped carrying the network in the run-up to TheGrio's launch.
WGN America	NewsNation	Cable/satellite	March 1	On January 25, 2021, Nexstar Media Group announced it would relaunch the entertainment-oriented WGN America (a name traced to its existence as a superstation feed of WGN-TV/Chicago from the channel's launch in November 1978 until its content separation from WGN-TV in December 2014) as the news-centric NewsNation, named after the prime time newscast that the channel debuted in September 2020, effective March 1. The rebrand coincides with a gradual expansion of its news programming that initially includes the additions of an hour-long early-evening newscast, the hour-long Donlon Report (a prime-access newscast fronted by NewsNation anchor Joe Donlon) and a weeknight news/interview program hosted by Ashleigh Banfield, as well as a condensed version of the retitled NewsNationPrime (to be reduced from three hours to two). A reduced schedule of entertainment programs in its inventory continues to be featured in daytime and overnight slots (along with early morning paid and religious programming), to be replaced with news content once syndication contracts expire.
CBS All Access	Paramount	OTT streaming	March 4	CBS All Access adopts the Paramount name used in certain international markets. The rebranding occurs amid an ongoing expansion of the service — originally developed as a subscription platform for CBS featuring original programs, content from the CBS television network and its syndication arm CBS Media Ventures, and live streams of local CBS stations, CBS' ad-supported OTT services and events from CBS Sports – to include content from other television and film brands owned by ViacomCBS (including Paramount Pictures, MTV, BET, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon).
Vix	PrendeTV	OTT streaming	March 30	On January 12, Univision Communications announced it would launch PrendeTV, a free, ad-supported Spanish-language streaming service aimed at U.S. Hispanics and Latinos in the first quarter of the year, formally launching on March 30. The platform, which is the first AVOD platform dedicated exclusively to Spanish content, offers over 30 curated channels (similar to those featured on services like Pluto TV, Peacock and Xumo) and approximately 20,000 hours of Spanish-language and -dubbed movies and television series for video-on-demand viewing from Univision and third-party providers including Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Grupo Globo, Caracol Televisión, Banijay, FilmRise, Nelvana, RCN, Lionsgate and MGM. The service was built off the infrastructure of and inherit content from Pan-American streaming service Vix, which Univision bought from a consortium of Batanga Media, Discovery Inc. and HarbourVest Partners on February 1.
Fox Sports Networks	Bally Sports	Cable/satellite	March 31	Sinclair Broadcast Group, as part of a partnership with Entertainment Studios, acquired the regional networks formerly owned by Fox Sports parent News Corporation in 2019. (Disney was required by the Department of Justice to divest the channels during its acquisition of 21st Century Fox on antitrust grounds due to its ownership of ESPN Inc.) Sinclair reached a cross-partnership with gaming company Bally's Corporation in November 2020, which led to the channels shedding the "Fox Sports" brand after more than 24 years in favor of "Bally Sports"; the move coincided with the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball season the next day.
Newsy		Conversion from cable/satellite to over-the-air distribution (to retain carriage on ad-supported OTT services)	June 30 (pay-TV discontinuation) October 1 (start of OTA distribution)	After years as a cable and over-the-top service, on April 6, the E. W. Scripps Company announced plans to transition its 24-hour news channel, Newsy, to a new distribution model as an over-the-air multicast service—although it would continue to maintain supplemental streaming distribution through its Internet apps and existing partnerships with ad-supported Internet television providers. Scripps thus began terminating the network's existing contracts with wireline and vMVPD providers (instead of opting for converting them to must-carry arrangements, similar to those employed by other OTA multicast networks such as MeTV, GetTV and Heroes & Icons) beginning June 30, with end dates varying by provider throughout the Summer. Newsy relaunched as a digital multicast network on October 1, carried primarily through Scripps's television stations (via both the group's major network affiliates and Ion Television O&Os as well as through commiserate carriage via retransmission consent agreements for Scripps/Ion stations) and through third-party affiliation agreements in non-Scripps markets.
SportsGrid Network		Conversion to over-the-air distribution (to retain carriage on ad-supported and subscription OTT services)	September 1 (start of OTA distribution)	On August 25, Nexstar Media Group announced a partnership with SportsGrid Inc. to offer the latter's sports betting- and fantasy sports-focused streaming news service SportsGrid Network as a digital multicast network starting September 1. SportsGrid, which retains its existing distribution through its Internet apps and Internet television providers (such as Xumo, Samsung TV Plus and Sling TV), was initially available in nine Nexstar markets (including San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Nashville and Portland) where the company's subchannel leasing agreements with Katz Networks properties lapsed the day prior. (The Court TV, Court TV Mystery, Laff and Bounce TV affiliations to be affected in the corresponding markets became exclusive to subchannels of parent company Scripps’ Ion O&O stations that had added them on a transitional basis following the February 28 closures of Ion Plus, Qubo and Ion Shop.)
Great American Country	GAC Family	Cable/satellite	September 27	As a consequence of GAC Media's June 7 purchases of Great American Country (from Discovery, Inc.) and Ride TV (from Ride Television Network, Inc.), on September 27, the two networks underwent branding and programming overhauls: Great American Country was rebranded as GAC Family and restructured from a country lifestyle programming format to a family-oriented entertainment network—featuring a mix of original and acquired programming, both scripted and unscripted—similar in concept to Hallmark Channel (which GAC Media CEO William J. Abbott oversaw as head of Crown Media Family Networks from 2009 to 2020), while Ride TV rebranded as GAC Living and expanded from its original focus on equestrian sports to center around Southern- and country-oriented unscripted lifestyle programming. (The "GAC" initialism was concurrently backronymed by its new corporate parent from the previous "Great American Country" moniker to "Great American Channels".)
Ride TV	GAC Living

Closures

Network	Type	End date	Notes	Source
DC Universe	OTT streaming	January 21	In September 2020, DC announced that the DC Universe streaming service would be folded into DC Universe Infinite as a solely digital comics subscription service on January 21, 2021. DC Universe subscriptions would automatically transfer over to DC Universe Infinite. Original programs Young Justice, Titans, Doom Patrol, and Harley Quinn moved to HBO Max and became Max Original series starting their new seasons, while Stargirl moved to The CW with its second season.
Ion Plus	Over-the-air multicast	February 28	Following the completion of its acquisition of Ion Media, on January 14, the E. W. Scripps Company announced the shuttering of three Ion networks – Ion Plus (a secondary schedule of programming from Ion's content distributors), Ion Shop (all-paid programming) and Qubo (children's programming) – and allocate their spectrum space on Ion Media's stations to offer networks from existing Scripps subsidiary Katz Broadcasting (consisting of Court TV, Court TV Mystery, Bounce TV, Laff and Grit). This eventually consolidates Ion's operations into Katz and replace expiring contracts with other broadcasters that carried the Katz networks outside of mainstream Scripps markets (albeit with affiliate duplication in the interim due to the structure of Katz's subchannel-leasing arrangements), while offloading those networks on mainstream Scripps stations with limited spectrum capacity during the ATSC 3.0 transition. (Ion's namesake flagship channel continues as a Scripps-owned network.) Qubo, Ion Plus and Ion Shop were replaced by selected Katz networks on Ion affiliates (consisting mainly of former O&Os spun off by Scripps to Inyo Broadcast Holdings) on February 27, and were replaced on Scripps-owned Ion stations post-shutdown on March 1.
Ion Shop
Qubo
WWE Network	OTT streaming	March 18 (United States)	On January 25, WWE announced it would discontinue the standalone WWE Network service in the United States and merge it into the offerings of Peacock. All paying Peacock subscribers gained access to the WWE Video Library and no-cost access to WWE pay-per-view events in the same manner as current WWE Network subscribers. WWE Network remains unchanged outside of the United States.
CNN Airport	Closed-circuit international airport television systems	March 31	On January 12, CNN announced that it would shut down the CNN Airport network, which was available in numerous airports across the United States. The network, which carried a mixture of family-friendly news and entertainment programs from select WarnerMedia networks (as well as some high-profile sporting events), had been seeing declining viewership since the financial crisis of 2007–08 as a result of the increased proliferation of Wi-Fi-enabled devices which themselves allow access to the mainline CNN network; the decline was accelerated in 2020 when global commercial air travel declined greatly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NBC Sports Northwest	Cable and satellite	September 30	On June 9, NBC Sports Group announced it was shutting down NBC Sports Northwest, which launched in 2007 as Comcast SportsNet Northwest and later rebranded as CSN Northwest in 2012 and to NBC Sports Northwest in 2017. The closure came after the Portland Trail Blazers (a key team part of the network's programming since its inception) signed a four-year deal with Root Sports Northwest on the same date.
Hotstar (U.S. only)	OTT streaming	November 30	On August 31, 2021, Disney announced that the U.S. version of Hotstar—targeted domestically at mainly American-born and expatriate Indians—would cease operations as a standalone platform by around late 2022. On the date of the announcement, Bollywood and South Asian films, television series and original specials featured in Hotstar's U.S. catalog (which will be rotated on and off at regular intervals) were added to Hulu, while the service's rights to Indian Premier League, ICC Men's T20 World Cup and BCCI-sanctioned cricket competitions were incorporated into ESPN . Hotstar (alternately branded as Disney Hotstar in Asia) will continue to operate in parts of South Asia (specifically India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore), Canada and the United Kingdom. The closure date was brought forward by over a year with less than 2 weeks' notice on November 18, 2021.
ESPN Classic	Cable and satellite	December 31	On November 4, ESPN confirmed the closure of the network, originally launched as Classic Sports Network in 1995 before its 1997 acquisition by ESPN. The network had already lost library programming over the years and was slowly wound down as ESPN had allowed various providers to drop the network in retransmission consent negotiations since the mid-2010s in order to pick up new ESPN networks as replacements.
Fusion TV			On December 4, Univision Communications confirmed through notice to its remaining providers the closure of Fusion, originally launched in October 2013 with a focus on news, lifestyle, pop culture, satire and entertainment programs aimed at English-speaking millennials, including those of a Hispanic background. The network—which was founded as a joint venture between Univision and The Walt Disney Company (through ABC News), the latter which sold its stake in 2016—struggled to maintain a consistent programming identity (experiencing heavy churn of its news and documentary programs, while shifting more toward a documentary and entertainment format in its waning years); to obtain widespread distribution across wireline, satellite and live-TV streaming providers; and to attract sufficient viewership in its target demographic throughout its eight-year existence. Fusion also incurred significant profit losses over its run (incurring deficits of $35 million in 2014 alone) as Univision struggled through an era under the management of private equity which mandated the launch of English-language inroads; the network is currently in the process of merging with longtime content partner Televisa and focusing exclusively on Spanish-language audiences. It was the second consecutive year a Univision-funded English-language channel shut down, as El Rey Network's wireline network was shut down exactly a year before, several months after it spun off its interest in the channel.
NBCSN			On January 22, NBC Sports Group announced it was shutting down NBCSN, which launched in 1995 as the Outdoor Life Network and later rebranded as Versus before becoming the NBC Sports Network in 2012 and adopting its current name in 2013. Its programming, which includes the Premier League and NASCAR races, moves primarily to NBC and USA Network as well as the Peacock streaming service. A cornerstone of NBCSN's programming had been the National Hockey League, whose contract with NBC Sports expired at the end of the abbreviated 2021 season.

Television stations

Subchannel launches

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Source
January 1	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	KFXA	28.5	Comet
	Charleston, West Virginia	WCHS	8.3	Antenna TV
		WVAH-TV	11.4	Charge!
			11.5	TBD
	Columbus, Ohio	WSYX	6.4	Antenna TV
	Dayton, Ohio	WRGT-TV	45.5	TBD
			45.6	Stadium
	Idaho Falls-Pocatello, Idaho	KIFI-TV	8.5	Telemundo
February 4	Sioux City, Iowa	KMEG	14.4	Stadium
February 15	Albuquerque, New Mexico	KNME-TV	5.4	World Channel
			5.5	Create
March 1	Columbus, Ohio	WSFJ-TV	51.2	Grit
	Indianapolis, Indiana	WRTV	6.5	HSN
	Kansas City, Missouri	KSHB-TV	41.4	GetTV
	Miami, Florida	WSFL-TV	39.5	QVC
	Norfolk, Virginia	WGNT	27.5	QVC2
			27.6	HSN2
	Raleigh, North Carolina	WRPX-TV	47.4	Grit
April 1	Chicago, Illinois	WLS-TV	7.3	This TV
	Fresno, California	KFSN-TV	30.4	HSN
	Houston, Texas	KTRK-TV	13.4	QVC
	Los Angeles, California	KABC-TV	7.4	QVC2
	New York City, New York	WABC-TV		HSN
	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	WPVI-TV	6.4	QVC
	Raleigh, North Carolina	WTVD	11.4	HSN
	San Francisco, California	KGO-TV	7.4
April 5	Atlanta, Georgia	WXIA-TV	11.2	Twist
	Buffalo, New York	WGRZ	2.5
	Charleston, South Carolina	WBSE-LD	20.2
	Charlotte, North Carolina	WCNC-TV	36.5
	Chicago, Illinois	WGBO-DT	66.6
	Cleveland, Ohio	WKYC	3.5
	Columbia, South Carolina	WLTX	19.5
	Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas	WFAA	8.9
	Davenport, Iowa-Moline, Illinois	WQAD-TV	8.5
	Denver, Colorado	KUSA	9.7
	Des Moines, Iowa	WOI-DT	5.5
	Detroit, Michigan	WADL	38.8
	Fort Smith, Arkansas	KFSM-TV	5.4
	Fort Wayne, Indiana	WCUH-LD	16.2
	Grand Rapids, Michigan	WZZM	13.5
	Greensboro, North Carolina	WFMY-TV	2.6
	Hartford, Connecticut	WTIC-TV	61.5
	Houston, Texas	KHOU	11.4
	Jacksonville, Florida	WJXX	25.5
	Las Vegas, Nevada	K36NE-D	43.3
	Little Rock, Arkansas	KTHV	11.6
	Los Angeles, California	KMEX-DT	34.6
	Macon, Georgia	WMAZ-TV	13.5
	Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida	WLTV-DT	23.5
	New Orleans, Louisiana	WWL-TV	4.4
	New York City, New York	WXTV-DT	41.3
	Norfolk, Virginia	WVEC	13.5
	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	WFPA-CD	28.4
	Portland, Oregon	KGW	8.4
	Sacramento, California	KXTV	10.5
	St. Louis, Missouri	KSDK	5.5
	Salt Lake City, Utah	KUTH-DT	36.6
	San Francisco, California	KFSF-DT	66.6
April 12	Louisville, Kentucky	WHAS-TV	11.5
	Washington, D.C.	WUSA	9.4
April 19	Memphis, Tennessee	WATN-TV	24.4
April 26	Austin, Texas	KVUE	24.6
	Knoxville, Tennessee	WBIR-TV	10.5
	Phoenix, Arizona	KPNX	12.5
May 3	Amarillo, Texas	KLKW-LD	22.6
May 10	Cleveland, Ohio	WOIO	19.4	Shop LC
	Midland/Odessa, Texas	KWES-TV	9.5	Twist
	San Antonio, Texas	KENS	5.6
May 15	Kingman, Arizona (Phoenix)	KMOH-TV	6.3	MeTV Plus
May 17	Tyler/Longview, Texas	KYTX	19.4	Twist
May 24	Albuquerque, New Mexico	KLUZ-TV	19.6
	Boston, Massachusetts	WUNI	66.5
June 7	Portland, Maine	WCSH	6.5
July 1	Louisville, Kentucky	WBKI	58.5	TrueReal
			58.6	Defy TV
July 5	Davenport, Iowa	KLJB	18.4	Bounce TV
July 19	Harlingen, Texas	KGBT-TV	4.1	Antenna TV
September 1	Albuquerque/Santa Fe, New Mexico	KWBQ	19.5	Rewind TV
	Amarillo, Texas	KCPN-LD	33.2
	Austin, Texas	KXAN-TV	36.4
	Chicago, Illinois	WGN-TV	9.5	TBD
	Chico/Redding, California	KUCO-LD	27.4	Rewind TV
	Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas	KDAF	33.5
	Davenport, Iowa	KLJB	18.3
	Evansville, Indiana	WEHT	25.4
	Fayetteville/Fort Smith, Arkansas	KXNW	34.2
	Fresno, California	KSEE	24.4
	Green Bay, Wisconsin	WFRV-TV	5.4
	Huntsville, Alabama	WHDF	15.3
	Johnstown/Altoona/State College, Pennsylvania	WWCP-TV	8.4	Antenna TV
	Little Rock, Arkansas	KASN	38.2	Rewind TV
	Los Angeles, California	KTLA	5.5
	Lubbock, Texas	KLBK-TV	13.4
	Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota	WUCW	23.5
	Odessa/Midland, Texas	KPEJ-TV	24.3
	Rockford, Illinois	WQRF-TV	39.4
	Shreveport, Louisiana	KMSS-TV	33.2
	Springfield, Missouri	KOZL-TV	27.4
	Terre Haute, Indiana	WAWV-TV	38.4
	Tyler/Longview, Texas	KIVY-LD	16.3
	West Palm Beach, Florida	WWHB-CD	48.4
		WTCN-CD	43.4	Dabl
September 20	Nashville, Tennessee	WZTV	17.4	TBD
	Omaha, Nebraska	KPTM	42.4	Comet
	San Antonio, Texas	WOAI-TV	4.4	Charge!
September 28	Bellingham, Washington	KVOS	12.5	MeTV Plus
	Seattle, Washington	KFFV	44.5
October 1	Corpus Christi, Texas	KRIS-TV	6.5	Ion Television
			6.6	Newsy
	Richmond, Virginia	WTVR-TV	6.6
	San Diego, California	KGTV	10.6

Stations changing network affiliations

This section outlines affiliation changes involving English and Spanish networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, The CW, Univision, etc.), and format conversions involving independent stations. Digital subchannels are mentioned if the prior or new affiliation involves a major English and Spanish broadcast network or a locally programmed independent entertainment format.

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Prior affiliation	New affiliation	Notes	Source
January 1	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	KGAN	2.2	GetTV	Fox	On January 1, KGAN began simulcasting KFXA for a one-month transitional period as Sinclair consolidated Fox affiliates in duopoly markets from their shell corporations to directly owned stations; GetTV concurrently moved to KGAN's third digital subchannel.
			2.3	Comet	GetTV
	Charleston, West Virginia	WCHS-TV	8.2	Antenna TV	Fox	On January 1, WCHS-TV began simulcasting WVAH-TV for a one-month transitional period; Antenna TV concurrently moved to a new third digital subchannel of WCHS-TV.
	Columbus, Ohio	WSYX	6.3			On January 1, WSYX began simulcasting WTTE for a one-month transitional period; Antenna TV concurrently moved to a new fourth digital subchannel of WSYX.
	Dayton, Ohio	WKEF	22.2	Stadium		WKEF-DT2 disaffiliated from Stadium on January 1; it concurrently began simulcasting sister station WRGT-TV for a one-month transitional period.
	Idaho Falls–Pocatello, Idaho	KIDK	3.1	CBS	Dabl	In December 2020, VistaWest Media LLC, owner of KIDK, announced that most of the station's CBS network and syndicated programing, and local newscasts from its KIDK Eyewitness News 3 operation would be transferred to the DT2 subchannel of News-Press & Gazette Company-owned ABC affiliate and SSA partner KIFI-TV on January 1. KIDK would concurrently switch to Dabl (which is also carried on its Fox-affiliated sister KXPI-LD), while Telemundo programming displaced from KIFI-DT2 would transfer to a new DT5 subchannel on that station.
		KIFI-TV	8.2	Telemundo	CBS
	Port Arthur-Beaumont, Texas	KFDM	6.3	Charge!	Fox	KFDM-DT3 disaffiliated from Charge! on December 31, 2020; on January 1, the subchannel began simulcasting Fox-affiliated SSA partner KBTV-TV for a one-month transitional period.
	Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, California	KCOY-TV	11.1	CBS	Dabl	In December 2020, the News-Press & Gazette Company, owner of KCOY-TV, announced that the station's CBS network and syndicated programming and its local newscasts would be transferred to the DT2 subchannel of its ABC-affiliated sister station KEYT-TV on January 1. (KEYT had previously maintained a part-time affiliation with CBS from its May 1953 sign-on until KCOY began offering the network full-time after dropping its former primary NBC affiliation in 1969.). KCOY became affiliated with Dabl, relocating the diginet from its discontinued DT4 subchannel. To make room for the former KCOY intellectual unit on its DT2 feed (at which point, its local newscasts were retitled NewsChannel 12 to match KEYT's base news brand), KEYT-DT3—previously affiliated with Bounce TV—adopted a news rebroadcast format with MyNetworkTV programming (previously on KEYT-DT2) airing weeknights.
		KEYT-TV	3.2	MyNetworkTV	CBS
			3.3	Bounce TV	MyNetworkTV
February 1	Dothan, Alabama	WDHN	18.4	Cozi TV	Antenna TV	Nexstar Media Group continues the process it launched in the fall of 2020 of phasing out subchannel carriage agreements with Cozi and MeTV, competitors in the classic television subchannel space, in order to increase exposure and publicity for Antenna TV on its existing stations, which it acquired in 2019 as part of the Tribune Broadcasting merger.
	Terre Haute, Indiana	WTWO	2.4
	Monroe, Louisiana	KARD-TV	14.4
	Joplin, Missouri	KSNF	16.4
	Amarillo, Texas	KAMR-TV	4.4
	Wichita Falls, Texas	KFDX-TV	3.4
	Charleston, West Virginia	WVAH-TV	11.1	Fox	Decades	In December 2020, Sinclair Broadcast Group—which operates the station through Cunningham Broadcasting—announced that most of WVAH's Fox network and syndicated programing, its 10:00 p.m. Eyewitness News newscast (produced by ABC affiliated sister station WCHS-TV), and the "Fox 11" branding would transfer to the second subchannel of WCHS-TV beginning February 1, following a one-month transition period that began on January 1 as part of Sinclair's consolidation of Fox affiliates onto directly owned stations; the move ended WVAH's 34-year affiliation with Fox (dating to its 1987 national launch). After the transition, the station's main channel switched to the Weigel Broadcasting-owned Decades diginet.
	Port Arthur–Beaumont, Texas	KBTV-TV	4.1		Dabl	In December 2020, Sinclair Broadcast Group—which operated the station through Deerfield Media—announced that KBTV would disaffiliate from Fox after 13 years (ending a 67-year-run as a major network affiliate, having previously been with NBC from its 1953 sign on until 2008); the station switched to Dabl effective February 1, with its Fox network and syndicated programming, the 5:30 and 9:00 p.m. newscasts (produced by sister station KFDM) and the "Fox 4" branding being transferred to the third subchannel of KFDM on February 1, following a one-month transition period that began on January 1 as part of Sinclair's consolidation of Fox affiliates onto directly owned stations. Following this, KFDM becomes the second station in the Beaumont–Port Arthur market to maintain dual major network affiliations on its main channel and a digital subchannel (ABC affiliate KBMT has carried NBC programming on its DT2 subchannel since KBTV dropped the latter network).
			4.5	Dabl	Charge!
February 2	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	KGAN	2.2	GetTV	Fox	In December 2020, Sinclair Broadcast Group—which operates KFXA through Second Generation of Iowa, Ltd.—announced that the station would end its collective 33-year relationship with Fox (dating to KFXA's 1988 sign-on, with a ten-month sabbatical from October 1994 to August 1995 due to financial issues that caused its eviction from the station's original studios). KFXA's Fox network and syndicated programming, its weekday 7:00 a.m. and nightly 9:00 p.m. newscasts (produced by CBS-affiliated sister KGAN) and the "Fox 28" branding transferred to KGAN-DT2 on February 2, following a 33-day transition period that commenced on January 1 as part of Sinclair's consolidation of Fox affiliates onto directly owned stations; following the switch, GetTV programming moved from KFXA-DT2 to KGAN-DT3, Comet programming moved from KGAN-DT3 to the newly launched KFXA-DT5, and Dabl programming moved from KGAN-DT4 (discontinued to allocate HD bandwidth for KGAN-DT2) to KFXA's main channel.
			2.3	Comet	GetTV
		KFXA	28.1	Fox	Dabl
February 3	Columbus, Ohio	WTTE	28.1		TBD	In December 2020, Sinclair Broadcast Group—which operates WRGT and WTTE through Cunningham Broadcasting—announced that both stations would end their 34-year relationship with Fox (dating to the network's 1987 national debut). In Dayton, WRGT's Fox network and syndicated programming, its weekday 7:00 a.m. and nightly 10:00 p.m. newscasts (produced by ABC-affiliated sister WKEF) and the "Fox 45" branding transferred to WKEF-DT2 on February 4, following a 33-day transition period that commenced on January 1; following the switch, the part-time MyNetworkTV/Dabl affiliation moved to WRGT's main channel. In Columbus, WTTE's Fox and syndicated programming, its weekday 7:00 a.m. and nightly 10:00 p.m. newscasts (produced by ABC-affiliated sister WSYX) and the "Fox 28" branding transferred to the third subchannel of WSYX-DT3 on February 3, following a 32-day transition period that commenced on January 1 as part of Sinclair's consolidation of Fox affiliates onto directly owned stations; afterward, WTTE switched to Sinclair's TBD diginet.
			28.2	TBD	Stadium
February 4	Dayton, Ohio	WRGT-TV	45.1	Fox	MyNetworkTV/Dabl
			45.2	MyNetworkTV/Dabl	TBD
			45.5	TBD	Stadium
	Sioux City, Iowa	KMEG	14.1	CBS	Dabl	In January 2021, Sinclair Broadcast Group—which operated the station through Waitt Broadcasting—announced that KMEG would disaffiliate from CBS after 53 years (dating to its 1967 sign-on), with its network and syndicated programming, local newscasts produced through its Siouxland News operation, as well as the "KMEG 14" branding being transferred to the DT3 subchannel of its co-owned Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliated station KPTH beginning February 4, another consolidation of Sinclair's major network affiliations onto directly owned stations. Both stations concurrently swapped their corresponding diginet affiliations with Dabl, TBD and Charge! on that date.
			14.2	TBD	Charge!
		KPTH	44.2	Dabl	TBD
			44.3	Charge!	CBS
March 29	Dallas, Texas	KTXA	21.2	MeTV	CBSN Dallas	In December 2020, Weigel Broadcasting completed its acquisition of Azteca América affiliates KAZD/Dallas and KYAZ/Houston from HC2 Holdings. On March 29, KAZD and KYAZ became MeTV owned and operation stations, as it shifts Azteca America programming to the stations' third subchannel.
		KAZD	55.1	Azteca América	MeTV
	Houston, Texas	KPRC-TV	2.2	MeTV	Start TV
		KYAZ	51.1	Azteca América	MeTV
April 1	Fresno, California	KFSN-TV	30.3	Laff	This TV	With Katz's carriage agreement with the ABC Owned Television Stations also running out, ABCOTS has since come to agreement with Allen Media Group to launch a revitalized This TV on those channel slots.
	Houston, Texas	KTRK-TV	13.3
	Los Angeles, California	KABC-TV	7.3
	New York City, New York	WABC-TV	7.3
	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	WPVI-TV	6.3
	Raleigh, North Carolina	WTVD	11.3
	San Francisco, California	KGO-TV	7.3
	Minneapolis, Minnesota	K33LN-D	33.1	Bounce TV	QVC
			33.2	Court TV Mystery	HSN
April 3	Las Vegas, Nevada	KLAS-TV	8.4	Ion Television	Circle
April 5	Indianapolis, Indiana	WISH-TV	8.3	True Crime Network	Twist
May 15	Chicago, Illinois	WCPX-TV	38.2	Court TV Mystery	Bounce TV	WCIU launched the experimental MeTV Plus service over digital subchannels 26.5 on this date; ewplaxing Bounce TV, which had been carrying its programming simultaneously on Ion O&O WCPX-TV (owned by Bounce parent, the E. W. Scripps Company) since February 28 and cedes its Chicago affiliation rights exclusively to that station with the switchover.
		WCIU-TV	26.5	Bounce TV	MeTV Plus
May 17	Lexington, Kentucky	WTVQ-DT	36.4	Laff	Twist
			36.7	Grit	QVC
June 7	Charlotte, North Carolina	WJZY	46.8	Shop LC	QVC2
	Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida	WTSP	10.2	Antenna TV	Twist
		WFTS-TV	28.4	Court TV	Court TV Mystery
			28.5	QVC	HSN
July 5	Burlington/Davenport, Iowa	KGCW	26.4	Bounce TV	CBS
August 2	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	KCRG-TV	9.3	Antenna TV	The CW	As a result of the sale of KWWL to Allen Media Broadcasting due to the acquisition of the station's former owner Quincy Media by Gray Television, the owner of competitor KCRG-TV, The CW announced they move its affiliation from its second digital subchannel of KWWL to the third subchannel of KCRG-TV beginning August 2, after Start TV, Circle and Antenna TV diginets leaving the said station as well in the Cedar Rapids market, while the former joined the Weigel Broadcasting owned network Heroes & Icons.
		KWWL	7.2	The CW	Heroes & Icons
September 1	Albany/Schenectady/Troy, New York	WXXA-TV	23.4	Bounce TV	Rewind TV
	Buffalo, New York	WNLO	23.2
		WKBW-TV	7.2	Laff	Bounce TV
		WIVB-TV	4.2	Court TV	QVC
	Charleston/Huntington, West Virginia	WOWK-TV	13.4	Grit	Rewind TV
	Charlotte, North Carolina	WJZY	46.8	QVC2
	Chicago, Illinois	WGN-TV	9.4	TBD
	Cleveland, Ohio	WOIO	19.4	Shop LC
	Grand Rapids, Michigan	WOOD-TV	8.2	Bounce TV
			8.3	Laff	SportsGrid
	Hagerstown, Maryland	WDVM-TV	25.2	Court TV Mystery
			25.3	Grit	Rewind TV
			25.4	Laff	HSN
	Harlingen, Texas	KGBT-TV	4.2	TBD	Rewind TV
	Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut	WTNH	8.2	Bounce TV
		WCTX	59.2	Grit	Comet
	Honolulu, Hawaii	KHON-TV	2.4	Court TV	Rewind TV
	Nashville, Tennessee	WKRN-TV	2.2	Bounce TV	SportsGrid
			2.4	Grit	Rewind TV
	New York City, New York	WPIX	11.4	TBD
	Portland, Oregon	KOIN	6.3	Bounce TV	SportsGrid
	Providence, Rhode Island	WNAC-TV	64.3	Laff	Rewind TV
	Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina	WNCN	17.2	Court TV
			17.4	Court TV Mystery	Circle
	Roanoke/Lynchburg, Virginia	WWCW	21.3	Laff	Rewind TV
	Salt Lake City, Utah	KTVX	4.3
	San Antonio, Texas	KABB	29.2	Comet
	San Francisco, California	KRON-TV	4.3	Court TV	SportsGrid
	St. Louis, Missouri	KPLR-TV	11.4	Court TV	Rewind TV
	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania	WBRE-TV	28.3	Grit
		WYOU	22.3	Bounce TV	Twist
	Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida	WFLA-TV	8.2	Court TV	SportsGrid
			8.3	Court TV Mystery	Antenna TV
September 20	Detroit, Michigan	WMYD	20.1	MyNetworkTV/ABC (alternate)	Independent/ABC (remained alternate)	On July 10, 2021, it was announced that Fox Corporation's MyNetworkTV programming service would move to Adell Broadcasting owned station WADL, ending its 36 years as an independent station, as well as their alternating affiliations with NBC (for programming declined to carry by the network's affiliated station in that market, WDIV-TV). Meanwhile, WMYD returns to its independence for the first time since 1995 (ending MNT's 15 year affiliation with the said station from its 2006 launch along with their 11-year affiliation with the now-defunct The WB from 1995 to 2006), while retaining their alternating affiliation with ABC (for programming declined to carry by the network's affiliated sister station in that market, WXYZ-TV due to breaking news and other programming).
		WADL	38.1	Independent/NBC (alternate)	MyNetworkTV
	Florence, South Carolina	WPDE-TV	15.2	24/7 weather	The CW	On September 20, 2021, the CW affiliation from WWMB (owned by Howard Stirk Holdings) moved to WPDE's second subchannel, although the "CW 21" branding was retained, continuing Sinclair's 2021 pattern of shifting major network affiliations onto directly owned stations rather than those of their shell corporations. The Weather Authority moved to the fourth subchannel, and Dabl moved from the fifth subchannel (which was dropped) to WWMB's main channel and was upgraded to high definition. Stadium moved from the fourth subchannel to WWMB's third subchannel, where it had previously been located before moving to WPDE.
			15.4	Stadium	24/7 weather
		WWMB	21.1	The CW	Dabl
			21.2	The CW Plus	TBD
			21.3	TBD	Stadium
	Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina/Asheville, North Carolina	WMYA-TV	40.1	MyNetworkTV	Dabl
	Nashville, Tennessee	WZTV	17.2	TBD	The CW	On September 14, 2021, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that Nashville's CW affiliation (owned by Sinclair shell Tennessee Broadcasting) would move from WNAB to WZTV's 17.2 subchannel beginning September 20 at 10 a.m., using WNAB's new status as an ATSC 3.0 lighthouse station to consolidate the CW affiliation directly onto a Sinclair-owned station.
		WNAB	58.1	The CW	Dabl
	Omaha, Nebraska	KXVO	15.1	The CW	TBD
			15.2	TBD	Stadium
		KPTM	42.3	Comet	The CW
	San Antonio, Texas	WOAI-TV	4.2	Antenna TV	The CW	On September 20, 2021, the CW affiliation moved from Deerfield Media-owned KMYS to WOAI-TV's second subchannel (and another major affiliation consolidation onto a Sinclair-owned station), although the "CW 35" branding was retained. Dabl moved from KMYS' third subchannel to its main channel and was upgraded to high definition. TBD moved from KABB's third subchannel to KMYS' second subchannel.
			4.3	Charge!	Antenna TV
		KABB	29.2	Rewind TV	Comet
			29.3	TBD	Rewind TV
		KMYS	35.1	The CW	Dabl
			35.2	Stadium	TBD
			35.3	Dabl	Stadium
	Wichita, Kansas	KSAS	24.2	TBD	MyNetworkTV	On September 20, 2021, after 15 years of MyNetworkTV having a separate affiliated station in Wichita, MyTV Wichita programming moved from KMTW (owned by Sinclair shell Mercury Broadcasting Company) to KSAS-TV 24.2 (directly Sinclair-owned), which formerly aired programming from Sinclair's Internet-sourced network, TBD. TBD moved to KMTW 36.4, which formerly aired Dabl programming since the network's launch on September 9, 2019, and Dabl moved to 36.1.
		KMTW	36.1	MyNetworkTV	Dabl
			36.4	Dabl	TBD
October 31	Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News, Virginia	WVBT	43.3	Heroes & Icons	Rewind TV
November 1	Las Vegas, Nevada	KLAS-TV	8.4	Circle
	Richmond, Virginia	WRIC-TV	8.2	Ion Television
December 22	Cleveland, Ohio	WTCL-LP (calls changed from WLFM-LD)	6.1	Jewelry Television (WOIO/CBS simulcast in interim)	Telemundo	On September 22, 2021, Gray Television announced it would convert Jewelry Television affiliate WLFM-LD (which operated as an LPFM maintaining alternative rock/AAA and, later, Latin music formats from September 2012 until it ceased analog transmissions in June 2020) into a Telemundo affiliate, adopting the callsign WTCL-LD, effective January 1, 2022. (Cleveland—which has two existing Spanish-language major network stations, Univision/UniMás O&O WQHS-DT and Azteca América affiliate WQDI-LD—had been one of the largest U.S. markets with a significant Hispanic/Latino population that did not have a local Telemundo station.) After switching to a temporary simulcast of CBS-affiliated sister WOIO's main feed in coincidence with the October 15 callsign change, WTCL converted to Telemundo early on December 22. On January 1, WOIO began to produce twice-nightly Monday–Friday newscasts for WTCL, becoming the first Spanish-language local news offering in the Cleveland market (WQHS and WQDI, respectively, have never offered in-house or outsourced local news programming since converting into Spanish stations).

Scripps, Ion, and Inyo 2021 subchannel shifts

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Prior affiliation	New affiliation	Notes	Source
March 1	Albany - Schenectady - Troy, New York	WYPX-TV	55.2	Qubo	Bounce TV	With the shutdown of Ion Plus, Qubo and Ion Shop and as a consequence of The E. W. Scripps Company's purchase of Ion Media (along with concurrent spin-offs of some Ion O&Os to INYO Broadcast Holdings), Ion Television's owned and affiliated stations and Ion Plus' O&O stations reconfigured their channel map to add selected networks owned by fellow Scripps subsidiary Katz Broadcasting in place of the defunct networks.
			55.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
			55.4	Ion Shop	Grit
	Atlanta, Georgia	WPXA-TV	14.2	Qubo	Court TV
			14.3	Ion Plus	Laff
			14.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
	Birmingham, Alabama	WPXH-TV	44.2	Qubo
			44.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
			44.4	Ion Shop	Grit
			44.5	QVC	Laff
	Boise, Idaho	KTRV-TV	12.2	Qubo	Court TV
			12.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			12.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
	Boston, Massachusetts	WDPX-TV	58.1	Ion Plus	Court TV
		WBPX-TV	68.2	Qubo	Court TV Mystery
			68.3	Ion Shop	Bounce TV
	Buffalo, New York	WPXJ-TV	51.2	Qubo	Court TV
			51.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			51.4	Ion Shop	Laff
	Chicago, Illinois	WCPX-TV	38.2	Qubo	Court TV Mystery
			38.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
			38.4	Ion Shop	Laff
	Cleveland, Ohio	WDLI-TV	17.1	Ion Plus	Court TV
		WVPX-TV	23.2	Qubo	Grit
			23.3	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
	Columbia, South Carolina	WZRB	47.2	Qubo	Court TV
			47.3	Ion Plus	Court TV Mystery
			47.4	Ion Shop	Grit
	Columbus, Ohio	WSFJ-TV	51.1	Ion Plus	Bounce TV
	Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas	KPXD-TV	68.2	Qubo	Court TV
			68.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			68.4	Ion Shop	Laff
	Denver, Colorado	KPXC-TV	59.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
			59.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
			59.4	Ion Shop	Laff
			59.6	QVC	Grit
	Des Moines, Iowa	KFPX-TV	39.2	Qubo	Court TV
			39.3	Ion Plus	Laff
			39.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
	Detroit, Michigan	WPXD-TV	31.2	Qubo	Court TV
			31.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			31.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
	Grand Rapids, Michigan	WZPX-TV	43.2	Qubo	Court TV
			43.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			43.4	Ion Shop	Laff
			43.5	QVC	Court TV Mystery
	Greensboro - Winston-Salem - High Point, North Carolina	WGPX-TV	16.2	Qubo	Grit
			16.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
			16.4	Ion Shop	Laff
	Greenville - New Bern, North Carolina	WEPX-TV	38.2	Qubo	Court TV
			38.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			38.4	Ion Shop	Laff
		WPXU-TV	35.2	Qubo	Court TV
			35.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			35.4	Ion Shop	Laff
	Hagerstown, Maryland	WWPX-TV	60.2	Qubo	Court TV Mystery
			60.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
			60.4	Ion Shop	Laff
	Hartford, Connecticut	WHPX-TV	26.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
			26.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
			26.4	Ion Shop	Grit
	Honolulu, Hawaii	KPXO-TV	66.2	Qubo	Court TV
			66.3	Ion Plus	Grit
			66.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
Houston, Texas	KPXB-TV	49.2	Qubo	Court TV
		49.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		49.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
		49.5	HSN	Laff
Indianapolis, Indiana	WCLJ-TV	42.1	Ion Plus	Bounce TV
	WIPX-TV	63.2	Qubo	Court TV
		63.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
	WRTV	6.4	Court TV Mystery	QVC
Jacksonville, Florida	WPXC-TV	21.2	Qubo	Court TV
		21.3	Ion Plus	Court TV Mystery
		21.4	Ion Shop	Grit
		21.6	HSN	Laff
Kansas City, Missouri	KMCI-TV	38.4	Court TV	HSN
	KPXE-TV	50.2	Qubo	Court TV
		50.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		50.4	Ion Shop	Laff
		50.6	HSN	QVC2
Knoxville, Tennessee	WPXK-TV	54.2	Qubo	Court TV
		54.3	Ion Plus	Laff
		54.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
Lexington, Kentucky	WUPX-TV	67.2	Qubo	Court TV
		67.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		67.4	Ion Shop	Laff
Los Angeles, California	KPXN-TV	30.2	Qubo	Court TV
		30.3	Ion Life	Grit
		30.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
		30.5	QVC	Laff
	KILM	64.1	Ion Plus	Grit
Madison, Wisconsin	WIFS	57.1	Ion Plus	Ion Television
		57.5	Qubo	Laff
		57.6	Laff	Court TV Mystery
		57.7	Court TV Mystery	Grit
Manchester, New Hampshire	WPXG-TV	21.2	Qubo	Court TV Mystery
		21.3	Ion Shop	Bounce TV
Memphis, Tennessee	WPXX-TV	50.2	Qubo	Court TV Mystery
		50.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		50.4	Ion Shop	Grit
Miami - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	WPXM-TV	35.2	Qubo	Court TV Mystery
		35.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		35.4	Ion Shop	Laff
Milwaukee, Wisconsin	WPXE-TV	55.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		55.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		55.4	Ion Shop	Grit
Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota	KPXM-TV	41.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		41.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		41.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
Nashville, Tennessee	WNPX-TV	28.2	Qubo	Court TV
		28.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		28.4	Ion Shop	Laff
New Orleans, Louisiana	WPXL-TV	49.2	Qubo	Grit
		49.3	Ion Plus	Laff
		49.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
New York City, New York	WJLP	33.6	Court TV	Heartland
	WPXN-TV	31.2	Qubo	Grit
		31.3	Ion Plus	Court TV Mystery
		31.4	Ion Shop	Court TV
		31.5	QVC	Laff
Norfolk - Portsmouth - Newport News, Virginia	WPXV-TV	49.2	Qubo
		49.3	Ion Plus	Court TV Mystery
		49.4	Ion Shop	Court TV
	WGNT	27.4	Court TV	Dabl
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	KOPX-TV	62.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		62.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		62.4	Ion Shop	Grit
Orlando, Florida	WOPX-TV	56.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		56.3	Ion Plus	Court TV Mystery
		56.4	Ion Shop	Grit
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	WPPX-TV	61.2	Qubo	Court TV
		61.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		61.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
		61.5	HSN	Laff
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	WINP-TV	16.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		16.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		16.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
Portland, Maine	WIPL	35.2	Qubo	Court TV
		35.3	Ion Plus	Bounce TV
		35.4	Ion Shop	Grit
	WCSH	6.3	Court TV	Antenna TV
Portland, Oregon	KPXG-TV	22.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		22.3		Court TV
		22.4	Ion Shop	Laff
Providence, Rhode Island	WLWC	28.1	Ion Plus	Court TV
	WPXQ-TV	69.2	Qubo	Laff
		69.4	Ion Shop	Bounce TV
Raleigh - Durham, North Carolina	WRPX-TV	47.3		Court TV Mystery
		47.5	QVC	Laff
	WFPX-TV	62.1	Ion Plus	Court TV
Roanoke - Lynchburg, Virginia	WPXR-TV	38.2	Qubo
		38.3	Ion Plus	Laff
		38.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
St. Louis, Missouri	WRBU	46.2	Qubo	Court TV
		46.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		46.4	Ion Shop	Laff
Sacramento, California	KSPX-TV	29.2	Qubo	Court TV
		29.3	Ion Plus	Laff
		29.4	Ion Shop	Bounce TV
Salt Lake City, Utah	KUPX-TV	16.2	Qubo	Grit
		16.3	Ion Plus	Laff
		16.4	Ion Shop	Bounce TV
San Antonio, Texas	KPXL-TV	26.2	Qubo	Court TV
		26.3	Ion Plus	Laff
		26.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose, California	KKPX-TV	65.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		65.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		65.4	Ion Shop	Grit
		65.5	QVC	Laff
Scranton - Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania	WQPX-TV	64.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		64.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		64.4	Ion Shop	Grit
Seattle - Tacoma, Washington	KWPX-TV	33.2	Qubo	Court TV
		33.3	Ion Life	Bounce TV
		33.4	Ion Shop	Grit
Spokane, Washington	KGPX-TV	34.2	Qubo	Bounce TV
		34.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		34.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
Syracuse, New York	WSPX-TV	56.2	Qubo	Court TV
		56.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		56.4	Ion Shop	Court TV Mystery
Tampa - St. Petersburg, Florida	WXPX-TV	66.2	Qubo	Court TV
		66.3	Ion Plus	Grit
		66.4	Ion Shop	Laff
Tulsa, Oklahoma	KTPX-TV	44.2	Qubo	NBC
		44.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		44.4	Ion Shop	Grit
Washington, D.C.	WPXW-TV	66.2	Qubo	Court TV Mystery
		66.3	Ion Plus	Court TV
		66.4	Ion Shop	Laff
Wausau - Rhinelander, Wisconsin	WTPX-TV	46.2	Qubo	Grit
		46.3	Ion Plus	Court TV Mystery
		46.4	Ion Shop	Laff
		46.5	QVC	Bounce TV
West Palm Beach, Florida	WPTV-TV	5.4	Court TV Mystery	Start TV
	WPXP-TV	67.2	Qubo	Court TV
		67.3	Ion Plus	Court TV Mystery
		67.4	Ion Shop	Laff
		67.5	QVC	Grit
July 1	Albany, New York	WYPX-TV	55.5	QVC	Defy TV	Many Scripps/Ion stations then shuffle their affiliations around in mid-summer as the result of the launch of two new subchannel networks featuring reality programming from the A E Networks library; the male-focused Defy TV, and TrueReal, which features programs targeting women.
			55.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Birmingham, Alabama	WPXH-TV	44.6		Defy TV
	Boise, Idaho	KTRV-TV	12.5	QVC
			12.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Buffalo, New York	WPXJ-TV	51.5	QVC	Defy TV
			51.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Chicago, Illinois	WCPX-TV	38.5	QVC	Defy TV
			38.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Cleveland, Ohio	WEWS-TV	5.4	Court TV
		WVPX-TV	23.5	HSN	Defy TV
	Colorado Springs, Colorado	KOAA-TV	5.2	WeatherNation TV	Court TV
			5.4	Court TV	Defy TV
	Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas	KPXD-TV	68.5	QVC
			68.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Denver, Colorado	KPXC-TV	59.4	Laff	Defy TV
			59.5	HSN	TrueReal
	Detroit, Michigan	WPXD-TV	31.4	Court TV Mystery	Defy TV
			31.5	QVC	TrueReal
	Grand Rapids, Michigan	WZPX-TV	43.6	HSN	Defy TV
	Greensboro - Winston-Salem - High Point, North Carolina	WGPX-TV	16.5	QVC
			16.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Hartford, Connecticut	WHPX-TV	26.5	QVC	Defy TV
			26.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Honolulu, Hawaii	KPXO-TV	66.4	Court TV Mystery	Defy TV
			66.5	QVC	TrueReal
	Indianapolis, Indiana	WIPX-TV	63.5		Defy TV
			63.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Kansas City, Missouri	KPXE-TV	50.3	Grit	Defy TV
			50.4	Laff	TrueReal
	Lexington, Kentucky	WUPX-TV	67.5	QVC	Defy TV
			67.6	HSN	TueReal
	Los Angeles, California	KPXN-TV	30.3	Grit	Defy TV
			30.4	Court TV Mystery	TrueReal
	Memphis, Tennessee	WPXX-TV	50.5	QVC
			50.6	HSN	Defy TV
	Nashville, Tennessee	WNPX-TV	28.5	QVC
			28.6	HSN	TruReal
	New York City, New York	WPXN-TV	31.4	Court TV	Defy TV
			31.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Norfolk - Portsmouth - Newport News, Virginia	WPXV-TV	49.4	Court TV	Defy TV
			49.5	QVC	TrueReal
	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	KOPX-TV	62.5		Defy TV
			62.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	WPPX-TV	61.4	Court TV Mystery
			61.6	QVC	Defy TV
	Phoenix, Arizona	KPPX-TV	51.5
	Spokane, Washington	KGPX-TV	34.5
			34.6	HSN	TrueReal
	Tampa - St. Petersburg, Florida	WXPX-TV	66.5	QVC	Defy TV
			66.6	HSN	TrueReal
	West Palm Beach, Florida	WPXP-TV	67.6		Defy TV

Station closures

Station	Channel	Affiliation	Market	Date	Notes	Source
WCKD-LP	30 (analog)	Positiv	Bangor, Maine	July 13	WCKD-LP's license was cancelled by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 4, 2021, due to the station not obtaining a license to convert to digital operations by the July 13, 2021, deadline.
XHRIO	15.1	The CW	Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (Rio Grande Valley, Texas)	December 31	In late 2019, when owner Entravision Communications released its third-quarter earnings, it announced that it would not pay the 20-year lump sum renewal for the station's license. As a result, the station is expected to cease operations at the end of its concession in December 2021 after broadcasting as an English language station for most of its 42-year history. The closure of XHRIO-TDT leaves Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon to depend on American television stations for English-language content.

Deaths

January

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
January 2	Kerry Vincent	75	Australian baker and reality show contestant (The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Food Network Challenge, and Last Cake Standing)
January 3	Eric Jerome Dickey	59	Author and former actor. Recurring role on Almost There!
January 4	Tanya Roberts	65	Actress best known as Midge Pinciotti on That '70s Show. Also recurring roles on Charlie's Angels and Hot Line.
	Gregory Sierra	83	Actor best known as Detective Sergeant Chano Amengual on Barney Miller and as Julio Fuentes on Sanford and Son.
January 6	Gerald Hiken	93	Character actor. Had a short recurring role on Car 54, Where Are You
	Antonio Sabàto Sr.	77	Italian-American actor, father of Antonio Sabàto Jr.; appeared as "Aldo Damiano" on The Bold and the Beautiful in 2006.
January 7	Michael Apted	79	British director, producer, writer and actor (Rome, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex)
	Deezer D	55	Actor and rapper best known as Malik McGrath on ER.
	Tommy Lasorda	93	Hall of Fame manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1976 to 1996; co-starred as the "Dugout Wizard" on The Baseball Bunch from 1980 to 1985, and later appeared in TV commercials for SlimFast
	Marion Ramsey	73	Actress (Cos). Guest starred on K-Ville, Loving, and Another World.
	Val Bettin	97	Actor and voice actor.
January 8	Ed Bruce	81	Country music songwriter, singer, and actor (Bret Maverick). Made guest roles on Happy Days, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Sally, Laverne & Shirley, The Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, and The Munsters.
	Diana Millay	85	Actress (Father Knows Best, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Tab Hunter Show, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Route 66, King of Diamonds, Target: The Corruptors!, The United States Steel Hour, Rawhide, Perry Mason, Dark Shadows)
	Mike Henry	84	Football player (Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams) and actor (M*A*S*H, General Hospital, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Murder, She Wrote, Fantasy Island)
January 9	John Reilly	86	Actor best known for roles on the soap operas General Hospital and Passions
	Caroly Wilcox	89	Theater professional, best known for her work with The Muppets on television programs including Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock
January 14	Peter Mark Richman	93	Actor best known as Andrew Laird on Dynasty.
January 15	Dale Baer	70	Animator (Disney)
January 16	Jim MacGeorge	92	Voice actor and writer (Laurel and Hardy, The Funky Phantom, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Clue Club, Yogi's Space Race, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, The Ri¢hie Ri¢h/Scooby-Doo Show, The Kwicky Koala Show, DuckTales, Bionic Six, Foofur, Beany and Cecil)
January 18	David Richardson	65	Writer and producer, most known for work on The John Larroquette Show, Two and a Half Men, and F Is for Family
	Don Sutton	75	Hall of Fame baseball pitcher and TV announcer for the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals
January 19	Mark Wilson	91	Magician and author, who was widely credited as the first major television magician and in the process establishing the viability of illusion shows as a television format.
January 20	Mira Furlan	65	Croatian actress and singer best known as Delenn on Babylon 5 and as Danielle Rousseau on Lost.
January 21	Marty Brill	88	Comedian, writer, actor and musician. Guest roles included Guiding Light, Transformers: Rescue Bots, Chicago Fire, Back to the Future, Captain N: The Game Master, Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy.
	Donna Britt	62	News anchor at WAFB/Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from 1981 to 2018
January 22	Hank Aaron	86	Professional baseball player (played himself on Happy Days, MacGyver, Mr. Belvedere, Touched by an Angel and Futurama)
	Ron Campbell	81	Australian animator, director, producer and storyboard artist (Krazy Kat, The Beatles, Sesame Street, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, The Big Blue Marble, ABC Weekend Special, Yogi's Space Race, The Smurfs, The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour, Pac-Man, The Dukes, Snorks, Yogi's Treasure Hunt, Paw Paws, The Jetsons, Ghostbusters (1986), Bionic Six, DuckTales, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Police Academy, Camp Candy, Bobby's World, Rugrats, Darkwing Duck, James Bond Jr., Bonkers, Duckman, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Rocket Power, Dragon Tales)
January 23	Hal Holbrook	95	Actor (several TV roles, including the series The Bold Ones: The Senator, Designing Women, and Evening Shade, and films and specials including That Certain Summer, Mark Twain Tonight! and 1977's Our Town)
	Larry King	87	Radio/TV broadcaster and host of Larry King Live on CNN and Larry King Now on Hulu and RT America
January 24	Sonny Fox	95	Host of The $64,000 Challenge (1956) and Wonderama (1959–1967)
	Bruce Kirby	95	Actor best known as Sergeant George Kramer on Columbo and as Bruce Rogoff on L.A. Law. Also recurring roles on numerous shows. Guest roles included As the World Turns, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, Guiding Light, All That, Let's Make a Deal, The Young and the Restless, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.
January 26	Cloris Leachman	94	Actress best known as Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff Phyllis. Also recurring roles and guest spots on numerous shows. Three-time Emmy winner.
	Sekou Smith	48	Reporter and analyst for NBA TV
January 28	Cicely Tyson	96	Actress and fashion model best known as Jane Foster on East Side/West Side, as Carrie Grace Battle on Sweet Justice, and as Ophelia Harkness on How to Get Away With Murder.
January 30	Allan Burns	85	Writer and producer (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, My Mother the Car, The Munsters, Rhoda, and Lou Grant)
	Marc Wilmore	57	Writer, actor, and producer (In Living Color, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The PJs, The Simpsons, and F Is for Family); brother of Larry Wilmore.

February

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
February 1	Dustin Diamond	44	Actor best known as Samuel "Screech" Powers in the Saved by the Bell franchise
	Jamie Tarses	56	Television executive (ABC Entertainment) and producer (Friends, Frasier, Happy Endings, My Boys, Franklin & Bash, The Wilds, Saturday Night Live, Perfect Strangers, Hawthorne, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Marry Me, Men at Work)
February 5	Christopher Plummer	91	Canadian Emmy, Oscar, and Tony Award-winning actor (TV credits include Omnibus, The Moneychangers, Jesus of Nazareth, Little Gloria... Happy at Last, The Thorn Birds, The Cosby Show, Counterstrike, Winchell, Nuremberg, American Tragedy, Departure, and Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight; voice work on Madeline; video clue presenter on Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time)
	Butch Reed	66	Former WWE and WCW professional wrestler
February 7	Pedro Gomez	58	Sports journalist who primarily covered baseball for ESPN, appearing on SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight
February 10	Katherine Creag	47	Newscaster at WNYW and WNBC in New York City
February 11	Joan Weldon	90	Character actress (guest spots on The Millionaire, Lux Video Theater, Perry Mason, Have Gun-Will Travel, Shirley Temple Theater, and This Is Your Music).
February 12	Christopher Pennock	76	Actor best known as Gabriel Collins on Dark Shadows
	Phyllis Cicero	61	Actress, known for role as Stella the Storyteller in Barney & Friends
	Lynn Stalmaster	93	Casting director
February 17	Rush Limbaugh	70	Radio and TV personality and political commentator; TV work included eponymous Rush Limbaugh from 1992 to 1996, along with contributions to The 1/2 Hour News Hour and Sunday NFL Countdown. Also several voice appearances as himself on Family Guy.
February 18	Frank Lupo	66	Writer/producer, most notably (in partnership with Stephen J. Cannell) on The A-Team, Hunter and Wiseguy
February 20	Douglas Turner Ward	90	Playwright, actor, director, and theatrical producer. He was noted for being a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).
February 23	Geoffrey Scott	79	Actor best known as Mark Jennings on Dynasty
February 28	Irv Cross	81	Football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams) and sportscaster (The NFL Today). First Black network sports anchor.

March

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
March 2	Gil Rogers	87	Actor (recurring roles as Hawk Shayne on Guiding Light, Ray Gardner on All My Children, and Dr. Martin Brandt on The Doctors).
March 6	Carmel Quinn	95	Irish-American entertainer who appeared on Broadway, television and radio after immigrating to the United States in 1954
March 9	Roger Mudd	93	Reporter and anchor for CBS News and NBC News as well for PBS' MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and History Channel
	Cliff Simon	58	Actor best known for his role as Ba'al on Stargate SG-1.
March 13	Yaphet Kotto	81	Actor best known for his role as Lt. Al Giardello on Homicide: Life on the Street
March 14	Henry Darrow	87	Puerto Rican actor (several series, including The High Chaparral, Harry O, All My Children, One Life to Live, Santa Barbara, General Hospital, and Zorro)
March 17	Amy Johnston	66	Film and television actress and drama coach
March 18	Richard Gilliland	71	Actor (several series, most notably McMillan, Operation Petticoat, and Designing Women)
March 19	Barry Orton	62	Actor and professional wrestler, son of professional wrestler Bob Orton
March 21	Joel Steiger	79	Writer/producer (several films and shows, most notably Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, and the Perry Mason film series)
March 23	George Segal	87	Actor best known as Albert 'Pops' Solomon on The Goldbergs and Jack Gallo on Just Shoot Me!
March 24	Craig "muMs" Grant	52	Actor/poet (various TV series, most notably Oz, She's Gotta Have It, and Hightown)
	Jessica Walter	80	Actress (voice roles included Archer and Dinosaurs, on-camera roles included Arrested Development among several others)
March 25	Rick Azar	91	Sportscaster best known for his 31 years with WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York
	Robert Rodan	83	Actor best known for his role of Adam in Dark Shadows in 1968

April

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
April 1	Lee Aaker	77	Actor best known as Rusty on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
April 3	Gloria Henry	98	Actress best known as Alice Mitchell on Dennis the Menace
	John Paragon	66	Actor/voice actor best known for playing Jambi the Genie and voicing Pterri the Pterodactyl on Pee-wee's Playhouse
April 6	Walter Olkewicz	72	Character actor (The Last Resort, Barney Miller, The Blue and the Gray, Wizards and Warriors, Taxi, Partners in Crime, Family Ties, Dolly, Mr. Belvedere, Twin Peaks, Who's the Boss?, Night Court, Batman: The Animated Series, Grace Under Fire)
April 7	Anne Beatts	74	Comedy writer, best known for Saturday Night Live and Square Pegs
	James Hampton	84	Actor, television director, and screenwriter (Gunsmoke, F Troop, The Doris Day Show, Love, American Style, The Red Hand Gang, The Dukes of Hazzard, Insight, Maggie, Teen Wolf, Days of Our Lives, Full House)
April 16	Felix Silla	84	Italian actor and stuntman (Cousin Itt on The Addams Family)
April 18	Sunday Burquest	50	Reality TV contestant (Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X)
	Alma Wahlberg	78	Reality television personality (Wahlburgers) and the mother of Donnie, Mark, Paul, and Robert Wahlberg.
April 19	Walter Mondale	93	Politician, Vice President (1977–1981) who participated in the 1976 and 1984 presidential debates.
April 21	Bernie Kahn	90	Screenwriter (Petticoat Junction, Get Smart, The Second Hundred, My World and Welcome to It, The Good Life, Love, American Style, Bewitched, Room 222, Super Friends, Viva Valdez, The Practice, Tabitha, Three's Company, The Love Boat, The New Addams Family)
April 22	Charles Fries	92	Film producer, television producer, and executive producer who worked on many TV series, made-for-TV movies, and theatrical films
April 23	Nathan Jung	74	Actor and stuntman (guest roles on The A-Team and Falcon Crest)
April 26	Al Schmitt	91	Recording engineer and record producer
April 29	Martin Bookspan	94	Announcer, commentator, and author. Was the announcer on the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center from its beginnings in 1976 until his retirement in 2006.
	Johnny Crawford	75	Actor, singer, and musician best known for his role of Mark McCain in The Rifleman (other roles include The Lone Ranger, The Loretta Young Show, Whirlybirds, NBC Matinee Theater, The Adventures of William Tell)
	Billie Hayes	96	Actress best known for her comic portrayals of Witchiepoo in H.R. Pufnstuf
	Frank McRae	80	Actor and professional football player.

May

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
May 1	Olympia Dukakis	89	Actress, director, producer, teacher, and activist (Search for Tomorrow, Tales of the City, Touched by an Angel, Center of the Universe, Bored to Death, Sex & Violence, Forgive Me, TripTank)
May 2	Bob Abernethy	93	Journalist, best known for serving various roles during a 42-year career with NBC News. He later co-created, and was executive editor and host of Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, which aired on PBS from 1997 until 2017.
May 7	Ernest Angley	99	Televangelist (host of The Ernest Angley Hour) and station owner (WBNX-TV/Akron, OH)
	Tawny Kitaen	59	Actress, comedian, and media personality, best known for her appearances in several Whitesnake music videos. Also the host of America's Funniest People; recurring roles on The New WKRP in Cincinnati and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; and appearances in the reality shows The Surreal Life, Botched, and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
May 11	Norman Lloyd	106	Actor (most notably Dr. Daniel Auschlander on St. Elsewhere) and producer (Alfred Hitchcock Presents)
May 14	Jay Barbree	87	Correspondent for NBC News, focusing on space travel. He was the only journalist to have covered every non-commercial human space mission in the United States until 2011.
	New Jack	58	Professional wrestler (most notably with Extreme Championship Wrestling)
May 18	Charles Grodin	86	Actor (main role as the second Matt Crane Stevens on The Young Marrieds; recurring role on Louie; and appearances in the mini-series Madoff and Fresno) and CBS News commentator (60 Minutes II)
May 19	Paul Mooney	79	Actor, comedian, and writer (Real Husbands of Hollywood, Chappelle's Show, The Larry Sanders Show, In Living Color, Pryor's Place, The Richard Pryor Show, Saturday Night Live, Good Times, Sanford and Son).
May 24	Samuel E. Wright	74	Voice actor best known as Sebastian the Crab on The Little Mermaid.
May 26	Paul Soles	90	Canadian voice actor best known as the voice of Hermey in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the title character in the 1960s version of Spider-Man
May 29	Gavin MacLeod	90	Actor best known as Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat, and Seaman Joseph "Happy" Hanes on McHale's Navy.
	Joe Lara	58	Actor best known as the title character in Tarzan: The Epic Adventures. Husband of Gwen Shamblin Lara, who also died in the same crash.
May 31	Arlene Golonka	85	Actress best known as Millie Hutchins/Millie Swanson on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. (other roles include The Doctors, The Doctors and the Nurses, The Big Valley, Get Smart, That Girl, Love, American Style, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Barnaby Jones, Maude, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, The Streets of San Francisco, Joe & Valerie, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Gimme a Break!, Growing Pains, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, The King of Queens)

June

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
June 3	Ernie Lively	74	Character actor (guest spots on The Waltons, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Beverly Hillbillies, The X-Files, That '70s Show, and The West Wing).
	John Sacret Young	75	Writer/producer/director, most notably on China Beach, The West Wing and Firefly Lane
June 4	Clarence Williams III	81	Actor, best known as Det. Linc Hayes on The Mod Squad
June 7	Douglas S. Cramer	89	Producer (various series/miniseries including Bridget Loves Bernie, Wonder Woman, and QB VII) and studio executive (Paramount Television, Aaron Spelling Productions)
	Larry Gelman	90	Actor best known as Dr. Bernie Tupperman on The Bob Newhart Show and Vinnie on The Odd Couple (other roles include The Monkees, Maude, Kojak, Free Country, Eight Is Enough, One Day at a Time, Barney Miller, Archie Bunker's Place, Cagney & Lacey, Grand Slam, Night Court, Freakazoid!)
June 11	John Gabriel	90	Actor best known as Seneca Beaulac on Ryan's Hope (other roles include Men of Annapolis, General Electric Theater, Hawaiian Eye, The Lawless Years, The Untouchables, 77 Sunset Strip, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Loving, Kate & Allie, Generations, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, What's New, Scooby-Doo?)
June 12	Dennis Berry	76	American-French director (Highlander: The Series, Highlander: The Raven, Crossbow)
June 13	Ned Beatty	83	Actor best known as Stanley Bolander on Homicide: Life on the Street and the Nick Szysznyk on Szysznyk
June 14	Lisa Banes	65	Actress best known as Doreen Morrison on The Trials of Rosie O'Neill and Mayor Anita Massengil on Son of the Beach
June 16	Frank Bonner	79	Actor best known as Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati and The New WKRP in Cincinnati. Recurring role as Father Robert Hargis on Just the Ten of Us. Also directed several shows, most notably City Guys.
	Norman Powell	86	Producer (most notably on 24 and Washington: Behind Closed Doors), network executive (CBS), and director (The New Dick Van Dyke Show and others)
June 18	Billy Fuccillo	64	Automobile dealer known for his television commercials
June 20	Joanne Linville	93	Character actress (guest spots on Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Decoy, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Have Gun Will Travel, Coronado 9, Checkmate, Adventures in Paradise, Empire, Gunsmoke, Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, Route 66, The Eleventh Hour, I Spy, Bonanza, The Fugitive, The F.B.I., The Invaders, Felony Squad, Hawaii Five-O, Kojak, Colombo, The Streets of San Francisco, Nakia, Barnaby Jones, Switch, Charlie's Angels, CHiPs, Mrs. Columbo, Dynasty, L.A. Law, and Bus Stop; and the TV movies House on Greenapple Road, Secrets, The Critical List, The Users, The Right of the People, and Behind the Screen).
June 26	John Langley	78	Reality television producer, most notably serving as creator/producer of Cops
June 27	Alison Greenspan	48	Film/TV producer, most notably on the series For Life
June 29	Stuart Damon	84	TV/stage actor best known for playing Alan Quartermaine on General Hospital and Port Charles

July

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
July 1	Philece Sampler	67	Actress known for Days of Our Lives and Another World, and voice work as Mimi Tachikawa and Cody Hida in the Digimon franchise, and older Toph Beifong on The Legend of Korra.
July 5	Richard Donner	91	Film and television director (Wanted Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, Have Gun – Will Travel, Sam Benedict, The Twilight Zone, Mr. Novak, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Gilligan's Island, Perry Mason, 12 O'Clock High, The Wild Wild West, The Felony Squad, Cannon, Kojak, Tales from the Crypt)
July 6	Suzzanne Douglas	64	Actress best known as Geraldine "Jerri" Peterson on The Parent 'Hood.
July 11	Charlie Robinson	75	Actor best known as Macintosh "Mac" Robinson on Night Court and Abe Johnson on Love & War. Also recurring roles on Love in the Time of Corona, Mom, The Guest Book, Hart of Dixie, Buddy Faro, Home Improvement, Ink, Buffalo Bill, and Flamingo Road.
July 12	Paul Orndorff	71	WWE Hall of Fame professional wrestler
July 16	Biz Markie	57	Rapper and DJ who frequently appeared on Yo Gabba Gabba!
July 20	Bergen Williams	62	Actress best known as Alice Gunderson on General Hospital
July 24	Jackie Mason	93	Actor and comedian (host of The Jackie Mason Show, frequent guest spots on The Ed Sullivan Show, recurring role as Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky on The Simpsons, and the starring role of Jackie Fisher on the short-lived sitcom Chicken Soup). Three-time Emmy winner.
July 26	David Von Ancken	56	Director and producer (Hell on Wheels, Code Black, Californication, Tut, CSI: NY, Cold Case, Salem, The Order, The Vampire Diaries)
July 28	Ron Popeil	86	Gadget salesman and inventor, founder of Ronco (multiple self-produced infomercials, appearances on The Weird Al Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien)
July 29	Tony Mendez	76	Cue card man on the Late Show with David Letterman and eponymous host of the Web series The Tony Mendez Show
July 30	Jay Pickett	60	Actor best known for playing Frank Scanlon on Port Charles. Also played Chip Lakin on Days of Our Lives and David Harper on General Hospital; guest spots on Dexter and NCIS: Los Angeles.
	Thea White	81	Actress best known for voicing Muriel on Courage the Cowardly Dog.

August

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
August 4	Bobby Eaton	62	Professional wrestler
August 6	Herbert Schlosser	95	President and CEO of NBC who oversaw the start of Saturday Night Live. Also oversaw The Midnight Special, co-founded A&E, and was involved in bringing Johnny Carson to The Tonight Show.
August 7	Markie Post	70	Actress best known as Terri Michaels on The Fall Guy, Christine Sullivan on Night Court, and Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on Hearts Afire.
	Jane Withers	95	Actress whose best-known television work was an 11-year run as Josephine the Plumber for Comet
	Trevor Moore	41	Actor, comedian, writer, and director (one of the co-founders of the sketch comedy group The Whitest Kids U' Know and a star on its eponymous IFC TV series), creator of Walk the Prank
August 9	Alex Cord	88	Actor best known as Archangel on Airwolf. Also recurring roles and guest spots on numerous shows.
	Bob Jenkins	73	Motorsports announcer, most known as lead voice of NASCAR on ESPN/ABC (1981–2000) and IndyCar Series on ESPN/ABC (1999–2001) & Versus/NBCSN (2009–2012), as well as work in various roles for the IMS Radio Network.
August 16	Jeanetta Jones	60	On-Camera Meteorologist for The Weather Channel from 1986 to 2006
August 19	William Clotworthy	95	Network censor for NBC (Saturday Night Live, Late Night with David Letterman)
August 20	Tom T. Hall	85	Country singer-songwriter (hosted Pop! Goes the Country from 1980 to 1982, appeared on the Grand Ole Opry from 1971 to 1996, appeared as a spokesman in commercials for Chevrolet)
August 21	Nickolas Davatzes	79	Cable television executive (founder of A&E and The History Channel; CEO Emeritus of A&E Networks)
August 22	Lloyd Dobyns	85	Journalist/anchor, most notably at NBC News (Weekend and NBC News Overnight)
	Micki Grant	80	Actress best known as Peggy Harris Nolan on Another World. Also played Mrs. Remington on All My Children; guest spots on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Ed.
August 23	Michael Nader	76	Actor best known as Dex Dexter on Dynasty and Dimitri Marick on All My Children. Also played Alexi Theophilus on Bare Essence and Enzio Bonnatti on Lucky Chances; guest spots on Magnum, P.I., Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Cold Case.
August 29	Ed Asner	91	Actor and voice actor best known as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff Lou Grant which won him five Emmy Awards. Also won Emmys for his roles on the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and Roots. Voiced Hudson on Gargoyles, J. Jonah Jameson on Spider-Man and Cosgrove on Freakazoid!.
	Peggy Farrell	89	Film and television costume designer (Holocaust, Seize the Day, The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story, Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore, The Stepford Husbands, My Body, My Child, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Ruby Bridges)
August 31	Michael Constantine	94	Film and television actor best known as Principal Seymour Kaufman on Room 222. Also played Jack Ellenhorn on Hey, Landlord, Judge Matthew Sirota on Sirota's Court, Ben Savitch on 79 Park Avenue, Jess Wingate on The Night That Panicked America, Harry Bergen on Summer of My German Soldier, and Gus on My Big Fat Greek Life.

September

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
September 1	Allison Payne	57	News anchor for WGN-TV/Chicago
	Daffney Unger	46	Former female wrestler for World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
September 4	Willard Scott	87	Legendary weather and feature reporter for NBC's Today. Also narrated programs for NASA TV and appeared in TV commercials for Days Inn hotels and was the creator and original portrayer of McDonald's mascot Ronald McDonald.
September 6	Michael K. Williams	54	Actor best known as Omar Little on The Wire and Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire. Also played Freddy Knight on The Night Of, Bobby McCray on When They See Us, Montrose Freeman on Lovecraft Country, Leonard Pine on Hap and Leonard, Ken Jones on When We Rise, and Quincy on The Kill Point; guest spots on The Sopranos, Third Watch, Boston Legal, CSI: NY, Detroit 1-8-7, and Deadline.
September 13	Don Collier	92	Actor best known for Western films and NBC television shows such as The High Chaparral, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Outlaws as Marshal Will Foreman.
September 14	Norm Macdonald	61	Canadian comedian, best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, on which he hosted Weekend Update and created Celebrity Jeopardy! (in which he parodied Burt Reynolds). Also starred in The Norm Show, A Minute with Stan Hooper, Norm Macdonald Live, Sports Show and Norm Macdonald Has a Show.
September 15	Gavan O'Herlihy	70	Irish-born actor best known as Chuck Cunningham on Happy Days
September 16	Jane Powell	92	Singer and actress (recurring role on The Red Skelton Show, numerous guest star spots)
September 17	Tim Donnelly	77	Actor best known as Firefighter Chet Kelly on Emergency!.
September 21	Willie Garson	57	Actor best known as Mozzie on White Collar and Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City. Also played Gerard Hirsch on Hawaii Five-0, Henry Coffield on NYPD Blue, Carl on Mr. Belvedere, and Meyer Dickstein on John from Cincinnati; guest spots/recurring roles on numerous other shows.
September 22	Jay Sandrich	89	Film/TV director (several shows, most notably The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Cosby Show)
September 23	David H. DePatie	91	Founder of DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Productions
	Al Harrington	85	Samoan-American actor best known as Detective Ben Kokua on Hawaii Five-O and Mamo Kahike on its reboot.
September 29	Ravil Isyanov	59	Soviet-born actor best known as Anatoli Kirkin on NCIS: Los Angeles.
	Michael Tylo	72	Actor best known as Quinton Chamberlain on Guiding Light. Also played Alcalde Luis Ramone on Zorro, Matt Conelly on All My Children, Charlie Prince on General Hospital and Blade Bladeson/Rick Bladeson on The Young And The Restless.
September 30	John Rigas	96	Founder of Adelphia Communications Corporation and Empire Sports Network

October

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
October 2	Richard Evans	86	Actor best known as Paul Hanley on Peyton Place. Also guest spots on numerous shows.
October 3	Cynthia Harris	87	Actress best known as Wallis Simpson on Edward & Mrs. Simpson and Sylvia Buchman on Mad About You.
October 4	Alan Kalter	78	Voiceover artist/announcer for many commercials and shows, most notably for Late Show with David Letterman.
October 7	Jan Shutan	88	American actress
October 10	Granville Adams	58	Actor best known as Zahir Arif on Oz and Officer Jeff Westby on Homicide: Life on the Street.
	Bob Herron	97	American stuntman and actor
October 13	Ray Fosse	74	Former Major League Baseball catcher and Oakland Athletics color analyst for NBC Sports California
October 15	JoAnna Cameron	73	American actress and model
October 16	Betty Lynn	95	Actress best known as Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show.
October 18	Christopher Ayres	56	Voice actor best known as the voice of Frieza from Dragon Ball franchise.
	Ralph Carmichael	94	Composer and arranger (I Love Lucy, Bonanza, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, My Mother the Car)
	Val Bisoglio	95	Actor best known as Al Steckler on Working Stiffs, Danny Tovo on Quincy, M.E. and Murf Lupo on The Sopranos.
	William Lucking	80	Actor best known as Harland Pike on Outlaws, Colonel Lynch on The A-Team and Piney Winston on Sons of Anarchy.
October 22	Jay Black	82	Singer best known for the lead vocalist of the band Jay and the Americans. Also starred as Sindardos on Contract on Cherry Street.
	Peter Scolari	66	Actor best known as Henry Desmond on Bosom Buddies, Michael Harris on Newhart, Wayne Szalinski on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show and Tad Horvath on Girls. Also played Gillian B. Loeb on Gotham and Bishop Thomas Marx on Evil.
October 24	James Michael Tyler	59	Actor best known as Gunther on Friends
October 26	Linda Carlson	76	Actress best known as Dr. Janet Cottrell on Westside Medical, Katie McKenna on Kaz, Bev Dutton on Newhart and Judge Beth Bornstein on Murder One.
	Mort Sahl	94	Canadian-born comedian (appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and numerous shows)
October 28	Jovita Moore	54	News anchor and reporter for WSB-TV/Atlanta, KFSM-TV/Fort Smith and WMC-TV/Memphis
	Camille Saviola	71	Actress and singer best known as Kai Opaka on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Justice Esther Weisenberg on First Monday. Also recurring roles and guest spots on numerous shows.
October 30	Jerry Remy	68	Former Major League Baseball second baseman and Boston Red Sox color analyst for NESN

November

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
November 7	Dean Stockwell	85	Film and television actor best known as Admiral Al Calavicci on Quantum Leap and John Cavil on Battlestar Galactica.
November 9	Jerry Douglas	88	Actor best known as John Abbott on The Young and the Restless.
November 14	Bobby Clark	77	Actor best known as Casey Jones Jr. on Casey Jones.
	Heath Freeman	41	Actor best known as Howard Epps on Bones.
November 17	Dave Frishberg	88	Jazz pianist and songwriter (contributor to Schoolhouse Rock!)
November 19	Will Ryan	72	Voice actor (The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, Welcome to Pooh Corner, Dumbo's Circus, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)
November 24	Lisa Brown	67	Actress best known for playing Nola Richardson on Guiding Light and Iva Snyder on As the World Turns
November 27	Eddie Mekka	69	Actor best known for playing Carmine Ragusa on Laverne & Shirley
November 30	Marcus Lamb	64	Televangelist; co-founder, president and CEO of the Daystar Television Network

December

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
December 5	Scott Page-Pagter	52	Producer, writer, director, voice actor (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers — Power Rangers Wild Force, Big Bad Beetleborgs)
	Bob Dole	98	Politician, Senator from Kansas (1969–1996) who participated in the 1976 and 1996 presidential debates among other TV appearances
December 8	Blackjack Lanza	86	WWE Hall of Fame professional wrestler
December 10	Michael Nesmith	78	Actor/musician (The Monkees) and TV host (PopClips, Television Parts)
December 15	Bridget Hanley	80	Actress best known for playing Candy Pruitt on Here Come the Brides and Wanda Reilly Taylor on Harper Valley PTA
December 16	Derrick J. Wyatt	49	Animator best known for character design on Transformers: Animated, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and Ben 10: Omniverse
December 17	Frank Mula	71	Writer (Cosby, The Simpsons)
December 19	Dick Carson	92	Director (Wheel of Fortune, The Merv Griffin Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson)
December 25	Jean-Marc Vallée	58	Film/TV producer/director (TV work including HBO's Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects)
	Tiffini Hale	46	Cast member on The All New Mickey Mouse Club
December 28	John Madden	85	American football coach turned broadcaster of 30 years across CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC from 1979 to 2008. Appeared in various advertisements including for Ace Hardware, Miller Brewing Company, and Tinactin.
December 31	Betty White	99	Actress of 70 years best known for playing Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls and The Golden Palace, and Elka Ostrovsky on Hot in Cleveland, and her appearances on game shows including the Password franchise. Star of two eponymous shows (one in 1952–54 and another in 1977–78). At 88 years old, she became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live in 2010.

See also

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television in the United States

External links

• List of 2021 American television series at IMDb