• Most of
NBC's programs are now broadcast in color. • January 1 – The first
Top of the Pops airs on
BBC Television in the
UK. • January 3 – Footage of
The Beatles performing a concert in
Bournemouth, England is shown on
The Jack Paar Show in the United States. • January 4 •
TV Tokyo launched in
Japan. •
The Hollywood Palace variety series debuts on
ABC in the United States, with first guest host
Bing Crosby. • February 9-23 – The Beatles appear on
The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States, breaking television ratings records. • April 20 –
BBC2 starts broadcasting in the UK; the existing BBC channel is renamed
BBC1. • April 30 – Television sets manufactured as of this date are required to receive
UHF channels. • May 5 – The documentary film
Seven Up! is broadcast on
ITV in the UK, showing the lives of fourteen school children. Subsequent films in the series have seen them interviewed every seven years since. • June 4 -
Sylvania in the United States unveils a revolutionary color TV picture tube in which
europium-bearing phosphor allows a much brighter display. • June 6 –
The Rolling Stones make their American TV debut on
The Hollywood Palace, hosted by
Dean Martin. • July – The British
Associated Television's series
Emergency – Ward 10 shows one of the
first kisses on television between black and white actors,
Joan Hooley playing surgeon Louise Mahler and John White playing Dr. Giles Farmer. • August 1 – The official launch of
Melbourne's third commercial television station
ATV-0, signaling the beginning of what is now
Network Ten. • September 7 – "
Daisy" advertisement airs on network television in the United States as part of
Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 presidential campaign. • September 17 – The new sitcom
Bewitched pilot airs on ABC in the United States starring
Elizabeth Montgomery,
Dick York and
Agnes Moorehead. • October 10 – NBC in the United States airs the
1964 Summer Olympics opening ceremony at
Tokyo, Japan, with first time of live Olympic telecast program by geostationary communication satellite
Syncom 3. This telecast marks NBC's first Olympic broadcasting stint. • October 18 –
Jackie Mason appears on
The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS in the United States and is subsequently banned after he seemingly gives Ed "the finger" on the air. • October 25 –
The Rolling Stones make their first appearance on
The Ed Sullivan Show; the next day, Sullivan insists that he'll never have them back. • November 26 –
Pakistan Television Corporation airs the first television broadcasts in
Pakistan. • December 6 –
NBC in the United States debuts the Christmas special
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It will become a holiday tradition, moving to
CBS in
1972. ==Programs/programmes==