1999

1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (dominical letter C) of the Gregorian calendar, the 1999th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 999th year of the 2nd millennium, the 99th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1990s decade.

1999 was designated as:

Events

January

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public body established in 1990, coming into operation in 1993. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time.

The channel was established to provide a fourth television service to the United Kingdom in addition to the television licence-funded BBC's two services and the single commercial broadcasting network, ITV.

History

Conception

Before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services: BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, and Channel 4, along with its Welsh counterpart, was formally created by an Act of Parliament in 1982. After some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982.

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee (sometimes shortened to Nick News) is an educational children's and teenagers' television show on Nickelodeon that was shown from 1992 to 2015. Nick News took the form of a highly rated and recognized news program for children and teenagers alike, discussing important social, political and economic issues in a format intended for both children and adults.

The show is known for allowing normal teenagers to speak out on their own personal opinions on a number of past and current worldwide issues and topics, including events such as Black History Month.

Linda Ellerbee

Nick News has been hosted by Linda Ellerbee since the show's inception in 1992. Ellerbee was one of five candidates auditioned over the course of two weeks. She was chosen because her competitors were "too loud and obnoxious", claimed one of the show's set designers. According to Ellerbee: "I was honored when I was named the host of Nick News. The show will be about kids and their everyday lives." Ellerbee has never missed an episode due to illness. The show is officially known as Nick News with Linda Ellerbee. Throughout the years, Nick News has featured special guests of honor, such as Al Gore, Bill Cosby, Faith Hill, Rosie O'Donnell, Magic Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Dr. Phil.