The first television broadcast of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz was in 1956.
CBS aired the movie on November 3, 1956, as the closing presentation of Ford Star Jubilee. The telecast was a major event because the film had been only a modest theatrical success compared with its later reputation, and it became one of the first Hollywood features presented in prime time across a coast-to-coast television network.
The broadcast was expanded to two hours, with commercial breaks and live hosting segments featuring Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion, alongside Liza Minnelli and Oz expert Justin G. Schiller. Although the film was made in 1939, its television exposure helped turn it into an enduring American family tradition.
A common mix-up is 1959, when CBS began showing the movie annually. The 1956 airing was the premiere; the annual tradition began after the second telecast.