219-694: The National Broadcasting Company 's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network , it was one of the first two nationwide networks established in the United States. Its major competitors were the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), founded in 1927, and
438-595: A 50,000 watt clear-channel station , was purchased from Cleveland Electric Illuminating and the Van Sweringen brothers on October 16, 1930. Chicago station WENR , time-sharing with WLS , was purchased in July 1931 from Samuel Insull for $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 20 million in 2023), a purchase price compared to the then-record set with WEAF in 1926. WENR was paired with Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) affiliate WMAQ when NBC acquired it from
657-887: A Princeton Tigers – Harvard Crimson college football game over GE's WGY in Schenectady, New York , linked together via the Western Union system. The first attempt at using shortwave for chain broadcasting took place on March 7, 1924, when Westinghouse's KFKX in Hastings, Nebraska —constructed as an experimental repeater for KDKA and supplanting KDPM in Cleveland, Ohio —was part of a four-station network involving WJZ, WGY and KDKA, with KGO in San Francisco receiving KFKX's signal. While that experimental relay suffered from "barely distinguishable" audio on KGO's end,
876-567: A consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving antitrust charges; Westinghouse and GE gave up their ownership stakes in the company, while restrictions created through RCA's cross-licensing agreements for nearly 4,000 patents were also removed. A ceremonial broadcast over both NBC networks on November 11, 1933, formally opened the RCA Building's "Radio City" studios, with Sarnoff, Young, NBC president Merlin H. Aylesworth and BBC Director-General John Reith participating in
1095-479: A lease agreement . NBC's operations, including WEAF and WJZ, moved to 711 Fifth Avenue in 1927, designed by architect Lloyd Brown. The studios featured elements of Gothic architecture , the Roman Forum and Louis XIV in stark contrast to radio studios of that era; Raymond Hood designed the studios under the belief a well-designed studio could act as an audience for the performers. Due to NBC's rapid growth,
1314-523: A monopoly on broadcasting, a charge RCA denied, then- Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover declined to publicly comment; Chief Radio Supervisor W. D. Terrell stated that neither he or anyone else in the Commerce Department had legal jurisdiction to reject the deal inasmuch as they could not prevent a store from selling bread or meat. On September 13, 1926, RCA chairman of the board Owen D. Young and president James G. Harbord announced
1533-534: A "national chain of radio transmitting stations". A key component was the construction by AT&T of a well equipped New York City station. In early 1922 an experimental station, 2XY, was built atop the AT&;T "Long Lines" building at 24 Walker Street . On April 29, 1922, the Walker Street station was issued a broadcasting station license, for operation on 360 meters, with the call sign of WBAY. On May 19
1752-480: A Deal (1963–1968 and 1990–1991, as well as a short-lived prime-time revival in 2003), Jeopardy! (1964–1975 and 1978–1979), The Hollywood Squares (1966–1980), Wheel of Fortune (1975–1989 and 1991), Password Plus/Super Password (1979–1982 and 1984–1989), Sale of the Century (1969–1973 and 1983–1989) and Scrabble (1984–1990 and 1993). The last game show ever to air as part of NBC's daytime schedule
1971-450: A Los Angeles radio outlet to complement KNBH, NBC sold KOA and KOA-FM in 1952 to a group that included Bob Hope. While initially only carrying NBC programming, WNBT started adding a slate of local shows and soon featured five hours of local programs during the daytime by May 1950. A business built on a few comedians isn't a business worth being in. David Sarnoff, in response to CBS's 1948 "Paley raids" on NBC talent For two decades
2190-833: A Saturday edition of Today . Most of the series featured on the TNBC lineup were executive produced by Peter Engel (such as City Guys , Hang Time , California Dreams , One World and the Saved by the Bell sequel, Saved by the Bell: The New Class ), with the lineup being designed from the start to meet the earliest form of the FCC's educational programming guidelines under the Children's Television Act . NBA Inside Stuff , an analysis and interview program aimed at teens that
2409-605: A co-branded version of InfoSpace to deliver minimal portal content. In mid-2007, NBCi.com began to mirror the main NBC.com website; NBCi.com was eventually redirected to the NBC.com domain in 2010. Only one legacy of this direction remains in the website of then-O&O WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio (now owned by Nexstar ), which continues to use the URL "nbc4i.com". NBC has used a number of logos throughout its history; early logos used by
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#17327758385022628-479: A company specializing in search engines that learned from searches initiated by its users, for $ 32 million. The experiment lasted roughly one season; after its failure, NBCi's operations were folded back into NBC. The NBC Television portion of the website reverted to NBC.com. However, the NBCi website continued in operation as a portal for NBC-branded content (NBCi.com would be redirected to NBCi.msnbc.com), using
2847-528: A concerted effort began to distinguish NBC Red and NBC Blue. One 1939 story in Time magazine described NBC Blue as "... long considered a weak sister to NBC's Red Network". Most network programs were owned by their sponsors and produced by advertising agencies . For example, Lum and Abner was sponsored by Quaker Oats in 1931 when WMAQ originated the show regionally, became a sustaining program when it debuted over NBC Red in 1932, then sponsored by Ford
3066-525: A continuous, all-weekend programming umbrella featuring a mix of music, news, interviews and features that debuted on June 12, 1955. Monitor boasted a variety of hosts including such well-known television personalities as Dave Garroway , Hugh Downs , Ed McMahon , Joe Garagiola and Gene Rayburn . The potpourri also tried to keep vintage radio alive in featuring segments from Jim and Marian Jordan (in character as Fibber McGee and Molly ), Ethel and Albert and iconoclastic satirist Henry Morgan . Monitor
3285-415: A cultural landmark and the first successful hit program in the medium. In the first of what became several efforts to keep classic radio relevant, NBC sanctioned The Big Show , a 90-minute Sunday night variety program which debuted on November 5, 1950. Hosted by stage actress Tallulah Bankhead , it harked back to radio's earliest musical variety style along with sophisticated comedy and drama. The Big Show
3504-623: A decade later, with no deaths). WNBC had a turnover of programming in early 1987. On February 23, the music-intensive AC mix with various people was dropped on overnights in favor of Alan Colmes , who would also do a talk intensive show and only six songs per hour. On February 27, 1987, Joey Reynolds' show was ended and Bill Grundfest temporarily moved into this time slot. On March 9, 1987, Alan Colmes moved to afternoons and continued to play four songs per hour. Joey Reynolds did not run his own board and had Big Jay Sorensen as his producer and board operator. Since Colmes ran his own board, Sorensen moved to
3723-636: A digital subchannel or because a primary feed NBC affiliate has not yet upgraded their transmission equipment to allow content to be presented in HD. NBC's master feed has not fully converted to 1080p or 2160p ultra-high-definition television (UHD). However, some NBC stations have already begun broadcasting at 1080p via ATSC 3.0 multiplex stations. One notable example is WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina (a station that re-joined NBC in February 2016), which
3942-502: A few rock songs that were not heard on any AC stations in the area. In the fall of 1982, to much fanfare, Long Island native Howard Stern was brought in from WWDC-FM in Washington, D.C., to do afternoon drive. Initially, Stern played a considerable amount of music, much to his dismay, though his ratings were high. Then, in 1983, with ABC -owned WPLJ evolving to a Contemporary hit radio (CHR) format, as well as WHTZ 's debut with
4161-486: A few smaller markets, such as Binghamton, New York ( WBGH-CD ), Jackson, Tennessee ( WNBJ-LD ) and Juneau, Alaska ( KATH-LD ), that do not have enough full-power stations to support a standalone affiliate. In some markets, these stations also maintain digital simulcasts on a subchannel of a co-owned/co-managed full-power television station. Southern New Hampshire receives NBC programming via network-owned WBTS-CD , licensed to serve Nashua ; while nominally licensed as
4380-408: A four-letter expletive on air, in error, when trying to say "All you folks" (he was not disciplined for the incident). Running a close second was a 30-second Franklin diatribe on whether he had been offensive – "Do I offend anyone? I'm not here to offend you, dammit!" – that has been replayed ever since, especially on the July 1 WFAN anniversaries. In a further drive to boost ratings, Imus instigated
4599-452: A grinding noise could be heard in the background (likely the copter engines going overspeed). Dornacker then screamed in terror, "Hit the water! Hit the water! Hit the water!", as the radio transmission was suddenly cut off and a very shaken Joey Reynolds , working as radio host, awkwardly tried to figure out what had happened by saying "Okay, we're going to play some music here, I think", and then played " Hip to Be Square " by Huey Lewis and
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#17327758385024818-593: A heavily advertised online venture serving as an attempt to launch a web portal . This move saw NBC partner with Xoom.com (not to be confused with the current money transfer service ), e-mail.com, AllBusiness.com , and Snap.com (eventually acquiring all four companies outright; not to be confused with the current-day parent of Snapchat ) to launch a multi-faceted internet portal with e-mail, web hosting, community, chat and personalization capabilities, and news content. Subsequently, in April 2000, NBC purchased GlobalBrain,
5037-707: A larger market, the basic station was WAVE , the supplemental was WGRC —also a primary Mutual affiliate. Concerned that NBC's control of two national radio networks gave it too much power over the industry, in May 1941 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) promulgated a rule, the Report on Chain Broadcasting , designed to force NBC to divest one of them. RCA fought the divestiture order, but divided NBC into two companies in case an appeal
5256-453: A live transatlantic conversation. "Radio City" occupied ten floors of the RCA Building with thirty-five studios supported by 1,250 miles (2,010 km ) of wiring and 89 miles (143 km) of cables. During much of radio's " Golden Age ", both NBC networks—in particular NBC Red—were home to multiple popular performers and programs. The two networks originally did not have distinct identities or "formats" and, beginning in 1929, shared use of
5475-537: A low-power class A station, it transmits a full-power signal under a channel share with the WGBH Educational Foundation and its secondary Boston station WGBX-TV from Needham, Massachusetts , and serves as the NBC station for the entire Boston market. Until 2019, NBC operated a low-powered station in Boston, WBTS-LD (now WYCN-LD ), which aimed to serve as its station in that market while using
5694-464: A major drain on company profits. The radio group efforts centered on WJZ , a Newark, New Jersey , station RCA acquired from Westinghouse and moved to New York City on May 14, 1923, the same day WJY launched as a time-share, also owned by RCA and broadcasting from WJZ's Aeolian Hall facilities. RCA then inaugurated WRC in Washington, D.C., as a time-share with WCAP on August 1, 1923; much of RCA's early efforts involved linking WRC and WJZ just as WCAP
5913-484: A major reallocation under the provisions of its General Order 40 . This introduced frequencies reserved for "clear channel" stations, and WEAF was assigned exclusive nighttime operation on 660 kHz. In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) forced RCA give up one of its radio networks, citing antitrust concerns, by announcing that it would no longer license radio stations that were affiliated with an organization operating more than one network. This ruling
6132-442: A method for establishing telephone links to locations where it was not possible to string wire lines. Lee de Forest 's development of vacuum-tube amplification would prove invaluable for progress in a number of areas. In July 1913 the company spent $ 50,000 to purchase from the inventor the patent rights for telephone wire amplification, and in 1915 used this innovation to make the first transcontinental telephone calls. In October 1914,
6351-578: A multi-station deal with Emmis; in New York City, the WNBC license for 660 was included in the sale. On October 7, 1988, at 5:30 pm, WFAN changed frequencies to replace WNBC at 660 kHz. The last voice heard on WNBC was that of Alan Colmes , who counted down the seconds to WNBC's demise with the NBC chimes (the notes G-E-C) playing in the background. In the complicated switch that saw WFAN move to
6570-465: A national reach of 88.91% of all households in the United States (or 277,821,345 Americans with at least one television set). Since January 24, 2022, when CBS affiliate WBKB-TV in Alpena, Michigan affiliated its DT2 subchannel with NBC, NBC is, to date, the only major network with an in-market affiliate in every designated market area in the United States. Currently, New Jersey and Delaware are
6789-414: A nationwide commercial radio network using their Bell System infrastructure. The original plan for the "toll" station was to offer the station for leasing to different operators for fees based on the length of airtime and the specific daypart. Out of the two New York City stations AT&T set up, WEAF emerged as the more successful and served as the key station for AT&T's network development. Although
NBC Radio Network - Misplaced Pages Continue
7008-469: A network of additional full-power stations to cover the market in full (including Merrimack, New Hampshire -licensed Telemundo station WNEU , which transmitted WBTS on a second subchannel); NBC purchased the Nashua station (formerly WYCN-CD) in early 2018 after the FCC spectrum auction , and in 2019 relocated WYCN-LD to Providence, Rhode Island to serve as a Telemundo station for that market. Tegna Media
7227-475: A new Saturday morning block programmed by Litton Entertainment under the Children's Television Act. It's called The More You Know , inspired by the name of brand extension of The More You Know —a series of public service campaigns first launched by NBC in 1989. The block premiered on October 8, 2016, replacing NBC Kids block (originally October 1, 2016, but postponed due to the NBC network coverage of
7446-540: A period of time, the United Fruit Company ). Organized radio broadcasting started in the early 1920s, with AT&T soon becoming an industry leader. In 1920 and 1921, AT&T concluded a series of patent cross-licensing agreements with the "radio group" companies. The "radio group" began negotiating under that name through a cross-licensing agreement between GE and Westinghouse, agreed to on July 1, 1921. Under these agreements, AT&T asserted that it held
7665-478: A practice imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in which a pay television provider supplants an American station's signal with a feed from a Canadian station/network airing a particular program in the same time slot to protect domestic advertising revenue. Some of these affiliates are also receivable over the air in southern areas of the country located near
7884-691: A regional network of their own, dubbed the " Orange Network ", notably originating play-by-play of the 1927 Rose Bowl and a live performance of Carmen from the Philharmonic Auditorium on January 23, 1927; the latter broadcast was additionally relayed over CNVR in Vancouver , WAMD in Minneapolis , and WGY. Affiliating the chain with NBC, the Orange Network relayed an address by President Coolidge that jointly aired over
8103-522: A reward for Trammell's loyalty. The "Paley raids" had other consequences for RCA itself: Sarnoff and Paley (who also headed up Columbia Records ) originally agreed to a new phonograph record standard of 33 RPM to replace the long-standing 78 RPM standard. After Jack Benny defected to CBS, Sarnoff rescinded the agreement and began marketing the RCA-developed 45 RPM instead; pressured by record stores and other major labels, RCA eventually agreed to
8322-519: A roughly 10-minute-long talk anticipating today's radio and television infomercials. This promoted an apartment development in Jackson Heights near a new elevated subway line (the IRT 's Flushing-Corona line , now the number 7 line ). Although often credited as the first radio commercial, there are reports that a few other stations had already quietly carried paid programs. In September 1922
8541-554: A second New York City broadcasting station, also on 360 meters, was licensed to the Western Electric Company, an AT&T subsidiary located at 463 West Street , with the call letters WDAM. Ten days later, this call sign was changed to WEAF. All of these call signs were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call letters, although at the time it was noted that WEAF matched the entrance artwork at AT&T headquarters at 195 Broadway , which depicted
8760-462: A second attempt (also including WRC) on November 15, 1924, was judged a transcontinental success as KGO was better able to pick up KFKX. The "WJZ chain" saw little growth compared to AT&T's efforts. President Coolidge's March 1925 inaugural speech was sent over an AT&T transcontinental network of 23 stations, but the WJZ chain's broadcast of the speech was carried by only four stations, all located in
8979-463: A separate deal, WCAP was sold to RCA on July 28, 1926, its broadcast hours ceded to time-share partner WRC three days later. Variety regarded the sale as an economical one for AT&T, as the WEAF chain generated an annual income of $ 500,000, with little hope of turning a profit, "which even an affluent corporation like (AT&T) takes into consideration". While the deal was criticized for granting RCA
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9198-803: A separate digital channel, available on satellite and cable providers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which shut down as a TV station in the end of 2009. NBC programming is available in Mexico through free-to-air affiliates in markets located within proximity to the Mexico–United States border (such as KYMA-DT / Yuma, Arizona ; KGNS-TV / Laredo, Texas ; KTSM / El Paso, Texas ; KVEO / Brownsville, Texas ; and KNSD / San Diego ), whose signals are readily receivable over-the-air in border areas of northern Mexico. Some U.S.-based border affiliates are also available on subscription television providers throughout
9417-410: A series of cross-licensing agreements were concluded between a series of companies holding key patents, and on July 1, 1920, AT&T signed a comprehensive agreement with GE. These agreements in effect assigned dominance in specified areas of the radio industry to individual participating companies, which eventually would meet with anti-trust challenges. In addition, conflicting interpretations of some of
9636-504: A special live monologue by Imus character "Billy Sol Hargus" from Shea Stadium moments after taking over the 660 frequency. Imus slightly altered his show for his new employer, adding sports updates and replays of last night's big plays. Discussions of sports stories that crossed over to general interest were also featured on the program, although Imus also kept many of his regular comedy bits that were not sports-related. Initially, WFAN aired sports news and score updates every 15 minutes (at
9855-473: A talk show hosted by sex columnist Ruth Westheimer beginning in 1984, which originated at NBC's New York FM station WYNY . NBC Radio's last major programming venture occurred with the November 2, 1981, debut of NBC Talknet , a talk radio program block for the late-evening hours. Headlined by advice host Sally Jessy Raphael and personal finance talker Bruce Williams , NBC Talknet was largely inspired by
10074-432: A time during one of his many shuttles to and from WNEW. Former WMCA morning man Joe O'Brian joined WNBC during this time. By 1971, music from such acts as Sinatra and Cole would disappear, with a few exceptions, separating WNBC from its WNEW-like beginnings while WNEW also began to also move away from the more traditional artists as well (only for them to return to a more traditional Big Band format 10 years later). Don Imus
10293-433: A two-share by the spring of 1986. Initially, they played a bit more music and then went through several temporary afternoon hosts. Afternoons were back to about 12 songs per hour. The music was more of a gold-based adult contemporary format with many oldies and moderate amounts of current product. In the spring of 1986, Joey Reynolds moved into afternoons with a talk-intensive show while playing six songs an hour. Wolfman Jack
10512-522: A weaker network, likely originated the misperception that NBC Blue solely featured sustaining programs (e.g., news, cultural and educational programs which had no sponsor) and NBC Red solely featured commercial fare. As it was, networks had limited control over their schedules as advertisers bought available time periods for programs, regardless of what other sponsors broadcast in other time slots. Networks rented out studio facilities used to produce shows and sold air-time to sponsors. Sustaining programs were
10731-447: A year of Westwood One's takeover, several tenured NBC Radio News staffers resigned, including London bureau chief Fred Kennedy, who told Broadcasting magazine, "what was once a great network and broadcast news operation is becoming an audio wire service... and not even a good audio wire service." Some affiliates also expressed concern over a decline in technical and editorial quality, even as NBC Radio successfully added 90 affiliates since
10950-427: Is a part-owner of Hulu (along with majority owner The Walt Disney Company , owner of ABC), and has offered full-length episodes of most of NBC's programming through the streaming service (which are available for viewing on Hulu's website and mobile app ) since Hulu launched in private beta testing on October 29, 2007. The most recent episodes of the network's shows are usually made available on NBC.com and Hulu
11169-825: Is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal , a subsidiary of Comcast . The headquarters of NBC is in New York City at the Comcast Building . NBC also has offices in Chicago at the NBC Tower . Founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America , NBC is the oldest of the traditional "Big Three" American television networks and
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#173277583850211388-436: Is credited for succeeding in an era where television became the dominant entertainment medium, but after the mid-1960s, local stations with established music formats—especially in larger markets—became increasingly reluctant to run network fare, dropping the program block outright, including flagship WNBC. In turn, the number of sponsors for Monitor began to decline precipitously. Monitor ' s final broadcast took place over
11607-514: Is currently also broadcasting at 1080p via WNGT-CD , which is also serving as an ATSC 3.0 multiplex for the Raleigh area. While the equipment would allow the transmission of 2160p UHD, this was previously done through a secondary experimental station (WRAL-EX) where it transmitted limited NBC programming in UHD. The experimental station went off-air in 2018 as part of the FCC's repacking process. Meet
11826-614: Is sometimes referred to as the " Peacock Network " in reference to its stylized peacock logo , which was introduced in 1956 to promote the company's innovations in early color broadcasting . NBC has twelve owned-and-operated stations and has affiliates in every TV market in the United States . Some of the stations are also available in Canada , the Caribbean, and Mexico via pay-television providers or in border areas over
12045-404: Is the largest operator of NBC stations in terms of overall market reach, owning or providing services to 20 NBC affiliates (including those in larger markets such as Atlanta , Denver , St. Louis , Seattle and Cleveland ); Gray Television is the largest operator of NBC stations by numerical total, owning 28 NBC-affiliated stations. NBC provides video on demand access for delayed viewing of
12264-502: Is under the umbrella branding of The More You Know , based on the network's long-time strand of internally-produced public service announcements of the same name . It premiered on October 8, 2016, giving Litton control of all but Fox's Weekend morning E/I programming among the five major broadcast networks. Live sports programming is also provided on weekends at any time between 7:00 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time, but most commonly between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern. Due to
12483-601: The Chicago Daily News on November 1, 1931; like WTAM, WMAQ and WENR-WLS were also clear-channels. KPO was then purchased from Hale Bros. on June 10, 1932, officially pairing it with KGO. The previous October, KPO became one of the lead stations for the NBC Gold Network, a regional chain of stations that also relayed Blue Network programming. WRC was paired with WMAL in 1933 when NBC took over operations of that station from founding owner M. A. Leese via
12702-497: The 2002–03 season , with select shows among that season's slate of freshmen scripted series being broadcast in HD from their debuts. The network completed its conversion to high definition in September 2012, with the launch of NBC Kids, a new Saturday morning children's block programmed by new partial sister network PBS Kids Sprout , which also became the second Saturday morning children's block with an entirely HD schedule (after
12921-723: The 2016 Ryder Cup ). NBC holds the broadcast rights to several annual specials and award show telecasts, including the Golden Globe Awards and the Primetime Emmy Awards (which are rotated across all four major networks each year). Since 1953, NBC has served as the official U.S. broadcaster of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade . CBS also carries unauthorized coverage of the Macy's parade as part of The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS ; however, as NBC holds rights to
13140-969: The Canada–United States border (signal coverage was somewhat reduced after the digital television transition in 2009 due to the lower radiated power required to transmit digital signals). NBC no longer exists outside the Americas as a channel in its own right. However, NBC News and MSNBC programs are broadcast for a few hours a day on OSN News, formerly known as Orbit News in Africa and the Middle East. Sister network CNBC Europe also broadcasts occasional breaking news coverage from MSNBC as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . CNBC Europe also broadcast daily airings of NBC Nightly News at 00:30 CET Monday to Fridays. In 1993, then-NBC parent General Electric acquired Super Channel, relaunching
13359-489: The Hard Rock Cafe with Paul Shaffer , along with an oldies show hosted by WNBC's Soupy Sales . NBC Radio also acquired the national play-by-play rights for NFL games for both the 1985 and 1986 seasons , outbidding long-standing rights holder CBS Radio. NBC made its final radio station acquisition in 1983 when it bought Boston station WJIB from GE, which was divesting its radio properties. In February 1984,
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#173277583850213578-576: The LXTV -produced 1st Look and Open House NYC air after Saturday Night Live (replays of the previous week's 1st Look also air on Friday late nights on most stations), with a Meet the Press encore a part of its Sunday overnight schedule. The network's weekend morning children's programming time slot is programmed by Litton Entertainment under a time-lease agreement. The three-hour block of programming designed mainly for 14-16-year-old teenage viewers
13797-668: The Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants (NBC also held rights to the Miss Teen USA pageant from 2003, when NBC also assumed rights to the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants as part of a deal brokered by Miss Universe Organization owner Donald Trump that gave the network half-ownership of the pageants, until 2007, when NBC declined to renew its contract to carry Miss Teen USA, effectively discontinuing televised broadcasts of that event until 2023). NBCUniversal relinquished
14016-820: The Mutual Broadcasting System , founded in 1934. In 1942, NBC was required to divest one of its national networks, so it sold NBC Blue, which was soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). After this separation, the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network. For the first 61 years of its existence, this network was owned by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) with New York City radio station WEAF (renamed WNBC in 1946, WRCA in 1954 and again as WNBC in 1960) as its flagship station . Following
14235-599: The National Carbon Company . Debuting over WEAF in December 1923, the program quickly grew in popularity; unlike most sponsored programs which typically featured music from a dance orchestra, it is credited as the first variety program and the first to utilize scripts and dress rehearsals prior to broadcast. The Eveready Hour ' s installment on November 4, 1924, was notably interspersed with election returns read by WEAF's Graham McNamee and aired over
14454-871: The Supreme Court declared the trade null and void in June 1965; the KYW call letters were moved back to Philadelphia with Westinghouse while NBC rechristened the Cleveland stations as WKYC-AM-FM-TV, a derivative of KYW. NBC kept ownership of the Cleveland radio stations until 1972, selling them off to Ohio Communications. In 1957, NBC Radio won the rights to broadcast the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and World Series from Mutual, who had held exclusive rights since 1942 and 1939, respectively, for both events . It gave NBC sole control of
14673-419: The TLC series Trading Spaces ); the Emmy-nominated reality game show Endurance , hosted and produced by J. D. Roth (whose production company, 3-Ball Productions, would also produce reality series The Biggest Loser for NBC beginning in 2003); and scripted series such as Strange Days at Blake Holsey High and Scout's Safari . The block later expanded to include some animated series such as Kenny
14892-430: The "RCA Victor" record label) while Westinghouse received NBC's WTAM-AM-FM and WNBK television in Cleveland (all of which took the KYW call signs). Westinghouse also received $ 3 million in cash compensation. After Westinghouse expressed its unhappiness with the arrangement, the United States Department of Justice took NBC to court in late 1956. In a civil antitrust lawsuit filed against NBC and RCA, Westinghouse claimed
15111-559: The 'blue' network ", it was led by WJZ along with Westinghouse's WBZ, KDKA and KYW; with the WEAF-led chain concurrently named "the 'red' network". The debut program, sponsored by the Victor Talking Machine Company , was carried on both chains and subsequently alternated between "red" and "blue" on a weekly basis. WEAF historian William Peck Banning suggested the "red" and "blue" names originated from circuit maps drafted in colored pencil by Bell System engineers, which carried over as these circuits began to be used exclusively for radio, thus
15330-414: The 103.5 frequency to Westwood One , which also acquired the WYNY call letters and its country music format. As it had before when it took over the frequency formerly belonging to WHN, WFAN inherited broadcast rights from WNBC as WFAN to this day operates under WNBC's original license. The switch to 660 AM added the New York Knicks and New York Rangers to their lineup along with the Mets, who moved down
15549-521: The 1960s with some 1950s and early 1970s music, with current and 80's hits mixed into rotation and pre-recorded voice tracks of Wolfman Jack announcing the songs, making the show sound live. On September 30, 1985, Howard Stern was terminated abruptly, supposedly due to corporate pressure. In Private Parts , Stern detailed how WNBC management expected that his last day would be September 26, and that Stern would not go in to work on September 27 due to Hurricane Gloria . However, Stern went in, and because there
15768-465: The 1989 season . Following the sale, NBC Radio added one long-form program to their lineup—a daily talk/variety show hosted by Steve Allen based from WNEW that debuted in October 1987. Westwood One initially promoted the show as part of the new "Mutual P.M." program service, but it was moved to being under the NBC umbrella prior to launch. Failing to get enough affiliates for the program, Allen ended
15987-538: The 2002 games. Coverage of the Olympics on NBC has included pre-empting regularly scheduled programs during daytime, prime time, and late night. In July 2022, NBC announced that the Olympic Channel will be shut down on September 30. NBC stated they will be announcing the plans for Olympic content in the fall of 2022. News coverage has long been an important part of NBC's operations and public image, dating to
16206-491: The 2003 live-action film Elf ). Since 2013, the network has aired live musical adaptations with major stars in lead roles. Originally dismissed as a gimmick, they have proven to be rating successes, as well as a nostalgic tribute to the early days of television. Past adaptations include: From 2003 to 2014, NBC also held rights to two of the three pageants organized by the Miss Universe Organization :
16425-480: The 2018 season allowed games to be streamed through network websites and apps. NBC's master feed is transmitted in 1080i high definition , the native resolution format for NBCUniversal's television properties. However, 19 of its affiliates transmit the network's programming in 720p HD, while four others carry the network feed in 480i standard definition either due to technical considerations for affiliates of other major networks that carry NBC programming on
16644-425: The 33 RPM standard, but the feud risked creating damage to the record industry as a whole. Many NBC radio stars gravitated to television as it became more popular. Toscanini made ten appearances on NBC-TV simulcast on the radio network between 1948 and 1952. Texaco Star Theater , an umbrella title for various radio variety shows from 1938 to 1949, migrated to NBC-TV in 1948 with Milton Berle as host, becoming both
16863-431: The 660 frequency, the 1050 frequency that was formerly the home of WFAN became that of Spanish-language WUKQ, owned by Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). However, SBS already owned an AM station in the market, Newark, New Jersey –based WSKQ at 620 kHz. In those days, FCC rules stipulated that companies could own only one AM station per market. As a result, SBS received a temporary waiver to run 1050 while exploring
17082-579: The ABC-syndicated Litton's Weekend Adventure ). All the network's programming has been presented in full HD since then (except for certain holiday specials produced prior to 2005 – such as its annual broadcast of It's a Wonderful Life – which continues to be presented in 4:3 SD, although some have been remastered for HD broadcast). The network's high-definition programming is broadcast in 5.1 surround sound . In 1999, NBC launched NBCi (briefly changing its web address to "www.nbci.com"),
17301-503: The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, under the general designation of WEAF, will be incorporated under the name Broadcasting Company of America ." Unpublicized at the time were ongoing intense negotiations between AT&T and the radio group companies, led by RCA, about the status of the cross-licensing agreements, and the overall future of the broadcasting industry. AT&T's consolidation of its radio activities into
17520-768: The BCA subsidiary allowed for two possible outcomes: if AT&T decided to withdraw, then the transfer of its radio operations would be simplified, otherwise, the new entity could continue to be run semi-independently of the parent corporation. During BCA's short existence, the standard WEAF chain configuration consisted of 17 stations, concentrated in the northeastern United States, but also extending westward to WDAF (now KCSP) in Kansas City, Missouri. Individual evening hourly station rates ranged from $ 170 for three stations located in smaller communities to $ 480 for flagship WEAF. The standard charge for an hour of evening programming over
17739-412: The Bell , a live-action teen sitcom which originated on The Disney Channel the previous year as Good Morning, Miss Bliss (which served as a starring vehicle for Hayley Mills ; four cast members from that show were cast in the NBC series as the characters they originally played on Miss Bliss ). Saved by the Bell , despite being given bad reviews from television critics, would become one of
17958-459: The Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming. Both WBAY and WEAF were assigned to this wavelength. The original issues with the weak WBAY transmissions from 24 Walker Street were eventually solved, and AT&T returned to that site as its primary transmitter location. Because
18177-588: The East. A few weeks after AT&T consolidated its radio operations into the Broadcasting Company of America subsidiary, it agreed to sell BCA's assets to RCA for approximately $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 17.2 million in 2023), a deal made public on July 22, 1926. This sale transferred ownership of WEAF to RCA; included was WEAF's network of 15 stations, plus an agreement by AT&T to make its telephone lines readily available for networking. In
18396-403: The FCC that NBC's grandfathered status permitting radio-TV combinations in three markets be broken up within 18 months, retaining the five NBC-owned television stations and GE's KCNC-TV . A planned sale of the entire radio unit to Westinghouse Broadcasting at the end of 1986 collapsed, prompting Westwood One , a Culver City, California –based syndicator that acquired Mutual in 1985, to purchase
18615-498: The Knicks or Rangers played a game. It was difficult to classify WNBC's format at that point. At 3:00 p.m. on July 1, 1987, Emmis Communications -owned WFAN signed on at 1050 kHz, replacing country music station WHN , and billing itself as the world's first 24-hour-per-day sports talk station. (The WFAN call sign was suggested by the wife of "The Fan's" first program director, John Chanin.) The first live voice heard on WFAN
18834-543: The Metropolitan Opera opened the inaugural broadcast, which also featured Will Rogers and Mary Garden . This broadcast, which included a remote link from KYW in Chicago , was coordinated through WEAF, and carried by twenty-two eastern and Midwestern stations, located as far west as WDAF in Kansas City, Missouri . Following NBC's formation, RCA inaugurated a second network on January 1, 1927; called "
19053-704: The NBC Radio Network to Westwood One in 1987. Westwood One previously acquired Mutual in 1985 and gradually merged the two together. NBC Radio News, which was also folded into Mutual's news operations, saw most of its functions cease on April 17, 1999, after further consolidation merged both NBC and Mutual directly into CBS's radio news operations. Westwood One and its successor network continued to use "NBC" branding for some of its programming until 2020, partnering with NBC News to operate NBC News Radio from 2003 until 2014, and with NBC Sports for NBC Sports Radio . From 2016 onward, iHeartMedia has handled production and distribution of NBC News Radio. The 1926 formation of
19272-810: The NBC Radio Network, The Source, NBC Talknet and NBC Radio Entertainment, along with leases to the radio network facilities at 1700 Broadway, for $ 50 million (equivalent to $ 134 million in 2023). As part of the deal, a long-term brand licensing deal for the "NBC Radio" name was agreed to, while NBC Radio employees, including in the news division, were transferred to Westwood One. The remaining divisions and assets of RCA, including RCA Records were spun off to various companies, including Bertelsmann and Thomson SA . The seven NBC-owned radio stations, which initially agreed to remain with NBC Radio as affiliates, were all put up for sale and divested to various buyers between 1988 and 1989, including Emmis Communications , Westinghouse and Susquehanna Radio Corporation . WNBC
19491-531: The NBC Sports Group, which became an NBC property through Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal ) carries sports news content alongside sports event telecasts. Key anchors from NBC News are also used during NBC Sports coverage of the Olympic Games . While NBC has aired a variety of soap operas on its daytime schedule over its history, Days of Our Lives (1965–2022) was the last soap opera on
19710-542: The NBC network until May 2, 2010, when it became the last NBC News program to convert to HD). NBC officially began its conversion to high definition with the launch of its simulcast feed, NBC HD, on April 26, 1999, when The Tonight Show became the first HD program to air on the NBC network as well as the first regularly scheduled American network program to be produced and transmitted in high definition. The network gradually converted much of its existing programming from standard-definition to high definition beginning with
19929-599: The NBC radio network's roster of stars provided ratings consistently surpassing those of CBS, its main competitor. But in 1948, as the transition from radio to television was beginning, NBC's leadership came under attack due to what became known as the "Paley raids", named after the president of CBS, William S. Paley . After World War II the tax rate for annual incomes above $ 70,000 was 77 percent, while capital gains were taxed at 25 percent. Paley worked out an accounting technique whereby individual performers could set up corporations that allowed their earnings to be taxed at
20148-682: The National Broadcasting Company was a consolidation and reorganization of earlier network radio operations developed by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) beginning in 1922, in addition to more limited efforts conducted by the "radio group" companies, which consisted of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and its corporate owners, General Electric (GE) and the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company (and, for
20367-719: The New York radio stations reverted to WNBC-AM-FM and WRCA-TV became WNBC-TV. In 1962, KRCA became KNBC, while KNBC-AM-FM in San Francisco became KNBR-AM-FM. WNBQ in Chicago became WMAQ-TV in 1964. NBC also purchased WKNB in New Britain, Connecticut , in late 1956, and WJAS and WJAS-FM in Pittsburgh , in 1957. The acquisition of WJAS was to offset KDKA 's defection from the network several years earlier, while WKNB
20586-777: The News . Dornacker had recently gotten back to flying in a helicopter after surviving a previous crash of the N-Copter into the Hackensack River in New Jersey a few months earlier on April 18. An episode of NBC's television show Third Watch featured a similar incident (although it may have been more of a reference to the crash of WNBC-TV 's helicopter, which crashed into the Passaic River in New Jersey over
20805-605: The Pan-European cable network as NBC Super Channel. In 1996, the channel was renamed NBC Europe , but was, from then on, almost always referred to on-air as simply "NBC". Most of NBC Europe's prime time programming was produced in Europe due to rights restrictions associated with U.S. prime time shows; the channel's weekday late-night schedule after 11:00 p.m. Central European Time , however, featured The Tonight Show , Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Later , which
21024-785: The Prairie , Las Vegas , Crossing Jordan , the Law & Order franchise (begun independently by Universal Television, and became in-house programming after the NBCUniversal deal), The Office and the Chicago franchise . NBC has twelve owned-and-operated stations and current and pending affiliation agreements with 223 additional television stations encompassing 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. possessions and two non-U.S. territories ( Aruba and Bermuda ). The network has
21243-438: The Press was the first regular series on a major television network to produce a high-definition broadcast on February 2, 1997, which aired in the format over WHD-TV in Washington, D.C., an experimental television station owned by a consortium of industry groups and stations which launched to allow testing of HD broadcasts and operated until 2002 (the program itself continued to be transmitted in 480i standard definition over
21462-462: The Press , weekday early-morning news program Early Today and primetime newsmagazine Dateline NBC on Friday nights . Late nights feature the weeknight talk shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , Late Night with Seth Meyers , and an overnight replay of Today with Hoda & Jenna . NBC affiliates carrying it in syndication also have the option to substitute a same-day encore of The Kelly Clarkson Show on weekdays. On Saturdays,
21681-553: The Qubo venture also encompassed weekly blocks on Telemundo and Ion Television , a 24-hour digital multicast network on Ion's owned-and-operated and affiliated stations, as well as video on demand services and a branded website. Qubo launched on NBC on September 9, 2006, with six programs ( VeggieTales , Dragon , VeggieTales Presents: 3-2-1 Penguins! , Babar , Jane and the Dragon and Jacob Two-Two ). On March 28, 2012, it
21900-789: The Red and Blue networks on February 22. The Orange Network formally relaunched as a part of NBC on April 5, 1927, adding KGO and three other stations. NBC eventually utilized the Orange Network to relay Red Network programming to the Pacific states, with the Red Network relaying Orange Network programming for the Eastern Seaboard . At the same time, NBC began acquiring radio stations to extend its reach, beginning with KGO and KOA in Denver, Colorado , from GE in March 1930. Cleveland affiliate WTAM ,
22119-508: The Shark , Tutenstein and Time Warp Trio . In May 2006, NBC announced plans to launch a new Saturday morning children's block under the Qubo brand in September 2006. An endeavor originally operated as a joint venture between NBCUniversal , Ion Media Networks , Scholastic Press , Classic Media and Corus Entertainment 's Nelvana unit (Ion acquired the other partners' shares in 2013),
22338-551: The United States." As part of a renegotiation of the cross-licensing agreements, NBC was also permitted to accept advertising. The purchase of WEAF and NBC's formation was seen as an achievement for RCA's general manager David Sarnoff , who was later regarded as the founder of NBC. NBC's network operations were officially launched with a gala broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on November 15, 1926. In anticipation, one newspaper reported: "The most pretentious broadcasting program ever presented, featuring among other stars of
22557-608: The WEAF call sign was now well-known, the two stations swapped call signs on May 12, 1923, with WBAY becoming WEAF, and WEAF becoming WBAY. Because of this, FCC records list WFAN's "First License" as April 29, 1922, which is when the first license was issued for WBAY at Walker Street. (The new WBAY later became WECO, and was deleted on November 6, 1924). Effective May 15, 1923, additional "Class B" assignments were made available, with New York City-Newark allocated three frequencies, including 610 kHz, and WBAY and WEAF were reassigned to this new frequency. WEAF's first network program
22776-482: The WEAF chain until "long after midnight". McNamee already had made another first for the "WEAF chain" one month earlier, calling play-by-play of the 1924 World Series over an eight-station hookup. On May 11, 1926, AT&T centralized its radio operations into a new subsidiary known as the Broadcasting Company of America . Although not widely known at the time, this was done in anticipation of selling
22995-471: The afternoon drive talk show, but dropped music altogether. In evenings, Dave Sims continued with sports talk along with Knicks and Rangers games. The Time Machine remained on overnights, but was now expanded to full-time on weekends with hosts Dan Taylor (laid off from WHN when they became WFAN), "Big" Jay Sorensen, "The Real" Bob James, Jim Collins, Lee Chambers, Dale Parsons, Carol Mason and others. Ray D'Ariano continued his midday weekday oldies show, but
23214-645: The air. NBC also maintains brand licensing agreements for international channels in South Korea and Germany . The first and oldest major broadcast network in the United States, NBC was formed in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), then owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse , AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company . In 1932, the US Government forced GE to sell RCA and NBC due to antitrust violations. In late 1986, GE regained control of RCA through its $ 6.4 billion purchase of
23433-831: The already established lineup holding court at NBC's Radio Central ( Gene Rayburn , Henry Morgan , Bill Cullen , David Wayne , Kitty Carlisle and Wayne Howell ). Later in the decade, WNBC shed its "Conversation Station" format and readopted a middle-of-the-road (MOR) music format, covering songs from the 1940s to the 1960s with non-rock and soft rock hits recorded after 1955. The format would feature such artists as Frank Sinatra , Elvis Presley , Nat "King" Cole , The Everly Brothers , Tom Jones , The 5th Dimension , Peggy Lee , and Dionne Warwick . Hosts during this transition back to music included Wilson, Jack Spector (formerly of WMCA ), Jack Hayes, Charlie Brown and later Ted Brown , hired away from then-dominant MOR station WNEW . Well-known MOR host and vocalist Jim Lowe joined WNBC for
23652-590: The band leaders with regular time slots on NBC were Carmen Cavallaro , Nat King Cole , Xavier Cugat , Tommy Dorsey , Eddy Duchin , Benny Goodman , Stan Kenton , Guy Lombardo , Glenn Miller , Leo Reisman , and Paul Whiteman . NBC's radio news service featured regular broadcasts by journalists and commentators, including Morgan Beatty, Alex Dreier , Pauline Frederick , Floyd Gibbons , John Gunther , Richard Harkness , George Hicks , H. V. Kaltenborn , John MacVane , Adela Rogers St. Johns , Dorothy Thompson , Edward Tomlinson, and Hendrik Willem van Loon . From
23871-565: The big events in baseball as they had been exclusively airing both the All Star Game and World Series on television since 1947. NBC ended its radio association with baseball after the 1975 season in order to clear space for its 24-hour "News And Information" service programming, though it continued broadcasting on its television network until 1989 (while splitting coverage with ABC in all but the first year of that period). NBC Radio drastically revamped its programming lineup with Monitor ,
24090-511: The board Owen D. Young and president James G. Harbord announced the formation of the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., to begin operations upon RCA's acquisition of WEAF on November 15. WEAF became the flagship of the NBC Red Network , which sometimes would still be referred to as the WEAF chain, while WJZ became the originator of the NBC Blue Network . On November 11, 1928, the Federal Radio Commission implemented
24309-561: The channel's slogan "Where the Stars Come Out at Night" was based around. Many NBC News programs were broadcast on NBC Europe, including Dateline NBC , Meet the Press and NBC Nightly News , the latter of which was broadcast simultaneously with the initial U.S. telecast. Today was also initially aired live in the afternoons, but was later broadcast instead the following morning on a more than half-day delay. In 1999, NBC Europe ceased broadcasting in most of Europe outside of Germany;
24528-493: The closure of NIS in November 1976 in six months, allowing for affiliates to find alternate programming. While some former NIS affiliates—including WRC and KQV—remained with all-news formats, the NBC-owned FM stations all adopted music formats. In 1979, NBC launched The Source , a secondary network that targeted younger listeners, providing news, short features and music specials to FM rock stations. The Source also featured
24747-666: The company further purchased the commercial patent rights for radio signalling for $ 90,000, and in October 1915 conducted test radio transmissions from the Navy's station in Arlington, Virginia, NAA , that were heard as far away as Paris, France and Hawaii. AT&T's main competitor in the radio field would be the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which was formed in 1919 as a subsidiary of General Electric (GE). Because no single company held sufficient patents rights to operate radio systems without infringing on other company's patents,
24966-457: The company had to start broadcasting its own programs. The debut broadcast over WBAY, of recorded music, took place on July 25, 1922, its signal was found to be weaker than expected, so on August 16, 1922, broadcasting operations were transferred to the WEAF transmitter located at West Street. It was later reported that the first WEAF broadcast included the singer Marguerite Dunlap . On August 28, 1922, WEAF broadcast its first sponsored program,
25185-448: The company. Although it retained NBC, GE immediately closed or sold off most of RCA's other divisions and assets. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, forming NBCUniversal . Comcast purchased a controlling interest in NBCUniversal in 2011 and acquired GE's remaining stake in 2013. NBC is the home broadcaster of some of the longest continuously running American television series , including
25404-508: The continuous tweaking of WNBC's format, the station remained in the second tier of New York stations. In 1977, Bob Pittman was hired as WNBC's new Program Director, replacing Mel Phillips. His first decision was to lay-off all of the station's personalities, some of which were veterans (including Don Imus, Cousin Brucie, Norm N. Nite and Joe McCoy), replacing them with younger-sounding disc jockeys from Boston and medium markets. He also shifted
25623-517: The country, including in the Mexico City area. WFAN (AM) WFAN (660 AM ) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York , with a sports radio format, branded "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc. , the station serves the New York metropolitan area , while its 50,000-watt clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of
25842-659: The day after their original broadcast. In addition, NBC.com and certain other partner websites (including Hulu) provide complete back catalogs of most of its current series as well as a limited selection of episodes of classic series from the NBCUniversal Television Distribution program library – including shows not broadcast by NBC during their original runs (including the complete or partial episode catalogs of shows like 30 Rock , The A-Team , Charles in Charge , Emergency! , Knight Rider (both
26061-584: The defections, stating at an annual meeting that "Leadership built over the years on a foundation of solid service cannot be snatched overnight by buying a few high-priced comedians. Leadership is not a laughing matter." In part due to the talent raids, NBC president Niles Trammell—who had been with NBC since 1929 and RCA since 1933—resigned to help establish WCKT in Miami with the Cox and Knight newspaper families. WCKT signed on with an NBC-TV affiliation, ostensibly as
26280-403: The dial with the station. In the end, WFAN retired two of the oldest radio call letters from the dawn of commercial radio: WHN and WNBC. As Don Imus had already been the morning show host at WNBC, WFAN left his program in place when they took over the frequency. WFAN's original morning show on 1050 was hosted by Greg Gumbel ; his was a straightforward sports show, but it was not doing well in
26499-484: The distinctive three-note " NBC chimes ". The WEAF-led Red Network, with a robust affiliate lineup, was seen as carrying more popular, "big budget" sponsored programs in comparison to the WJZ-led Blue Network, which had a smaller lineup of often lower-powered stations. Both networks shared sales executives, off- and on-air staff, and production and studio facilities; it was not until c. 1938 that
26718-529: The early 1970s and return to WNEW. In 1974, NBC Radio's new president, Jack G. Thayer, formerly of WGAR in Cleveland, hired John Lund from WNEW to be program director. Then, WNBC hired Bruce Morrow away from WABC to take over the evening shift. In addition to Imus in the morning, Lund moved Cousin Brucie to middays, hired Bob Vernon ("Vernon with a V") for afternoons, Oogie Pringle for early evenings, and Dick Summer for late nights. Other new DJs included Norm N. Nite , who arrived from WCBS-FM in 1975. Lund departed
26937-528: The eastern United States and Canada . WFAN's studios are located in the Hudson Square neighborhood of lower Manhattan and its transmitter is located on High Island in the Bronx . The current WFAN, and its sports format, is the second New York City station with that call sign and programming. The original WFAN was launched on July 1, 1987, on 1050 AM , as the world's first radio station to adopt
27156-540: The emergence of television as the dominant entertainment medium and much of NBC Radio's talent migrating both to CBS and NBC television, the network made multiple investments in programming in hopes of retaining relevance. These included the weekend program umbrella Monitor (1955–1975), the all-news focused NBC News and Information Service (1975–1977) and the talk radio service NBC Talknet , all of which encountered varying degrees of success and failure. Following General Electric 's purchase of RCA in late 1986, GE sold
27375-612: The end of 1975, NIS had 57 affiliates, significantly less than the 227 stations which carried either part or all of Monitor when it ceased; additionally, the NBC-owned NIS affiliates all failed to make a profit in 1975, but the network hoped for them to break even in the coming year. As 1976 progressed, however, only 62 affiliates remained with NIS after 18 months, some of which were competing against long-established news-focused stations. Assuming over $ 10 million (equivalent to $ 53.5 million in 2023) in losses, Thayer announced
27594-527: The entire roster of stations was $ 4,080, before any applicable discounts. Although the WEAF network operations were profitable, AT&T ultimately decided it was best to withdraw from radio broadcasting. The result was a total of twelve agreements, dated July 1, 1926, but signed six days later, between AT&T and the radio group companies. Included was the sale of BCA's assets, principally WEAF and its associated chain operations, to RCA for $ 1 million. A Consolidated Press Association wire service review of
27813-634: The final 4 1 ⁄ 2 years of Search for Tomorrow (1982–1986) after that series was initially cancelled by CBS, although many NBC affiliates did not clear the show during its tenure on the network. NBC has also aired numerous short-lived soap operas, including Generations (1989–1991), Sunset Beach (1997–1999), and the two Another World spin-offs, Somerset (1970–1976) and Texas (1980–1982). Notable daytime game shows that once aired on NBC include The Price Is Right (1956–1963), Concentration (1958–1973; and 1987–1991 as Classic Concentration ), The Match Game (1962–1969), Let's Make
28032-407: The first stations to offer streams of their programming on NBC's website and mobile app, and new affiliation agreements have made a majority of the network's affiliates available through the network's website and app based on a viewer's location. The network's NFL game telecasts were not permitted to be streamed on the service for several years until a change to the league's mobile rights agreement in
28251-527: The following TV stations: WNBW in Washington, D.C. (June 27, 1947), WNBK in Cleveland (October 30, 1948), WNBQ in Chicago (January 9, 1949) and KNBH in Los Angeles (January 16, 1949); all five TV stations contained the letter combination "NB" within their call signs. FM stations built and signed on by NBC included: KOA-FM, WRC-FM (June 1947), WMAQ-FM (October 13, 1948), WTAM-FM (December 6, 1948) and KNBR-FM (October 12, 1949). In hopes of buying
28470-528: The following year (originating from WTAM). Moving to the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1934 and to NBC Blue in 1935, Horlicks became the sponsor. NBC Blue sometimes carried newer and untried programs that, if successful, moved "up" to the Red Network at the behest of the sponsor, these shows included Amos 'n' Andy , Fibber McGee and Molly , Information, Please! , The Bob Hope Show and The Jack Benny Program . This practice of moving popular shows over to NBC Red, coupled with NBC Blue's reputation as
28689-514: The following year, while Joe McCoy was hired. Mel Phillips was program director at the time of McCoy's hiring. By 1975, WNBC was playing an Adult Top 40 format, trying to compete with WABC. The station's playlist featured hits from 1964 to then-current music. By this time, artists such as the Eagles , Billy Joel , Steve Miller , Fleetwood Mac , Bee Gees , Donna Summer , and disco acts, among others, were mixed in. Unfortunately, despite or because of
28908-601: The format from adult top 40 or hot AC to a more aggressively current-based top 40 format, with occasional nods to FM radio (such as commercial-free hours). As a result of this tweaking, the station was now playing artists such as Andy Gibb , KC and the Sunshine Band , Boston , Peter Frampton , Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Billy Joel and the Bee Gees, among others. However, listenership actually went down, and while some of
29127-449: The formation of the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., to begin operations upon RCA's acquisition of WEAF on November 15. A widely placed full-page company advertisement stated that: "The purpose of the National Broadcasting Company will be to provide the best program available for broadcasting in the United States. ... It is hoped that arrangements may be made so that every event of national importance may be broadcast widely throughout
29346-732: The former "WEAF chain"—mapped out in red—became "the 'red' network". RCA's Radio Age magazine outlined a similar reason in 1942, four years before Banning's book was published. Other possible explanations for the names included push-pins engineers used to mark affiliates of WEAF (red pins) and WJZ (blue pins), the colors of wires used for switchboards , or from jack panel connections. The names were not commonplace as newspapers also referred to "NBC-WEAF" or "NBC-WJZ"; NBC made "NBC Red" and "NBC Blue" official network designations by 1936. As 1927 began, KFI in Los Angeles and KPO in San Francisco were successfully transmitting live programming to
29565-416: The four classical elements of water, earth, air and fire. The original plan was that AT&T would not originate any programming of its own, and instead would rent WBAY out for commercial use, $ 40 for 15 minutes daytime, $ 50 during evenings, which, using an existing telephone term, was called "toll" broadcasting. However, initially there was very little interest in this idea, and in order to begin service
29784-430: The goal: "Beat WABC", which had been New York's #1 station for decades. Lund launched the "Twice as Many" contest promoting "twice the music, twice the prizes, and twice as many chances to win". As New York's #2 station (behind WABC), "WNBC had to be twice as good to be #1". WNBC promotion director Dale Pon (who later created the successful "I Want My MTV" campaign) created its slogan "The Next One", meaning that it would be
30003-623: The late 1950s saw the station gradually relaunched into a middle-of-the-road musical format. By the early 1960s, the station gradually switched from NBC network programs to more local-oriented programs and adjusted its music policy from traditional standards to incorporate more popular hits while staying away from harder rock and roll. In the late 1960s, it adopted a talk format , the first in New York radio. Hosts included genial morning-drive companion Big Wilson , The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson announcer Ed McMahon , New York–based actor Robert Alda , NBC Radio comedian/satirist Mort Sahl ,
30222-813: The main NBC Radio Network had been losing money in recent years, Thayer stressed NIS was not to replace it, nor was the main network threatened with closure. NBC assigned NIS to all but one of their FM stations—WNWS in New York (the former WNBC-FM), WNIS in Chicago (the former WJOI) and KNAI in San Francisco (the former KNBR-FM); WRC in Washington also became an affiliate, while WKYS (the former WRC-FM) assumed WRC's existing Top 40 format. Other major affiliates included WBAL-FM in Baltimore , KHVH in Honolulu , KQV in Pittsburgh and KRUX in Glendale–Phoenix. At
30441-462: The morning news/interview program Today from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00a.m. weekdays, 7:00a.m.–8:30 a.m. / 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays and 7:00 a.m.–8:00 a.m. / 8:00 a.m. -9:00 a.m. on Sundays, it also airs NBC News Daily at 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. on weekdays, it includes nightly editions of NBC Nightly News , the Sunday political talk show Meet
30660-480: The morning show. Under program director John Lund, WNBC's playlist was tweaked back to an adult top 40 format, and ratings increased by 50% to surpass WABC by the summer of 1980. In the early 1980s, WNBC continued as an adult-leaning Top 40 radio station. The best days of WNBC were from the fall of 1980 until the fall of 1983, when the station was consistently in or near the top 5. When Lund returned as program director in late 1979, WNBC general manager Robert Sherman set
30879-453: The most popular teen series in television history as well as the top-rated series on Saturday mornings, dethroning ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show in its first season. The success of Saved by the Bell led NBC to remove animated series from its Saturday morning lineup in August 1992 in favor of additional live-action series as part of a new block called TNBC , along with the debut of
31098-595: The network outgrew these facilities. RCA agreed to a lease in May 1930 as the lead tenant for 30 Rockefeller Plaza which was still under construction , including a studio complex for NBC and theaters for RCA-owned RKO Radio Pictures . Named the RCA Building in May 1932, the deal was arranged through the Rockefeller Center 's founder and financier, John D. Rockefeller Jr. , along with GE chairman Owen D. Young, David Sarnoff and Raymond Hood. RCA had been spun off as its own fully-independent company in 1932 through
31317-427: The network sold WRC in Washington to Greater Media for $ 3.6 million (equivalent to $ 10.6 million in 2023). On December 11, 1985, GE announced it was acquiring RCA in a $ 6.28 billion deal (equivalent to $ 17.8 billion in 2023). Earlier in the year, RCA entertained merger talks with Universal Pictures parent MCA Inc. while fending off hostile takeover threats. GE requested in paperwork filed with
31536-456: The network threatened to pull their TV affiliation from Westinghouse's Philadelphia and Boston stations, and withhold an affiliation from their Pittsburgh TV property if Westinghouse did not agree to the trade. In August 1964 NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC—but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed. Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC,
31755-671: The network trunk lines. Such stations were usually offered to advertisers on both the Red and Blue Network line-ups. As of early 1939, the Red Network was divided into five geographical regions. The East consisted of 16 basic and 16 supplemental stations; the Midwest had 8 basic and 15 supplemental stations; the South had 7 basic and 30 supplemental stations; Mountain had 2 basic and 9 supplemental stations, and Pacific had 5 basic and 7 supplemental stations. For example, in Louisville, Kentucky,
31974-424: The network was concurrently relaunched as a German-language technology channel aimed at a younger demographic, with the new series NBC GIGA as its flagship program. In 2005, the channel was relaunched again as the free-to-air movie channel Das Vierte which eventually shut down end of 2013 (acquired by Disney, which replaced it with a German version of Disney Channel). GIGA Television was subsequently spun off as
32193-514: The network when it was taken off the air in 2022 (and moved to the Peacock streaming service). Currently the network only offers NBC News Daily on its afternoon schedule, with affiliates using the rest of the afternoon for syndicated or local programming. Long-running daytime dramas seen on NBC in the past include The Doctors (1963–1982), Another World (1964–1999), Santa Barbara (1984–1993), and Passions (1999–2007). NBC also aired
32412-721: The network's airtime by 1942. The network provided a rich variety of classical concert broadcasts, including performances by the Metropolitan Opera (1931–1940) and the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–1954) conducted by Arturo Toscanini . Notable series include the General Motors Concerts (1929–1937) and The Eastman School of Music Symphony (1932–1942). From 1935 to 1950, it presented numerous live remote broadcasts of popular music from ballrooms, hotels, supper clubs and Army camps. Among
32631-429: The network's formation, NBC was a dominant force on the radio landscape. In 1932, out of the 40 clear-channel stations licensed by the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), 28 were affiliated with either NBC network, 13 were affiliated with CBS, and two were independents. By 1939, the Red and Blue networks were competing with CBS and the Mutual Broadcasting System in providing nationwide coverage. NBC advertising rate cards of
32850-433: The network's programming through various means, including via its website at NBC.com, a traditional VOD service called NBC on Demand available on most traditional cable and IPTV providers, and through content deals with Hulu and Netflix (the latter of which carries only cataloged episodes of NBC programs, after losing the right to carry newer episodes of its programs during their current seasons in July 2011). NBCUniversal
33069-427: The network's radio days. Notable NBC News productions past and present include Today , NBC Nightly News (and its immediate predecessor, The Huntley–Brinkley Report ), Meet the Press (which has the distinction of the longest continuously running program in the history of American television), Dateline NBC , Early Today , NBC News at Sunrise , NBC Nightside and Rock Center with Brian Williams . In 1989,
33288-460: The new air personalities would find success (Johnny Dark, Frank Reed, and Allen Beebe would be heard on the station well into the 1980s), others would not ( Ellie Dylan , who replaced Imus in morning drive, would be gone within months). By 1979, Pittman would leave WNBC (he would soon become the founder of MTV ), John Lund was hired back as program director (from KHOW in Denver), and Imus returned to
33507-547: The news division began its expansion to cable with the launch of the business news channel CNBC . The company eventually formed other cable news services including MSNBC (created in 1996 originally as a joint venture with Microsoft , which now features a mix of general news and political discussion programs with a liberal stance), and the 2008 acquisition of The Weather Channel in conjunction with Blackstone Group and Bain Capital . In addition, NBCSN (operated as part of
33726-908: The news program Meet the Press (debuted 1947); Today (debuted 1952); The Tonight Show (debuted nationally 1954); and Saturday Night Live (debuted 1975). The drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , which debuted in 1999, began its 26th season in October 2024 and is currently the longest-running live-action series in American prime-time television history. As of 2022 , NBC provides 87 hours of regularly scheduled network programming each week. The network provides 22 hours of prime-time programming to affiliated stations Monday through Saturdays from 8:00p.m. to 11:00p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (7:00p.m.–10:00p.m. in all other U.S. time zones) and Sundays from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (6:00p.m.–10:00p.m. in all other time zones). Daytime NBC News programming includes
33945-421: The number-one ranked AM music station in New York City. As part of that campaign, TV commercials and subway boards softened the image of the cantankerous Don Imus by including two cute twin blonde little girls saying "We're #2" and blanketing the New York City metro area. When an Arbitron report was released that WNBC believed confirmed that it was in fact the most popular AM music radio station in New York City,
34164-497: The only U.S. states where NBC does not have a locally licensed affiliate. New Jersey is served by New York City O&O WNBC-TV and Philadelphia O&O WCAU; New Jersey formerly had an in-state affiliate in Atlantic City -based WMGM-TV , which was affiliated with the network from 1955 to 2014. Delaware is served by Salisbury affiliate WRDE-LD and Philadelphia-based WCAU . NBC maintains affiliations with low-power stations in
34383-429: The only programs produced by the networks and were used to fill unsold time periods (affiliated stations had the option to "break away" from the network to air a local program during these periods) but the network had the "option" to take back the time period if a network sponsor wanted the time period. Dramatic programs, which comprised only 2 percent of program time on NBC Red in 1926, accounted for 25 percent of
34602-584: The opening of WCAP in Washington, D.C., licensed to the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, an AT&T subsidiary. The resulting New York-to-Washington link was extensively used to gain engineering knowledge in using telephone lines for radio network connections. Initially the WEAF network had few advertisers, so most of its schedule consisted of unsponsored "sustaining" programs which network stations had to pay for, although they were not charged for sponsored programs. An important early sponsored program
34821-525: The original broadcasts of Gumby , The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show , Underdog , The Smurfs , Alvin and the Chipmunks and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears . From 1984 to 1989, the network aired a series of public service announcements called One to Grow On , which aired after the end credits of every program or every other children's program. In 1989, NBC premiered Saved by
35040-654: The original hosts and was the first woman to host a show on the station. "Hey Liguori, What's the Story" aired the first weekend the station was on the air in 1987 and continued until 2008. WFAN also inherited broadcast rights to the defending World Series champion New York Mets from WHN, who had held the rights since 1983 ; Mets games stayed on WFAN until 2013. In early 1988, General Electric (GE), which owned NBC through its purchase of RCA two years earlier, announced that it would close NBC's radio division and sell its owned-and-operated stations. In February of that year, GE made
35259-469: The original plan was to build additional stations throughout the United States, the "broadcasting boom" of 1922 resulted in a total of over 500 assorted broadcasting stations by the end of the year, so AT&T only found it necessary to build one additional outlet, WCAP in Washington, D.C. , owned by its Chesapeake & Potomac subsidiary. AT&T's radio network, commonly called the "WEAF chain",
35478-450: The original series and the short-lived 2008 reboot ), Kojak , Miami Vice , The Office , Quantum Leap and Simon & Simon ). On February 18, 2015, NBC began providing live programming streams of local NBC stations in select markets, which are only available to authenticated subscribers of participating pay television providers . All eleven NBC-owned-and-operated stations owned by NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations' were
35697-449: The overnight shift and did a music intensive show. This show was now marketed as The Time Machine , playing oldies from 1955 to 1974 (emphasizing 1964–1969), complete with old jingles and an echo effect , resulting in a sound similar to WABC's during its Top 40 heyday. Two weeks later, on March 23, 1987, Soupy Sales had found out that there were plans to end his show; at that point, he walked off midway through with Dale Parsons finishing
35916-525: The pact's clauses by the signatories would lead to numerous disputes, especially between AT&T and the other participants, known collectively as the "radio group". On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, which regulated radio at this time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports. AT&T soon recognized that it had
36135-489: The parade, it has exclusivity over the broadcast of Broadway and music performances appearing in the parade (CBS airs live performances separate from those seen in the parade as a result), and Macy's chose to reroute the parade in 2012 out of the view of CBS' cameras, although it continues to cover the parade. NBC began airing a same-day rebroadcast of the parade telecast in 2009 (replacing its annual Thanksgiving afternoon airing of Miracle on 34th Street ). In 2007, NBC acquired
36354-440: The period listed "basic" and "supplemental" affiliated stations. Advertisers were encouraged to buy time for their programs on the full "basic" line-up (plus any "supplemental" stations they wished) but this was open to negotiation. It was not unusual for Red Network advertisers to place shows on Blue Network stations in certain markets (and the other way around). Supplemental stations were generally located in smaller cities away from
36573-415: The quality of AT&T's telephone links. Thus, while President Coolidge's March 1925 inauguration was sent over a growing AT&T transcontinental network of 23 stations, the WJZ chain's broadcast of the speech was carried by only four stations, all located in the East. On May 11, 1926, AT&T announced that "The radio broadcasting activities heretofore carried on by the radio broadcasting department of
36792-431: The quarter-hour), but by 1991, began doing updates every 20 minutes (at :00, :20 and :40 past the hour). These updates, called 20-20 Sports Flashes , are now considered an industry standard. Additionally, in a nod to the former WNBC, update anchors often end their top-of-the-hour updates with the catchphrase "And that's what's happening ...", which is how WNBC on-air news readers had ended their updates. WFAN discontinued
37011-505: The radio network, the result of a management decision that the radio operations were incompatible with the company's primary role as the leading U.S. supplier of telephone services. The "radio group" quickly recognized the value of network programming, but was badly handicapped in its attempts to effectively compete. AT&T's assertion that only it could sell radio advertising meant that the radio group stations had to be commercial-free, and thus were financed by their owners, which soon became
37230-472: The ratings. At the time of the switch, sports talk radio was still an untested format with questionable prospects, and the idea was that bringing on board a host who appealed to a broader audience would get more people to give the station a try. WFAN also benefitted from having Imus's fans - who were used to tuning into 660 kHz on weekday mornings - in place to listen to other shows. WFAN instantly took advantage of its Imus inheritance; for example, it featured
37449-774: The rights to Miss Universe and Miss USA on June 29, 2015, as part of its decision to cut business ties with Donald Trump and the Miss Universe Organization (which was half-owned by corporate parent NBCUniversal) in response to controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants made by Trump during the launch of his 2016 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination . Through the years, NBC has produced many in-house programs, in addition to airing content from other producers such as Revue Studios and its successor Universal Television . Notable in-house productions by NBC have included Bonanza , Little House on
37668-549: The rights to the National Dog Show , which airs following the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade each year. The network also broadcasts several live-action and animated specials during the Christmas holiday season , including the 2014 debuts How Murray Saved Christmas (an animated musical adaptation of the children's book of the same name) and Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas (a stop-motion animated special based on
37887-413: The sale of either AM frequency. SBS chose to keep 620, and 1050 was traded to Forward Communications, which owned WEVD, then at 97.9 FM. After that deal was approved, WEVD's call letters and programming moved to 1050 AM, and SBS took over 97.9 as WSKQ-FM . The October NBC-Emmis switch also saw Emmis's WQHT (then at 103.5 MHz.) move to 97.1 MHz., which had been the home of NBC's WYNY . Emmis sold
38106-517: The sale stated that although operation of WEAF and the WEAF chain had been financially successful, the company had concluded that "while the technical principle was similar to that of the telephone system, the objective of the broadcasting station was quite different from that of a telephone system. Consequently, it has seemed to us after years of experimentation, that the broadcasting station which we have built up might be more suitably operated by other interests." On September 13, 1926, RCA's chairman of
38325-486: The sale. Norm Pattiz , Westwood One founder/CEO, defended the consolidation moves by noting the radio networks had been losing up to $ 10 million, but emphasized "we are not dismantling the NBC networks". By January 1989, Westwood One announced NBC Radio News would move to Mutual's Arlington, Virginia , facility; engineering operations followed along with the affiliate relations department. National Broadcasting Company The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC )
38544-445: The same format, WNBC began to lose some listeners. WNBC lost American Top 40 to WPLJ in November 1983. The station performed well through 1984. In the spring of 1984, Dale Parsons took over as program director. After that, Stern cut down his music load, eventually playing only four songs an hour and began to talk much more. In overnights beginning in the spring of 1984, WNBC added taped Wolfman Jack shows which featured oldies from
38763-506: The shift, hard rock songs were eliminated during the day; at night, the station was slightly hotter, playing a limited number of rock songs. At that time, WNBC and WYNY were sort of fraternal twin stations (playing identical types of music but presented differently, and their music mix was somewhat different for both current and gold songs). By summer 1982, WNBC was near the top with some of their best ratings ever. Once WABC switched to their present-day all-talk format on May 10, 1982, WNBC added
38982-488: The show the following March. The Sunday morning religious program The Eternal Light , for years the networks' only non-news program, ended its 45 year run on NBC Radio in 1989. Another NBC–branded program introduced following the Westwood One purchase was the morning newsmagazine First Light , hosted by Dirk Van, which debuted in April 1990. First Light was complimentary to Mutual's existing morning newsmagazine, America in The Morning hosted by Jim Bohannon . Within
39201-442: The show. Weekender and assistant programming director Jim Collins moved into that time slot with a gold-based music intensive show on a temporary basis. Then, on April 6, 1987, a couple weeks after Soupy Sales left, his former sidekick Ray D'Ariano moved back into the 10 am to 2 pm weekday time slot, but was now playing 1955–73 oldies while focusing on 1964–69. His show was music intensive, playing about 12 oldies an hour. In
39420-449: The significantly lower rate. Instead of NBC responding with a similar package, RCA's president, David Sarnoff, decided that this accounting method was legally and ethically wrong. NBC's performers did not agree, and most of the top stars, including Amos 'n' Andy , Jack Benny , Red Skelton , Edgar Bergen , Burns and Allen , Ed Wynn , Fred Waring , Al Jolson , Groucho Marx and Frank Sinatra moved from NBC to CBS. One notable exception
39639-436: The slogan was changed to "The New One". Also in 1980, to differentiate its call letter similarity with WABC, Lund got Imus and other talents to over-emphasize the letter N when saying the station name: "66 W-NNNN-B-C". Within a year, Imus was #1 in the morning and WNBC surpassed WABC in Arbitron ratings. WNBC added American Top 40 with Casey Kasem late in 1980. In reality, WABC's ratings had begun to nosedive in 1978–79, and by
39858-461: The sole right to sell commercial time on radio stations, which it called "toll broadcasting", although for the next few years the idea of radio advertising remained controversial. AT&T also recognized that its longline telephone network could be used to connect radio stations together to form networks to share programming and costs. In early 1922, AT&T announced the establishment of a "toll" station in New York City and its intention to develop
40077-526: The sports radio format around-the-clock. The WFAN call letters and sports format were moved to the former WNBC at 660 kHz on October 7, 1988. WNBC's history dated to 1922, when it began operation as WEAF, licensed to Western Electric . Purchased by the Radio Corporation of America in 1926, it became the flagship of the NBC Radio Network , the first national radio network in the United States, later becoming WRCA and WNBC. AT&T had an early interest in radiotelephone development, although initially only as
40296-614: The station's 10,000 watt transmitter from being built, NBC converted W2XWG to commercial operation in 1944 as WEAF-FM . In order to further align the network's radio flagship with the network, on November 1, 1946, WEAF and WEAF-FM changed call signs to WNBC and WNBC-FM, respectively. West Coast flagship KPO followed suit, becoming KNBC on November 23, 1947. Following the lead of WNBT, NBC filed applications for multiple FM and television stations as adjuncts to their radio properties as early as 1943, including for TV outlets in Denver and San Francisco. The network ultimately built and signed on
40515-430: The success of the all-night Larry King Show on Mutual. When Williams was critically injured in a 1982 airplane crash, he resumed his NBC Talknet show four weeks later, conducting it from his hospital room. Williams' show proved to be very successful and ultimately outlived NBC Talknet itself. NBC Radio Entertainment was established in December 1984 to handle the distribution of Jazz with David Sanborn and Live From
40734-421: The summer of 1987, WNBC considered going all oldies, running The Time Machine full-time, with the exception of Knicks and Rangers games, and Imus in the Morning. Instead, they increased the amount of oldies programming, but not on a full-time basis. Therefore, WNBC modified their format, keeping Imus in the morning, playing a few AC cuts and a couple oldies an hour with his usual talk. Alan Colmes continued hosting
40953-680: The technical expertise and patent rights needed to play an important, and possibly dominant, role in the broadcasting industry. A December 1921 memo prepared by two AT&T engineers proposed that the company construct a nationwide radio network, using the company's long lines to connect together individual stations. They also noted that "this service would enable the national and local advertisers, industrial institutions of all kinds, and even individuals if they desire, to send forth information and advertising matter audibly to thousands". AT&T moved quickly to start implementing this plan, and on February 11, 1922, formally announced its intention to develop
41172-632: The television and radio networks were similar to the logo of its then-parent company, RCA. Logos used later in NBC's existence incorporated stylized peacock designs, including the current version that has been in use since 1986. NBC network programs can be received throughout most of Canada on cable, satellite and IPTV providers through certain U.S.-based affiliates of the network (such as WBTS-CD in Boston, KING-TV in Seattle, KBJR-TV in Duluth, Minnesota , WGRZ in Buffalo, New York and WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York ). Some programs carried on these stations are subject to simultaneous substitutions ,
41391-434: The theatrical, concert and radio field, some of whom have never been heard on the air, will mark the introduction of the National Broadcasting company to the radio public Monday evening", with NBC president Merlin H. Aylesworth characterizing the event as "a four-hour program beginning at 8 p.m., which will live long in their memories as an occasion marking another milestone in the history of radio broadcasting". Carl Schlegel of
41610-443: The thrice-hourly updates on January 2, 2018; updates now occur only at the top of the hour. Other programming that WFAN had at its launch included a mid-morning show with Ed Coleman and Mike Francesa , and an afternoon drive time show with Pete Franklin, who in Cleveland had become one of the first polarizing, outrageous talk show hosts. During his stay in New York City, Franklin was probably best known for an incident where he used
41829-443: The time WNBC beat them in 1980, it was only good enough for sixth place in the market (behind WBLS , WKTU , WOR , WCBS-FM and WRFM ). In 1981, John Lund left WNBC to begin his consulting and research firm in San Francisco, and the station's assistant PD R.E. "Buzz" Brindle served as interim program director until Kevin Metheny was hired in the late Spring. WNBC began moving to an AC format similar to sister station WYNY . With
42048-479: The transaction noted that the sum paid reflected WEAF's position in the industry, as it represented a substantial premium over what other radio stations were commanding in the marketplace, and estimated that 4/5ths of the purchase price for WEAF represented good-will and the securing of the use of AT&T's lines. The sale was initially kept secret from the staff and the general public, and did not become publicly known until July 21. AT&T's press release announcing
42267-403: The unpredictable length of sporting events, NBC will occasionally pre-empt scheduled programs (more common with the weekend editions of NBC Nightly News , and local and syndicated programs carried by its owned-and-operated stations and affiliates). NBC has also held the American broadcasting rights to the Summer Olympic Games since the 1988 games and the rights to the Winter Olympic Games since
42486-632: The weekend of January 25–26, 1975. From that point onward, the NBC Radio Network's main lineup consisted of hourly newscasts and commentary segments, plus religious programs and Meet the Press on Sundays. Monitor was succeeded with another major programming investment: the NBC News and Information Service (NIS). Conceived by NBC Radio president Jack G. Thayer as a secondary network for local stations wishing to adopt an all-news radio format, NIS supplied up to 55 minutes of news content per hour to stations. Thayer described NIS as "an over-all restyling" of NBC Radio providing "a more contemporary feel". While
42705-419: The witty mid-morning game-show host ("Fortune Phone") Sterling Yates, late-morning talk radio provocateur Joe Pyne , midday voices Lee Leonard and later Jim Gearhart, sports talk host Bill Mazer , plus late-nighters Brad Crandall (later of NFL Films ) and Long John Nebel . On weekends, WNBC aired almost all of the NBC Radio Network's Monitor program, which featured many of WNBC's own hosts as well as
42924-580: Was The Eveready Hour , which debuted over WEAF in December 1923, and began to be carried over a rapidly growing number of stations in early 1924. The first transcontinental link was made in early 1924, and that fall a coast-to-coast network of 23 stations broadcast a speech by President Coolidge. By the end of 1925 there were 26 affiliates in the standard WEAF chain network, extending westward to Kansas City, Missouri. Reacting to AT&T's innovations, RCA began efforts to establish its own network, originating from its New York City station, WJZ (now WABC), but
43143-453: Was Bob Hope, who not only stayed, but moved to NBC television; by the time of his retirement in 1996, Hope's association with NBC spanned nearly 60 years. As a result of the defections, CBS boasted in 1949 of having sixteen of the twenty top rated programs. The consequences carried over to television, where CBS maintained its newfound dominance for decades. Paley personally worked to woo the performers, while Sarnoff professed his indifference to
43362-406: Was a mainstream top 40-leaning adult contemporary music radio station featuring The Carpenters , Paul Simon , Carole King , The Stylistics , Neil Diamond , James Taylor , and other artists of that era. They also began to play more 1960s-era rock and roll oldies, including the Motown artists, The Beatles , The Beach Boys , and The Rolling Stones , at that point. Ted Brown would leave in
43581-530: Was already doing for WEAF. However, AT&T generally refused access to its high-quality telephone lines to competitors, so these efforts generally tried to use telegraph lines , which were found to be incapable of good quality audio transmissions. Use of high-powered stations and shortwave connections were also investigated, but none of these approaches matched the reliability and quality of AT&T's telephone links. The first RCA network broadcast occurred on November 17, 1923, when WJZ rebroadcast play-by-play of
43800-544: Was also a challenge to CBS 's Sunday night lineup, much of which had come from NBC, including—and especially—Jack Benny. Despite critical praise, The Big Show ' s initial success failed to last as NBC cancelled it after only two years, purportedly losing a million dollars on the project. To reflect RCA's ownership, some of NBC's radio and television stations adopted "RCA"-derived call signs in October 1954: WNBC/WNBT in New York became WRCA-AM-FM-TV, WNBW in Washington became WRC-TV, and KNBH in Los Angeles became KRCA. By 1960,
44019-402: Was announced that NBC would launch a new Saturday morning preschool block programmed by Sprout (originally jointly owned by NBCUniversal, PBS , Sesame Workshop and Apax Partners , with the former acquiring the other's interests later that year). The block, NBC Kids , premiered on July 7, 2012, replacing the "Qubo on NBC" block. On February 24, 2016, it was announced that NBC would launch
44238-508: Was badly handicapped in competing effectively. AT&T maintained that the cross-licensing agreements gave it the exclusive right to sell airtime. AT&T also normally refused access to its high-quality telephone lines to competitors, so RCA's efforts generally used telegraph lines to connect stations, which would prove to have inadequate fidelity and reliability. RCA also investigated using high-powered or shortwave stations to establish network connections, but none of these alternatives matched
44457-586: Was dropped in overnights in favor of various weekend announcers playing the regular AC rotation. Weekends had Bill Grundfest doing a talk intensive show a few hours each day playing six songs an hour. Despite these changes, by the fall of 1986, WNBC was in a ratings crisis. At approximately 4:42 p.m. on October 22, 1986, the station's "N-Copter" traffic helicopter crashed into the Hudson River , killing traffic reporter Jane Dornacker and severely injuring pilot Bill Pate. As millions of WNBC listeners heard Dornacker giving her traffic report, she stopped abruptly as
44676-461: Was first developed in the northeastern United States . The first joint broadcast was a one-time effort made on January 4, 1923, when a program WEAF originated was relayed by WNAC in Boston, Massachusetts . The first continuous link was established on July 1, 1923, when Colonel Edward H. R. Green arranged for AT&T to provide WEAF programming for rebroadcast by his station, WMAF at South Dartmouth, Massachusetts . The first transcontinental link
44895-506: Was formally renamed as the American Broadcasting Company on June 15, 1945. NBC and RCA were one of the key forces in the development of television in the 1930s and 1940s, dating back to New York City experimental station W2XBS in 1928. Before the American entry into World War II in 1941, W2XBS was officially licensed as WNBT (channel 1) . NBC also launched W2XWG, an experimental Apex station, in April 1939; after planned FM station W51NY failed due to World War II shortages preventing
45114-622: Was hired in November 1971, giving New York its first exposure to the shock jock genre. Imus stayed with the station for most of the next two decades, except for a couple of years in the late 1970s when there was a general purge of the air staff and a short-term format flip to a music-intensive top 40 approach. Despite somewhat different formats, WNBC saw itself as a mostly unsuccessful competitor to New York top 40 powerhouse WABC . Thus, they brought in Murray "the K" Kaufman in 1972, and Wolfman Jack opposite WABC's Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow in 1973. This did not improve ratings much. By 1973, WNBC
45333-563: Was hosted for most of its run by Ahmad Rashad , was also a part of the TNBC lineup during the NBA season until 2002 (when the program moved to ABC as a result of that network taking the NBA rights from NBC). In 2002, NBC entered into an agreement with Discovery Communications to carry educational children's programs from the Discovery Kids cable channel. Debuting that September, the Discovery Kids on NBC block originally consisted exclusively of live-action series, including reality series Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls (a kid-themed version of
45552-564: Was included as part of the sale of its sister television station . NBC had no interest in owning a daytime-only station in the shadow of its powerful Hartford, Connecticut , affiliate, WTIC , so the network sold WKNB in 1960. The Pittsburgh stations were sold in 1972. In 1956, NBC sought to get an owned-and-operated television station in the Philadelphia market, so it forced a station ownership/ call sign swap with Westinghouse Broadcasting . NBC acquired Westinghouse's KYW radio and WPTZ television in Philadelphia (which became WRCV-AM-TV, for
45771-419: Was included in Emmis's multi-station purchase; as Emmis already owned WFAN in New York City, it sold that station's license and transferred the intellectual property onto the WNBC license, supplanting it outright (WNBC was thus regarded in media coverage as "ceasing operation"). The last station to be sold, KNBR, was delayed due to a long-term play-by-play contract with the San Francisco Giants that ran through
45990-452: Was lost. The Blue network became the "NBC Blue Network, Inc." and the NBC Red became "NBC Red Network, Inc." Effective January 10, 1942, the two networks had their operations formally divorced, and the Blue Network was referred to on the air as either "Blue" or "Blue Network," with its official corporate name being Blue Network Company, Inc. Consequently, the NBC Red Network became known on-air as simply "NBC" on September 1, 1942. The FCC order
46209-410: Was made in early 1924, and that fall a coast-to-coast network of 23 stations broadcast a speech by President Calvin Coolidge . By the end of 1925, there were 26 affiliates in the standard "WEAF chain", extending west to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri . One early success for the "WEAF chain" was The Eveready Hour , the first sponsored program to be broadcast over a radio network, paid for by
46428-444: Was no station management on hand, Stern did his show as normal, refusing to cover the problems related to the storm. Ironically, he spent much of the show insisting that he was leaving the station, because he had learned that Soupy Sales had signed a syndication contract that had long been withheld from Stern. After Stern's dismissal and subsequent debut on then-rival New York station WXRK , WNBC's ratings plummeted, and they were under
46647-520: Was not part of the "Time Machine" programming. His show had newer WNBC jingles, no echo sound effects, and slightly softer songs. From the Summer of 1987 to the station's demise on October 7, 1988, WNBC's format was classified as Adult Contemporary , but they only played adult contemporary cuts during Imus's show. The actual format was block programming featuring AC and talk in morning drive; all-oldies on Middays, overnights, and weekends; talk on weekday afternoons; and sports talk weekday evenings and whenever
46866-620: Was one of the era's first breakthrough television shows. From the mid-1960s until 1992, the bulk of NBC's children's programming was composed of mainly animated programming including classic Looney Tunes and Woody Woodpecker shorts; reruns of prime time animated sitcoms such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons ; foreign acquisitions like Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion ; animated adaptions of Punky Brewster , ALF and Star Trek as well as animated vehicles for Gary Coleman and Mr. T ; live-action programs like The Banana Splits , The Bugaloos and H.R. Pufnstuf ; and
47085-407: Was that of Suzyn Waldman , with a sports update, followed by the first show, which was hosted by Jim Lampley . Waldman reported for the station, covering the New York Yankees and New York Knicks for 14 years. Other hosts besides Lampley during WFAN's fifteen months at 1050 kHz included Bill Mazer , Pete Franklin , Greg Gumbel , Art Shamsky , and Ed Coleman . Ann Liguori is also one of
47304-474: Was the short-lived Caesars Challenge , which ended in January 1994. Notable past daytime talk shows that have aired on NBC have included Home (1954–1957), The Ernie Kovacs Show (1955–1956), The Merv Griffin Show (1962–1963), Leeza (1994–1999) and Later Today (1999–2000). Children's programming has played a part in NBC's programming since its initial roots in television. NBC's first major children's series, Howdy Doody , debuted in 1947 and
47523-403: Was transmitted on January 4, 1923, using dedicated telephone lines to link to one additional station, WNAC (now WBIX) in Boston, Massachusetts. A more ambitious three-month link began operation on July 1, 1923, when Colonel Edward H. R. Green arranged for AT&T to provide WEAF's programming for rebroadcast by his station, WMAF in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The summer of 1923 also saw
47742-486: Was ultimately upheld by the U.S Supreme Court in National Broadcasting Co. v. United States , asserting that the FCC had authority to regulate the networks and their associations with affiliates. Consequently, the Blue Network was sold on July 30, 1943, to candy magnate Edward J. Noble for $ 8 million (equivalent to $ 141 million in 2023). When the deal closed on October 12, the Blue Network came under ownership of "American Broadcasting System, Inc." The Blue Network
47961-494: Was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court two years later, and RCA decided to keep the flagship station WEAF and the Red Network, which was rebranded as the NBC Radio Network after the Blue Network was divested, along with several stations (including WJZ), to Edward J. Noble . The Blue Network was renamed the American Broadcasting Company . WEAF's call letters were changed to WNBC in 1946, then to WRCA in 1954, and back to WNBC in 1960. The decline of scripted network radio programming in
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