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NBC celebrates 75 years of broadcasting (Part I of II: beginnings)

© Steve Hatton

In 1926, David Sarnoff, the operator of a pair of licensed RCA-owned radio stations in New York and Washington, came up with a two-part plan that arguably changed broadcasting forever. The first part was actually influenced by a competitor, now known as CBS, whereby he brought together both his stations under a new brand name. In September of that year, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was officially created. The second part, however, was a bit more innovative and had to do with the idea of broadcasting a program coast to coast by a 'network' of stations all hooked up to the same feed. NBC would later get government approval to launch not one but two transcontinental networks, known as the Red and Blue networks. The Red network was really the main network and was often referred to simply as "NBC." Its Blue Network would later become the American Broadcasting Companies (ABC) in 1943 when NBC was forced to sell it as a result of legal action.

In 1930, in New York City, NBC launched an experimental television station W2XBS, a year before CBS did the same. But at that time, TV was only able to produce fuzzy pictures and the channel was on the air only when they felt like it. The subsequent arrival of the Great Depression meant that it would be a while before anyone would fix the problems.

Meanwhile, NBC radio was doing quite well with such smash hits as "Amos 'N Andy" which debuted in 1928 from Chicago. It would become the highest rated sitcom in radio history. In 1932, NBC delivered the first broadcast of the Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles that year. By the late thirties, listeners everywhere were mesmerized by the talents of such artists as Jack Benny, Ed Wynn, Groucho Marx, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

NBC credits itself for the first incident of "on-the-spot" reporting in 1937 when live coverage was provided immediately following the Hindenberg explosion. In 1938, NBC TV in New York broadcasted what could be the very first known case of "Reality Television" when an NBC mobile unit happened to be working in Queens when a fire broke out on Ward's Island across the river. The TV crew turned their equipment around to pick up live pictures. In July 1939, NBC began regularly scheduled programming, beginning with broadcasts of the World's Fair in New York. A year later the New York TV station began to relay some of its telecasts to the General electric TV station in Schenectady, in the Albany area. NBC TV was now truly a network. But, this was before the age satellite technology and the NBC signal had to be delivered over the air and retransmitted, 130 miles away. The result was a poor picture quality for Schenectady area viewers.

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