WNBC-TV

WNBC-TV, "NBC4" is the flagship TV station of the NBC television network, with studios located in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. WNBC is sister station to Telemundo affiliate WNJU-TV, and the two stations have some cross promotion.

History

WNBC-TV was the first commercially licensed television station in the United States, broadcasting on Channel 1 as WNBT (for NBC Television) on July 1, 1941 and was most likely the only television station to have a news special report about the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7 of that year. However, it traces its history to experimental station W2XBS, founded in 1928.

Related Topics:
July 1 - 1941 - Pearl Harbor - December 7 - 1928

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In 1946, the station changed its frequency from Channel 1 to Channel 4 after VHF channel 1 was removed from use for television broadcasting. The station changed its call letters to WRCA-TV after WNBC-AM became WRCA-AM. When the radio station changed its calls back to WNBC, the television station became WNBC-TV.

Related Topics:
1946 - VHF

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WNBC-TV also earned a place in broadcasting history as the station at which The Tonight Show was originated. It began on the station in 1953 as a local late-night program, The Steve Allen Show, and NBC executive Pat Weaver brought it to the network in 1954. The NBC studio from which Tonight was broadcast during the Jack Paar and early Johnny Carson years (it first originated at the Hudson Theatre on 44th Street) is now WNBC-TV's main news studio.

Related Topics:
The Tonight Show - Steve Allen - Pat Weaver - Jack Paar - Johnny Carson

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WNBC-TV was simply branded as "channel 4" from 1946 to 1992. In 1992, WNBC-TV became simply WNBC (because WNBC-AM had become WFAN), and was rebranded 4 New York. The accompanying station image campaign was entitled We're 4 New York. WNBC was rebranded as NBC 4 in 1995 with the newscast entitled NewsChannel 4. For many years, in various image campaigns, the station used themes composed by Edd Kalehoff.

Related Topics:
1946 - 1992 - WFAN - 1995 - NewsChannel 4 - Edd Kalehoff

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On September 11, 2001, the transmitter facilities of WNBC-TV as well as six other local television stations and several radio stations were destroyed when two hijacked airplanes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Center towers in the attack that day. At first the station was broadcasting from a radio tower originally built by Edwin Armstrong in Alpine, New Jersey. As of 2005, WNBC-TV is broadcasting from the Empire State Building.

Related Topics:
September 11 - 2001 - Transmitter - Television station - Radio station - World Trade Center - Attack - Edwin Armstrong - Alpine, New Jersey - 2005 - Empire State Building

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