A lot has changed with television since it was first introduced in America in the early 20th century. The main networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, were among the first that forged their way into the new space, and continue to dominate the airwaves. Networks like NBC have even evolved to the point of having a separate streaming service that provides bonus content to its viewers.
NBC (National Broadcasting Company) started in 1926, a few years after David Sarnoff went to his boss with an idea about starting a broadcast radio network to transmit important news and baseball scores to the masses. By 1927, NBC became the first countrywide radio network to broadcast events such as the Rose Bowl, a heavyweight fight, and Charles Lindbergh’s return from the first transatlantic flight. The following year, NBC Radio debuted its first radio serial drama titled Real Folks.
NBC began rapidly evolving in the early 1930s in what was considered the “Golden Age of Radio.” However, the radio network also started experimenting with TV broadcasts atop the Empire State Building in New York and 30 Rockefeller Center became NBC’s headquarters. In 1936, NBC Radio broadcast the Berlin Olympics, where American athlete Jesse Owens took home four gold medals.
While broadcasting current events and sporting outcomes to the masses via the radio waves, NBC’s David Sarnoff launched a TV service from Queens in 1939. It was then that Sarnoff made a valiant effort to get televisions into the households of NBC employees. That same year, the company aired the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
By 1947, NBC was airing one of its first television series with a live audience - Howdy Doody - and it televised the 1947 World Series in which the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers. Around four million Americans tuned in to watch the seven-game series. By the end of the 1950s, nearly 90 percent of Americans owned a television.
Along with introducing morning shows, late night shows, news, weekend programs, live theater, and Westerns, NBC continued to televise the Olympics and other sports. In 1964, NBC Sports aired the Tokyo Olympic Games, proving that live-by-satellite telecasts of the games were possible. Five years later, it also aired one of the biggest upsets in NFL history, when the New York Jets beat the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl.
In 1996, NBC had solidified its reputation of being “the home of the Olympics.” And when the “Digital Revolution” came into the new millennium, NBC broadcast the XXVII Olympiad from Australia. It attracted 185 million viewers and earned the network 10 Emmy Awards. In 2002, NBC covered the XIX Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, and shortly after secured the rights to air the 2010 and 2012 Olympics, spending $2.2 billion for the rights to do so.
In 2011, NBCUniversal signed a $4.38 billion dollar deal to obtain the media rights to the next four consecutive Olympics held in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. These events marked 11 Olympic Games that NBC had televised.
NBC (National Broadcasting Company) started in 1926, a few years after David Sarnoff went to his boss with an idea about starting a broadcast radio network to transmit important news and baseball scores to the masses. By 1927, NBC became the first countrywide radio network to broadcast events such as the Rose Bowl, a heavyweight fight, and Charles Lindbergh’s return from the first transatlantic flight. The following year, NBC Radio debuted its first radio serial drama titled Real Folks.
NBC began rapidly evolving in the early 1930s in what was considered the “Golden Age of Radio.” However, the radio network also started experimenting with TV broadcasts atop the Empire State Building in New York and 30 Rockefeller Center became NBC’s headquarters. In 1936, NBC Radio broadcast the Berlin Olympics, where American athlete Jesse Owens took home four gold medals.
While broadcasting current events and sporting outcomes to the masses via the radio waves, NBC’s David Sarnoff launched a TV service from Queens in 1939. It was then that Sarnoff made a valiant effort to get televisions into the households of NBC employees. That same year, the company aired the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
By 1947, NBC was airing one of its first television series with a live audience - Howdy Doody - and it televised the 1947 World Series in which the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers. Around four million Americans tuned in to watch the seven-game series. By the end of the 1950s, nearly 90 percent of Americans owned a television.
Along with introducing morning shows, late night shows, news, weekend programs, live theater, and Westerns, NBC continued to televise the Olympics and other sports. In 1964, NBC Sports aired the Tokyo Olympic Games, proving that live-by-satellite telecasts of the games were possible. Five years later, it also aired one of the biggest upsets in NFL history, when the New York Jets beat the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl.
In 1996, NBC had solidified its reputation of being “the home of the Olympics.” And when the “Digital Revolution” came into the new millennium, NBC broadcast the XXVII Olympiad from Australia. It attracted 185 million viewers and earned the network 10 Emmy Awards. In 2002, NBC covered the XIX Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, and shortly after secured the rights to air the 2010 and 2012 Olympics, spending $2.2 billion for the rights to do so.
In 2011, NBCUniversal signed a $4.38 billion dollar deal to obtain the media rights to the next four consecutive Olympics held in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. These events marked 11 Olympic Games that NBC had televised.
