in new york city . for broadcast stations that previously used the wnbc call sign see wnbc disambiguation . not to be confused with wmbc tv . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message wnbc new york new york united states branding nbc 4 new york or nbc 4 ny general nbc 4 secondary news 4 new york newscasts news 4 newscasts secondary slogan we re 4 new york general we are new york secondary the now is here news channels digital 28 uhf virtual 4 psip affiliations .1 nbc o & o .2 cozi tv owner nbcuniversal nbc telemundo licensing llc founded july 1 1928 as experimental station w2xbs first air date july 1 1941 ; 75 years ago 1941 07 01 call letters meaning national broadcasting company sister station s wnju sportsnet new york former callsigns wnbt 1941 1954 wrca tv 1954 1960 wnbc tv 1960 1992 former channel number s analog 1 vhf 1941 1946 4 vhf 1946 2009 transmitter power 200.2 kw height 397 m 1 302 ft facility id 47535 transmitter coordinates 40 44 54.4 n 73 59 8.4 w 40.748444 n 73.985667 w 40.748444 ; 73.985667 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.nbcnewyork.com wnbc channel 4 is the east coast and main flagship station of the nbc television network located in new york city . wnbc is owned by the nbcuniversal owned television stations group and operates as part of a television duopoly with linden new jersey licensed telemundo owned and operated station wnju channel 47 ; both are owned by comcast subsidiary nbcuniversal which also holds a minority stake in regional sports network sportsnet new york . wnbc s studios are co located with nbc s corporate headquarters at 30 rockefeller plaza in midtown manhattan and its transmitter atop the empire state building . wnbc also currently rents space on the 90th floor of one world trade center . the station is the oldest fully licensed television station in continuous operation in the united states . in the few areas of the eastern united states where an nbc station is not receivable over the air wnbc is available on satellite via directv and dish network the latter carries the station as part of all american direct s distant network package which also provides coverage of the station to latin american and caribbean countries . it is also carried on certain cable providers in markets where an nbc affiliate is not available on livetv and dish network . directv also allows subscribers in the los angeles market to receive wnbc for an additional monthly fee . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 experimental operations 1.1.1 firsts for w2xbs 1.2 first commercial television station 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 4.1 notable current on air staff 4.1.1 notable alumni 5 cultural references 6 controversies and incidents 6.1 chopper 4 helicopter crashes 6.2 lend america 6.3 sue simmons f bomb incident 6.4 i team super bowl promo editing controversy 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit experimental operations edit schedule for the first day of commercial broadcasting for wnbt now wnbc july 1 1941 . the felix the cat doll used by nbc in early television experiments . what is now wnbc traces its history to experimental station w2xbs founded by the radio corporation of america a co founder of the national broadcasting company in 1928 just two years after nbc was founded as the first nationwide radio network . originally a test bed for the experimental rca photophone theater television system w2xbs used the low definition mechanical television scanning system and later was used mostly for reception and interference tests . the call letters w2xbs meant w2xb south with w2xb being the call letters of the first experimental station started a few months earlier at general electric s main factory in schenectady new york . ge was the parent company of both rca and nbc and technical research was done at the schenectady plant . the station originally broadcast on the frequencies of 2.0 to 2.1 megahertz . in 1929 w2xbs upgraded its transmitter and broadcast facilities to handle transmissions of sixty vertical lines at twenty frames per second on the frequencies of 2.75 to 2.85 megahertz . in 1928 felix the cat was one of the first images ever broadcast by television when rca chose a papier m ch later bakelite felix doll for an experimental broadcast on w2xbs . the doll was chosen for its tonal contrast and its ability to withstand the intense lights needed in early television and was placed on a rotating phonograph turntable and televised for about two hours each day . the doll remained on the turntable for nearly a decade as rca fine tuned the picture s definition and converted to electronic television . 2 eddie albert and grace brandt apply makeup for the first television broadcast of a play november 1936 . the station left the air sometime in 1933 as rca turned its attention to all electronic cathode ray tube crt television research at its camden new jersey facility under the leadership of dr. vladimir k. zworykin . in 1935 the all electronic crt system was authorized as a field test project and nbc converted a radio studio in the rca building now the comcast building in new york city s rockefeller center for television use . in mid 1936 small scale irregularly scheduled programming began to air to an audience of some 75 receivers in the homes of high level rca staff and a dozen or so sets in a closed circuit viewing room in 52nd floor offices of the rca building . the viewing room often hosted visiting organizations or corporate guests who saw a live program produced in the studios many floors below . viewership of early nbc broadcasts was tightly restricted to those authorized by the company whose installed set base eventually reached about 200 . technical standards for television broadcasting were in flux as well . between the time experimental transmissions began in 1935 and the beginning of commercial television service in 1941 picture definition increased from 343 to 441 lines and finally in 1941 to the 525 line standard used for analog television from the start of full commercial service until the end of analog broadcasts in mid 2009 . the sound signal also was changed from am to fm and the spacing of sound and vision carriers was also changed several times . shortly after nbc began a semi regular television transmission schedule in 1938 dumont laboratories announced tv sets for sale to the public a move that rca was saving for the opening of the world s fair on april 30 1939 the day that regularly scheduled television programming was to begin in new york on nbc with much fanfare . in response nbc ceased all tv broadcasting for several weeks until rca sets went on sale and regular nbc telecasts commenced the day the fair opened . firsts for w2xbs edit as w2xbs broadcasting on channel 1 44 50 mhz the station scored numerous firsts including the first televised broadway drama june 1938 live news event covered by mobile unit a fire in an abandoned building in november 1938 live telecast of a presidential speech franklin d. roosevelt opening the 1939 new york world s fair 3 the first live telecasts of college and major league baseball both in 1939 the first telecast of a national football league game also in 1939 the first telecast of a national hockey league game early 1940 and the first network telecast of a political convention the 1940 republican national convention held june 24 28 in the philadelphia civic center and the broadcast of the feature film the crooked circle on june 18 1940 . 4 but in august 1940 w2xbs transmissions were temporarily put on hold as channel 1 was reassigned by the fcc to 50 56 mhz and technical adjustments needed to be made for the conversion . the station returned to the air in october just in time to broadcast franklin d. roosevelt s second and final appearance on live television when his speech at madison square garden on october 28 1940 was telecast over w2xbs . 5 first commercial television station edit on june 24 1941 w2xbs received a commercial license under the calls wnbt for nbc television thus becoming one of the first two fully licensed commercial television stations in the united states along with cbs w2xab on channel 2 which became wcbw today s wcbs tv . the nbc and cbs stations were licensed and instructed to sign on simultaneously on july 1 so that neither of the major broadcast companies could claim exclusively to be first . however wcbw did not manage to sign on the air until 2 30 p.m. one full hour after wnbt . as a result wnbc inadvertently holds the distinction as the oldest continuously operating commercial television station in the united states and also the only one ready to accept sponsors from its beginning . 6 the first program broadcast at 13 00 est by the sign on opening ceremony with the national anthem of the united states of america the star spangled banner followed by an announcement of that day s programs and the commencement of nbc television programming . wnbt originally broadcast on channel 1 . 7 on its first day on the air wnbt broadcast the world s first official television advertisement before a baseball game between the brooklyn dodgers and philadelphia phillies . the announcement for bulova watches for which the company paid anywhere from 4.00 to 9.00 reports vary displayed a wnbt test pattern modified to look like a clock with the hands showing the time . the bulova logo with the phrase bulova watch time was shown in the lower right hand quadrant of the test pattern while the second hand swept around the dial for one minute . 8 9 although full commercial telecasting began on july 1 1941 with the first paid advertisements on wnbt there had been experimental non paid advertising on television as far back as 1930 . nbc s earliest non paid television commercials may have been those seen during the first major league baseball game ever telecast a game between the dodgers and the cincinnati reds on august 26 1939 over w2xbs . in order to secure the rights to show the game on television nbc allowed each of the dodgers regular radio sponsors at the time to have one commercial during the telecast and these were done by dodger announcer red barber . for ivory soap he held up a bar of the product for mobil gas he put on a filling station attendant s cap while giving his spiel and for wheaties he poured a bowl of the product added milk and bananas and took a big spoonful . 10 the pioneering special interest documentary show the voice of firestone televues a television offshoot of the voice of firestone a mainstay on nbc radio since 1928 became the first regularly scheduled tv program not featuring news or sports when it began on wnbt on november 29 1943 though a one time only trial episode of truth or consequences aired on wnbt s first week of programming two years earlier ; it eventually returned to tv in the 1950s . during world war ii rca diverted key technical tv staff to the u.s. navy who were interested in developing a television guided bomb . wnbt s studio and program staff were placed at the disposal of the new york city police department and used for civil defense training telecasts with only a limited number of weekly programs for