The NBC Red Network was one of the two original radio networks of the National Broadcasting Company. After NBC was required to divest itself of its Blue Network (which would become the American Broadcasting Company), the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network .
It, along with the Blue Network, were the first two commercial radio networks in the United States (the CBS Radio Network having been established two years later). The NBC Radio Network itself no longer exists under its original configuration, having been gradually dissolved into eventual corporate parent Westwood One.
History
Initial creation
In 1923, the Radio Corporation of America RCA acquired control of WJZ in Newark, New Jersey, from Westinghouse, and moved the station to New York The same year, RCA obtained a license for station WRC in Washington, D.C., and attempted to transmit audio between WJZ and WRC via low-quality telegraph lines, in an attempt to make a network comparable to that operated by AT&T.
AT&T had created its own network in 1922, with WEAF in New York serving the research and development function for Western Electric's research and development of radio transmitters and antennas, as well as AT&T's long-distance and local Bell technologies for transmitting voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, via both wireless and wired methods. WEAF's regular schedule of a variety of programs, and its selling of commercial sponsorships, had been a success, and what was known at first as "chain broadcasting" became a network that linked WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island and AT&T's WCAP in Washington, D.C.
Since AT&T refused access of its high-quality phone lines to competitors, RCA's New York-Washington operated with uninsulated telegraph lines which were incapable of good audio transmission quality and very susceptible to both atmospheric and man-made electrical interference. In 1926, however, the management of AT&T concluded that operating a radio network was incompatible with its operation of America's telephone and telegraph service, and sold WEAF and WCAP to RCA for approximately one million dollars. As part of the purchase, RCA also gained the rights to rent AT&T's phone lines for network transmission, and the technology for operating a quality radio network.
On September 13, 1926, RCA Chairman of the Board Owen D. Young and RCA President James G. Harbord announced the formation of the National Broadcasting Company, Inc. , to begin broadcasting upon RCA's acquisition of WEAF on November 15. "The purpose of the National Broadcasting Company will be to provide the best programs 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 the United States," announced M.H. Aylesworth, the first president of NBC, in the press release .
Red Network and Blue Network
Although RCA was identified as the creator of the network, NBC was actually owned 50% by RCA, 30% by General Electric, and 20% by Westinghouse. The network officially was launched at 8:00 Eastern time on the evening of Monday, November 15 , 1926 . "The most pretentious broadcasting program ever presented, featuring among others, world famed stars never before heard on the air, will mark the Introduction of the National Broadcasting Company to the public Monday night," the press noted, with "a four hour radio performance by noted stars of opera, stage and concert hall". Carl Schlagel of the Metropolitan Opera opened the inaugural broadcast, which also featured Will Rogers and Mary Garden . The broadcast was made simultaneously on WEAF and WJZ. Some of NBC's programming was broadcast that evening on WEEI (Boston) WLIT (Philadelphia), WRC (Washington), WDAF (Kansas City), and WWJ (Detroit) .
On January 1 , 1927 NBC formally divided the its programming along two networks. The NBC Red Network, with WEAF as its flagship station, provided entertainment and music programming, while the Blue Network and WJZ carried fewer advertisements, with an emphasis on news, cultural and educational programs. Legend has it that the color designations originated from the color of the push-pins early engineers used to designate affiliates of WEAF (red pins) and WJZ (blue pins), or from the use of double-ended red and blue colored pencils. A similar two-part/two-color strategy appeared in the recording industry, dividing the market between classical and popular offerings.
On April 5 , 1927 NBC reached the West Coast with the launching of the NBC Orange Network , which rebroadcast Red Network programming to the Pacific states and had as its flagship station KPO of San Francisco. NBC Red then extended its' reach into the midwest by acquiring two 50,000 watt clear-channel signals, Cleveland station WTAM on October 16 , 1930 and Chicago station WMAQ (coincidenally, a CBS Radio Network charter affiliate) by 1931. On October 18 , 1931 , Blue Network programming was introduced along the NBC Gold Network , which broadcast from San Francisco's KGO station. In 1936 the Orange Network name was dropped and affiliate stations became part of the Red Network. The Gold Network adopted the Blue Network name.
In a major move in 1931, RCA signed crucial leases with the new Rockefeller Center management that resulted in it becoming the lead tenant of what was to become in 1933 its corporate headquarters, the RCA Building, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Under the terms of the lease arrangement, this included studios for NBC and theaters for the RCA-owned RKO Pictures. The deal was arranged through the Center's founder and financier, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., with the chairman of GE, Owen D. Young, and the president of RCA, David Sarnoff.
In 1939 the FCC ordered RCA to divest itself of one of the two networks. RCA fought the divestiture order, but divided NBC into two companies in 1940 in case an appeal was lost. The Blue network became the "NBC Blue Network, Inc." (now known as ABC) 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. NBC Red, on the air, became known as simply NBC on September 1, 1942.
Red Network affiliates
By 1939, NBC's Red and Blue Networks, and the Columbia and Mutual Broadcasting systems, offered nationwide coverage. The Red Network stations (including "optional" stations that offered Red Network entertainment with Blue Network news programs) were as follows:
Notable programs
(all times EST)
After Radio's "Golden Age"
Development of television
NBC and RCA were one of the key forces in the development of television in the 1930s and 1940s, dating back to experimental station WX2BS in 1928. Before the start of World War II in 1941, WX2BS was officially licensed as WNBT-TV. By the late 1940s, NBC would complement most of their owned-and-operated stations with a television counterpart and an FM signal. In New York, WNBC was integrated with WNBT-TV and WNBC-FM. In Chicago, WMAQ was paired with WNBQ-TV and WMAQ-FM; and in Cleveland, WTAM was joined with WNBK-TV and WTAM-FM. Washington, DC saw WRC teamed with WNBW-TV and WRC-FM, and KNBC in San Francisco was matched with KNBC-FM. NBC had also sought a TV sister for KNBC, but was lost a bidding war with the deYoung family, owners of the San Francisco Chronicle (KRON would last as an NBC affiliate until 2001), but gained a television station in Los Angeles with KNBH-TV.
Many NBC radio stars gravitated to television as it became more popular in the 1950s. Toscanini made his ten television appearances on NBC between 1948 and 1952. In 1950, the network sanctioned The Big Show , a 90-minute radio variety show that harked back to radio's
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