NBC Red Network

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The NBC Red Network was one of the radio networks for 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. 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 [1] 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. [2], 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 [3].

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[edit] 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 [4]. 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) [5].

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. 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.[6]

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. [7]

[edit] Red Network affiliates

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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:

East: WEAF (New York); CBM (Montreal); KYW (Philadelphia); WBEN (Buffalo); WCAE (Pittsburgh), WCSH (Portland, ME), WDEL (Wilmington, DE), WFBR (Baltimore), WGY (Schenectady), WJAR (Providence), WNAC (Boston), WRC (Washington), WTAG (Worcester, MA), WTAM (Cleveland), WTIC (Hartford), WWJ (Detroit) (Optional): CBF (Montreal); CBL (Toronto); CMX; WBRE (Wilkes-Barre); WCOL (Columbus, OH); WEEU (Reading, PA); WFEA (Manchester, NH); WGAL (Lancaster, PA); WLBZ (Bangor); WLW (Cincinnati); WNBC; WORK; WRAW; WRDO (Augusta, ME); WSAN (Allentown); WSPD (Toledo)

Midwest: KSD (St. Louis),KGIR (Cape Girardeau MO}; KSTP (St. Paul), WDAF (Kansas City), WHO (Des Moines), WIRE (Indianapolis), WMAQ (Chicago), WOW (Omaha); Optional: KANS (Wichita, KS); KFYR (Bismarck); KGBX (Springfield, MO); KOAM (Pittsburg, KS); KSOO (Sioux Falls); WBOW (Terre Haute); WCFL (Chicago); WCKY; WDAY (Fargo); WEBC (Duluth); WGBF (Evansville); WGAL (Fort Wayne); WLBA; WOOD (Grand Rapids); WTMJ (Milwaukee);

South: KPRC (Houston); WBRC (Birmingham); WJDX (Jackson, MS); WMBG (Williamsburg, VA); WSB (Atlanta); WSMB (Memphis); Optional: KARK (Little Rock); KFDM (Beaumont, TX); KGKO (Dallas); KGNO (Dodge City, KS); KGRV; KRIS (Corpus Christi, TX); KTHS; KTOK (Oklahoma City); KTSM (El Paso); KVOO (Tulsa); WAPO; WALA; WAVE (Louisville); WBAP (Fort Worth, TX); WCSC; WFAA; WFBC; WFLA (Tampa); WIOD (Miami); WIS (Columbia, SC); WJAX; WKY (Oklahoma City); WLAK; WOAI (San Antonio); WPTF (Plattsburgh, NY); WROL; WSM (Nashville); WSOC (Charlotte, NC); WSUN; WTAR (Norfolk, VA); WWNC

Mountain: KOA (Denver); KDYL (Salt Lake City); Optional: KGHF (Pueblo, CO); KGIL; KIDO (Boise, ID); KOB (Albuquerque); KPFA; KSEI (Pocatello, ID); KTAR (Phoenix); KTFI (Twin Falls, ID); KVOA (Tucson)

Pacific: KFI (Los Angeles); KCW; KOMO (Seattle); KHQ (Spokane); KPO (San Francisco); Optional: KFBK; KWG (Stockton, CA); KMJ (Fresno); KORN; KGU (Honolulu); KMED (Medford, OR)

[8]

[edit] Notable programs

(all times EST)

[edit] After television

As television became more popular in the 1950s, many NBC radio stars gravitated there. 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 earliest musical variety style but with sophisticated comedy and dramatic presentations and featuring stage legend Tallulah Bankhead as its host. It aimed to keep classic radio alive as television matured and to challenge CBS's Sunday night lineup —much of which had jumped there from NBC in the late 1940s, including (and especially) Jack Benny. But The Big Show's initial success didn't last despite critics' praises; the show endured only two years, with NBC said to lose a million dollars on the project.

NBC Radio's last major programming push, in 1955, was Monitor, a continuous, all-weekend mixture of music, news, interviews and features with a variety of hosts including such well-known television personalities as Dave Garroway, Hugh Downs, Ed McMahon, Joe Garagiola and Gene Rayburn. The potpourri also tried to keep vintage radio alive in featuring segments from Jim and Marian Jordan (in character as Fibber McGee and Molly), Ethel & Albert, and iconoclastic satirist Henry Morgan, among others. Monitor was a success for a number of years, but after the mid-1960s, local stations, especially in larger markets, became increasingly reluctant to break from their established formats to run non-conforming network programming. After Monitor went off the air in early 1975, there was little left of NBC Radio beyond hourly newscasts and news-related features.

Later in 1975, NBC launched the NBC News and Information Service, which provided up to 55 minutes of news per hour around the clock to local stations that wanted to adopt an all-news format. The service attracted several dozen subscribers, but not enough to allow NBC to project that it would ever become profitable, and it was discontinued after two years. Near the end of the 1970s, NBC started "The Source," a modestly successful secondary network that provided news and short features to FM rock stations. In 1981, NBC created NBC Talknet, an advice-oriented talk radio network designated for the late night hours. It was one of NBC's most successful ventures in years and lasted well into the 1990s, led by advice host Sally Jessy Raphael (until her 1987 departure) and personal finance talker Bruce Williams.

After their 1986 acquisition of NBC, GE decided that the radio business did not fit their strategic objectives. In summer 1987, NBC Radio's network operations were sold to Westwood One, and the NBC-owned stations were sold to various buyers. In 1989, the "NBC Radio Network" as an independent programming service ceased to exist, becoming a brand-name for content produced by Westwood One - and ultimately by CBS Radio. (The same case occurred with the Mutual Broadcasting System, which Westwood One acquired two years earlier and essentially merged with NBC Radio.)

By the late 1990s "NBC"-branded newscasts were being produced only on weekday mornings; around 2003 even these were discontinued, and the remaining NBC Radio Network affiliates began to receive CNN Radio-branded newscasts at all hours. At about the same time Westwood One began to distribute a new service called NBC News Radio, consisting of brief news updates read by NBC News and MSNBC anchors and reporters. One NBC-branded program remains on the air: an early morning news magazine and talk show by the name of First Light, hosted by Dirk Van, which still identifies as the "NBC Radio Network."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Why Did WABC Have Such a Great Signal?. WABC Musicradio 77: musicradio77.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-04.
  2. ^ "Form National Company For Broadcasting," The Syracuse Herald, September 13, 1926, p6
  3. ^ Id.
  4. ^ "Radio-- Notes and Programs for the Day," The North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Mass.), November 15, 1926, p.7
  5. ^ Id.
  6. ^ RCA Lead Tenant of Rockefeller Center - see John Ensor Harr and Peter J. Johnson, The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988. (p.326)
  7. ^ "New Company Takes Over NBC Blue Net," The Fresno Bee Republican, January 10, 1942, p 5
  8. ^ "Stations That Make Up the Networks," The Daily Mail Hagerstown, Maryland, January 14, 1939, p 9