WNBC

WNBC
New York, New York
United States
Branding NBC 4 New York or NBC 4 NY (general)
NBC 4 or 4 New York (secondary)
News 4 New York (newscasts)
News 4 (newscasts, secondary)
Slogan Together, We're 4 New York (general)
We Are New York (secondary)
The Now (Is Here) (news)
Channels Digital: 28 (UHF) (to share 36 (UHF) with WNJU)
Virtual: 4 (PSIP)
Subchannels
Affiliations
Owner NBCUniversal
(NBC Telemundo Licensing LLC)
Founded July 1, 1928
(as experimental station W2XBS)
First air date July 1, 1941 (1941-07-01)
Call letters' meaning W National Broadcasting Company
Sister station(s) WKAQ-TV
WNJU
SportsNet New York
Former callsigns
  • WNBT (1941–1954)
  • WRCA-TV (1954–1960)
  • WNBC-TV (1960–1992)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 1 (VHF, 1938–1946)
  • 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; -73.985667Coordinates: 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 flagship station of the NBC Television Network, located in New York City. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations group, and operates as part of a television duopoly with the 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, commercial 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 and Dish Network. DirecTV also allows subscribers in the Los Angeles market to receive WNBC for an additional monthly fee.[2]

History

Experimental operations

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, which evolved into today's WRGB. 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-mâché (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.[3]

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

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),[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

First commercial television station

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 (now 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.[7] The first program broadcast at 1:00 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.[8] 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.[9][10]

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.[11]

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 general audiences airing during much of the war. Programming began to grow on a small scale during 1944. On April 10, 1944, WNBT began feeding The Voice of Firestone Televues each week to a small network of stations including General Electric's Schenectady station (now called WRGB) and Philco-owned WPTZ (now KYW-TV) in Philadelphia,[12] both of which are now affiliated with CBS. This series is considered to be the NBC Television Network's first regularly scheduled program.

On May 8, 1945, WNBT broadcast hours of news coverage on the end of World War II in Europe, and remotes from around New York City. This event was pre-promoted by NBC with a direct-mail card sent to television set owners in the New York City area.[13] At one point, a WNBT camera placed atop the marquee of the Astor Hotel in New York City panned the crowd below celebrating the end of the war in Europe.[14] The vivid coverage was a prelude to television's rapid growth after the war ended. In the spring of 1946, the station changed its frequency from VHF channel 1 to channel 4 after channel 1 was removed from use for television broadcasting. From 1946 to 2009, it occupied the 66–72 MHz band of frequencies which had been designated as "channel 3" in the pre-1946 FCC allocation table but was renumbered Channel 4 in the post-war system (DuMont-owned WABD, now WNYW—had been designated as "Channel 4", before that station moved to the current channel 5 but was only required to retune its video and audio carriers downward by 2 MHz under the new system). In October 1948, WNBT's operations were integrated with those of sister station WNBC radio (660 AM).

The station changed its call letters on October 18, 1954, to WRCA-TV (for NBC's then-parent company, Radio Corporation of America or RCA)[15] and on May 22, 1960, channel 4 became WNBC-TV.[16] NBC had previously used the callsign on its television station in New Britain, Connecticut, from 1957 until it was sold earlier in 1960 (that station is now WVIT, and is once again an NBC-owned station). WNBC-TV also earned a place in broadcasting history as the birthplace of The Tonight Show. It began on the station in 1953 as a local late night program, The Steve Allen Show and NBC executive Sylvester "Pat" Weaver brought it to the network in 1954. Studio 6B, the show's home under Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and today Jimmy Fallon, was the news studio for WNBC while Tonight was produced in Los Angeles.

On June 1, 1992, channel 4 dropped the -TV suffix from its call letters (following the sale in 1988 of its sister radio station WNBC, which is now WFAN) and became simply WNBC, with the new branding slogan "4 New York". The accompanying station image campaign was titled We're 4 New York and featured a musical theme composed by Edd Kalehoff. WNBC was rebranded again as "NBC 4" on September 5, 1995, with its newscasts being renamed NewsChannel 4. In March 2008, the "4 New York" branding was revived.

During the September 11, 2001, attacks, the transmitter facilities of WNBC, as well as eight other New York City area television stations and several radio stations, were destroyed when two hijacked airplanes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Center. WNBC broadcast engineer Bill Steckman died in the tragedy, along with six other engineers from other television stations. In the immediate aftermath, the station temporarily fed its signal to three UHF stations that were still broadcasting (PBS member station WLIW and independent stations WMBC and W26CE).[17] After resuming over-the-air transmissions, the station broadcast from the former transmitter site of Channel 68 in West Orange, New Jersey. Since 2005, WNBC has broadcast its signal from the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan, returning to the original transmitter site used from the 1930s to the 1970s.

In 2004, WNBC served as the model station for NBC Weather Plus, a 24-hour digital weather channel that aired on its second digital subchannel (4.2) and on several local cable systems; other NBC-owned stations launched their own Weather Plus channels in 2005, although Weather Plus was phased out at the end of 2008.

In February 2015, WNBC and the other NBC-owned stations offered live, web-based streaming of programming to subscribers of participating cable and satellite television providers, as provided through the TV Everywhere Mobile Apps.[18]

Carriage disputes

Dish Network

On March 15, 2016, NBCUniversal pulled the signals of WNBC and WNJU along with co-owned cable channels USA Network, Bravo, Syfy, MSNBC and CNBC from Dish Network systems in the New York metropolitan area as a result of a dispute between NBC and Dish; despite that, Dish claimed NBCUniversal had demanded that it renew its carriage of ten NBC-owned stations and sixteen Telemundo-owned stations, including those removed due to the dispute.[19] Three days later, Dish announced it would continue to carry WNBC, WNJU and five other cable channels for another ten days while the FCC sought arbitration.[20]

Digital television

Former New York Nonstop logo from 2011 to 2012.

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
4.1 1080i 16:9 WNBC Main WNBC programming / NBC
4.2 480i COZI-TV Cozi TV

On December 20, 2012, WNBC and other NBC-owned stations began carrying Cozi TV. It replaced NBC (New York) Nonstop, which had been carried on digital subchannel 4.2 since 2009.

WNBC also has a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 4.2, labelled "WNBC Mobile", broadcasting at 1.83 Mbit/s.[21][22]

Analog-to-digital conversion

WNBC discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, at 12:30 p.m. on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[23] The station's digital signal remained on its transition period UHF channel 28,[24] using PSIP to display WNBC's virtual channel as 4 on digital television receivers.

As part of the SAFER Act,[25] WNBC kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition.

Spectrum reallocation

On April 13, 2017, it was revealed that WNBC's over-the-air spectrum had been sold in the FCC's spectrum reallocation auction, fetching $214 million—the highest payout from the process. As a result, WNBC's signal will be co-located with that of sister station WNJU. NBC had won similar spectrum bids using Telemundo stations in Chicago and Philadelphia (which will be in similar arrangements with NBC O&Os WMAQ-TV and WCAU), but stated that in this case, the Telemundo station had a superior signal.[26]

Programming

WNBC has long presented events such as the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, The National Puerto Rican Day Parade (until 2006, when coverage moved to WNYW and currently WABC-TV), the Columbus Day Parade (Until 2010, when coverage moved to WABC-TV), and the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting. They have sponsored an annual two-day Health & Fitness Expo Fair at MetLife Stadium every summer. The station has sponsored a Food Drive together with local retailer Stop & Shop named "Feeding Our Families" which is held on the second Saturday in April since 2017. between 1995 and 2011, They were the exclusive local English-language carrier of the annual New York City Marathon until 2013 when WABC-TV took over. From 2010 to 2014, the station was an Official local broadcast partner of Discovery Times Square. From 2012 to 2014, the station along with the New York Daily News has had partnerships with Mount Sinai Health System (Live Well New York) and Popular Community Bank (Popular Tips). The station along with Maury Povich (who is also the host of his infamous syndicated talk show originated from New York City until 2009 and is currently distributed by NBCUniversal through its syndication division which is aired on the station from 1991 to 2000) and Fox owned-and-operated WNYW co-funded the 1998 PBS documentary NY TV: By the People Who Made It produced by WNET. During the Holiday Season, the station has an annual Holiday Sing-Along. The station also produces Visiones, a weekly segment about Hispanic culture, that also airs in Spanish on sister Telemundo station WNJU, and Positively Black, a weekly segment about Black American culture.

WNBC serves as the flagship station for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Some other syndicated programming includes Steve Harvey, Extra, and Access Hollywood (plus its live counterpart), among others. Because of its ownership by the network, WNBC generally carries the entire NBC network schedule, although the station does not clear the entirety of NBC's weekday overnight lineup – it does not clear the rebroadcast of the fourth hour of Today and the network's broadcast of CNBC's Mad Money, opting to air syndicated programming instead, and Weekend Today is broadcast an hour later (at 9 a.m.) on Sunday than most NBC stations in the Eastern United States, due to an hour-long Sunday morning newscast. Occasionally on Christmas Day each year until 2013, the station airs Music and the Spoken Word, which is also aired on other NBC-owned stations. As of September 2016, WNBC is one of five NBC-owned stations that distributes programming either nationally and/or regionally (along with KNTV, KNBC, WCAU, WVIT and WTVJ).

Through NBC's coverage of the National Football League, WNBC has televised the Super Bowl with New York teams which have occurred in the television era; with the Jets' upset victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, and the Giants' win in Super Bowl XLVI. WNBC also serves as the official flagship carrier of Giants pre-season football games.

News operation

WNBC currently broadcasts 40 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6½ hours on weekdays, 3 hours on Saturdays and 4½ hours on Sundays); in addition, the station produces the half-hour sports highlight program Sports Final, which airs every Sunday at midnight after the hour-long 11:00 p.m. newscast.

From the late 1960s through the 1980s, WNBC was involved in a fierce three-way battle with WCBS-TV and WABC-TV for the top spot in the New York television ratings. This continued during a lean period for NBC as a whole. WNBC's hallmark over the years has been strong coverage of breaking stories and straight news products that also feature light-hearted and/or entertainment elements (such as Live at Five and Today in New York). Many of WNBC's personalities have been at the station for over 20 years. Chuck Scarborough has been the station's main anchor since 1974. From 1980 to 2012, he was teamed with Sue Simmons at 11 p.m., and the two were the longest-serving anchor team in New York City television history. Senior correspondent Gabe Pressman was at the station from 1956 until his death in 2017, except for a seven-year stint (from 1972 to 1979) at WNEW-TV (now WNYW).

WNBC-TV was the first major-market station in the country to have success with a 5 p.m. newscast, adding that program to its Sixth Hour show at 6 p.m. in 1974 and renaming all of its local newscasts NewsCenter 4 (three other NBC owned-and-operated stations in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, also adopted the NewsCenter name). The moniker remained until September 1, 1980, when the newscasts were renamed News 4 New York. Shortly before then the 5 p.m. program was renamed Live at Five, and the hour was reformatted from a straight news program into a mix of news and celebrity interviews. Live at Five eventually became the most-successful local program in New York City, a feat that resulted in landing the show's hosts on the cover of New York magazine.

For most of the time from 1980 to 1990, WNBC-TV used various themes written by Scott Schreer.[27] His theme for News 4 New York was based on a synthesized version of the NBC chimes, with a graphics package featuring a lightning bolt striking its logo from 1980 to 1990, a fancy die-cut "4". In 1992, the station began calling itself 4 New York and the campaign song, written by Edd Kalehoff, was quickly adopted as the theme for the newscast. The theme was briefly brought back after the September 11 attacks in 2001. In 1995, after the station rebranded itself as "NBC 4" and its newscasts as Newschannel 4, Kalehoff wrote a new theme called "NBC Stations" featuring the NBC chimes, the chime sequence being the musical notes G-E-C. It remained in use for eight years, along with a graphics package using a simple red line for the lower thirds.

The 2003 graphics package was created by Emmy Award-winner Randy Pyburn of Pyburn Films. Pyburn has produced several promotions for the station and the now-defunct Jane's New York specials hosted by former WNBC reporter Jane Hanson. The graphics package was also used on other NBC stations. The music was written by Rampage Music and featured a brassy version of the NBC chimes, and lower thirds featured a shimmering peacock (fellow NBC O&O KNTV adopted the theme in 2007 and currently uses the same variant of LA Groove used by WNBC). In March 2008, concurrent with the restoration of the 4 New York branding, the newscasts began to be called News 4 New York once more.[28]

Many WNBC personalities have appeared, and have also moved up to the NBC network, including: Marv Albert, Len Berman, Contessa Brewer, Chris Cimino, Fran Charles, Darlene Rodriguez, Maurice DuBois, Joelle Garguilo, Michael Gargiulo, Tony Guida, Jim Hartz, Janice Huff, Matt Lauer, Tom Llamas, Al Roker, Shiba Russell, Scarborough and Tom Snyder. In the past, Albert, Berman, Brewer, Charles, DuBois, Guida, Hartz, Roker, Lauer, Llamas, Russell, Scarborough and Snyder have worked at WNBC 4 and at NBC at the same time. Rodriguez, Cimino, Huff, Garguilo and Gargiulo currently do them both. One popular monthly feature is Berman's "Spanning the World", a reel of odd and interesting sports highlights from the past month, including a recorded introduction and closing by legendary NBC staff announcer Don Pardo. This segment airs on Today on a monthly basis.

When Simmons joined the station in early 1980, she was paired with Scarborough on both the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. However, for most of the time until 2005, WNBC's weeknight anchor rotation had Simmons and another male anchor (including Jack Cafferty, Guida, Lauer, and briefly Scarborough) at 5 p.m.; Scarborough and various anchors (John Hambrick, Pat Harper, and Michele Marsh among them) at 6 p.m.; and Scarborough and Simmons together at 11 p.m. That changed in 2005 as Live at Five anchor Jim Rosenfield jumped back to WCBS-TV, where he had once been the noon and 5 p.m. anchor and took on the role as lead anchor for their 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Former reporter Perri Peltz returned to WNBC to co-anchor Live at Five with Simmons, making New York City one of the few large markets with two female anchors on an evening newscast. The move harkened back to three decades earlier, when the station paired Pia Lindström with Melba Tolliver on its 5 p.m. news hour, creating one of the first all-female anchor teams on a major-market American television station.[29] It was short-lived as Simmons and Peltz were both displaced from Live at Five because of changes in the station's early evening news lineup that went into effect on March 12, 2007: David Ushery and Lynda Baquero became co-anchors of a truncated, 30-minute-long Live at Five broadcast, followed by Peltz with a 30-minute, soft-news program, News 4 You. Simmons was moved to co-anchor at 6 p.m. with Scarborough. On September 13, 2006, WNBC became the first New York City television station to broadcast its newscasts in high definition. On May 5, 2007, WNBC brought back its popular campaign song "We're 4 New York", composed by Kalehoff, after nearly six years off air (after the September 11, 2001, attacks).[30]

In early autumn 2007, additional changes were brought to WNBC's early-evening lineup. On September 10, the station moved the newsmagazine series Extra to 5 p.m., and cancelled Live at Five. News 4 You remained at 5:30 p.m., but was replaced on October 15, 2007 with a traditional newscast, anchored by Simmons and Michael Gargiulo. The 6 p.m. newscast became anchored by Ushery and Baquero, and New York Nightly News, a new half-hour newscast with Scarborough as sole anchor, debuted at 7 p.m.

These changes did not result to an increase in WNBC's ratings in the November 2007 sweeps period, partially because of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike. The most shocking of WNBC's ratings decreases was its 11 p.m. newscast, which fell to third place, behind WCBS and WABC.[31] WNBC altered its 5:00-6:00 p.m. hour on January 2, 2008, swapping the half-hour news at 5:30 with Extra. On March 9, 2009, with the launch of New York Nonstop on digital subchannel 4.2, New York Nightly News was moved to the subchannel and expanded to one hour, while Extra was moved back to 7 p.m. and a full hour of news returned to the 5 p.m. hour. Still, WNBC's ratings struggled: during the March 2009 sweeps period, its newscasts were a distant third in all time slots, except during the weekday mornings, where it remained in second.

On May 7, 2008, NBC Universal announced plans for a major restructuring of WNBC's news department. The centerpiece of the restructuring was the creation of a 24-hour all-news channel on WNBC's second digital subchannel (4.2). Channel 4's news operations were revamped and melded into the all-news channel, which serve as a "content center" for the station's various local distribution platforms. The digital news channel was launched on March 9, 2009. In the fall of 2008, WNBC started beta-testing a new website which was apparently poised to be one of the major platforms for the content center. On November 17, 2008, WNBC moved its news studio from Studio 6B to 7E and rolled out a new set design, graphics package and theme song written by veteran TV composer Frank Gari. This move came after months of planning of the new content newsroom with its 24-hour news digital subchannel. It was also their debut of the updated "4 New York" logo, using letters in Media Gothic Bold font.[32]

On June 16, 2009, WNBC announced that its 5 p.m. newscast would be replaced in September by a one-hour daily lifestyle and entertainment show by LXTV entitled LX New York. After this change, WNBC, with only three hours per day of local news, had the shortest airtime devoted to local news of any "big three" network-owned station. In the fall of 2009, WNBC began sharing its news helicopter with Fox owned-and-operated WNYW (channel 5) as part of a Local News Service agreement. The SkyFox HD helicopter operated by WNYW when used by WNBC was called "Chopper 4" on-air. This agreement ended in 2012, with WNBC returning to use its own helicopter upon the expiration of the contract.[33] In the summer of 2010, The Debrief with David Ushery began to air on Sunday at noon on WNBC after launching on New York Nonstop; it now airs Sunday mornings at 5:30 a.m.

Past logo for WNBC's New York Nonstop from 2009 to 2011.

LX New York was renamed to New York Live on May 26, 2011. The program was set to move to 3 p.m. on September 12, 2011; at that time, WNBC would resume airing a 5 p.m. newscast.[34] However, due to Hurricane Irene, the 5 p.m. newscast's start date was moved up to August 29, 2011, with New York Live moving to its new 3 p.m. slot then.[35] On November 18, 2011, WNBC launched a noon newscast that replaced The Rundown with Russell and Llamas as the anchors.[36]

In December 2011, WNBC struck a news partnership with nonprofit news-reporting organization ProPublica. The organization, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2010, has already had partnerships with several media outlets including USA Today, Reader's Digest, HuffPost and Businessweek. However, ProPublica's reports are incorporated across all NBC O&O stations, not just WNBC. This is part of larger efforts for NBCUniversal's television stations to partner with nonprofit news organizations following its acquisition by Comcast.[37]

WNBC relocated from Studio 7E to Studio 3C (the studio previously used by NBC Nightly News, which now originates from Studio 3B) on April 21, 2012. Channel 4 also updated its graphics and switched to the "L.A. Groove" theme that has been in use by sister station KNBC.[38] On June 15, 2012, Sue Simmons left WNBC as her contract with the station had not been renewed.[39] In January 2013, the station expanded its Sunday 11 p.m. newscasts to one hour, possibly to compete with WABC who expanded its late news in January 2012.[40]

On June 6, 2016, WNBC revamped its website. On June 11, 2016, beginning with the 11 p.m. newscast, its news graphics were also changed and it began using "Look N" graphics from NBC Artworks, becoming the first NBC-owned station to use the new graphics that were rolled out to other NBC-owned stations around this time. On June 13 of the same year, the station debuted its 4 p.m. newscast, thus becoming the second New York television station to expand its newscasts to that time period after WABC-TV (who would begin their 4 p.m. newscasts in May 2011).[41]

On October 10, 2016, WNBC relocated from studio 3C to studio 3K (the studio also used by Dateline NBC and sister cable network MSNBC), which bears similarities to the previous set in 3C, albeit a lot larger in size and with several changes (i.e. a new weather center area, a touchscreen display similar to Today's Orange Room, an LED wall, and a work space and presentation pod).[42] In fall 2016, WNBC entered a content-sharing agreement with WOR (AM) to include news and weather content supplied by the station; WNBC's weather content is also heard on other iHeartMedia radio stations throughout the New York metropolitan area. On December 21, 2016, WNBC announced that it would be launching a new S band radar system, called "Storm Tracker 4", which is planned to launch in winter 2017.[43] On December 27, 2016, the station announced that they would move the midday newscast to 11 a.m. (which would be the first and only 11 a.m. midday newscast in the New York media market), and its locally-produced lifestyle/entertainment program New York Live to 11:30 a.m. beginning January 16, 2017. As part of the changes of the daytime lineup at the station, they would move Days of Our Lives from the network's default Eastern Time Zone slot of 1:00 p.m. to the early time slot of 12 p.m., followed by Access Hollywood Live at 1 p.m. [44][45]

On June 30, 2017, it was announced that Chuck Scarborough will step down as the anchor of the 11:00 p.m. newscast on July 14, but will continue to anchor the 6 p.m. newscast. 4 p.m. anchor Stefan Holt, whose father Lester presides over NBC Nightly News down the hall from Studio 3K, assumed duties for the late newscast beginning July 17.[46]

On July 31, 2017, the station expanded the morning newscast Today in New York by a half hour, beginning at 4 a.m., for a total of three hours; this is the first 4 a.m. newscast in the New York media market.

Notable current on-air staff

Anchors
Storm Team 4
Sports team
Reporters

Notable alumni

Cultural references

Controversies and incidents

Chopper 4 helicopter crashes

1998 saw the introduction of a brand-new Chopper 4, a brand new Eurocopter EC135 that the station heavily promoted. But the new chopper ended up crashing into the Passaic River near Harrison and Newark on December 3, 1998; all occupants survived.[49]

Hence, the older model, a Eurocopter AS350, was returned to service, and remained until May 4, 2004, when it crashed while covering a shooting in Brooklyn. Reporter Andrew Torres, pilot Russ Cowry and pilot trainee Hassan Taan survived the crash and were taken to area hospitals. The crash occurred at about 6:30 p.m. as the crew was preparing for a live report from the scene of a shooting in East Flatbush. Before the cut-in, Chopper 4 appeared to begin a steep nosedive. WABC's own helicopter captured the initial nosedive and the chopper's subsequent tailspin until crashing into a rooftop.[50]

2008 weeknight infomercial issue

On March 25, 2008, WNBC carried a paid program leading into NBC's Tuesday night primetime and after the 7:00 p.m. newscast for mortgage lender Lend America, replacing that night's Access Hollywood. Several 'Big Four' stations throughout the United States had carried paid programs leading into primetime in a period during the Great Recession to some varied controversy (and often do to this day during Saturday evenings, a little-trafficked time period with no complaint), but the one airing in New York of the Lend America infomercial, which was hosted by ex-WNBC reporter Joe Avellar, attracted massive criticism from viewers and the local media criticism beat, especially involving Avellar's role as host and Lend America's part in the housing crisis. Earning the station $130,000 for the 28 minute program, it generated low ratings and led to a quick fallout, with general manager Frank Comerford resigning his position from the station based on his approval of the airtime sale.[51] Although Lend America expressed interest in buying more pre-primetime time on the station, WNBC has never again carried a paid program before primetime on weeknights.

Sue Simmons "F-bomb" incident

On May 12, 2008, a primetime promo for that night's 11:00 p.m. newscast was thought by anchor Sue Simmons to be on tape for later broadcast, but was actually going out live. After completing the first portion of the tease, Simmons noticed co-anchor Chuck Scarborough distracted with something on his on-desk laptop, and thinking the take would be trashed and another take would be shot for air, shouted "The fuck are you doing?" towards him in a manner seemingly meant as an inside joke among colleagues, while YouTube b-roll of a cruise ship departing Manhattan continued to roll before the promo's end.

Later during the actual newscast, Simmons profusely apologized for the live outburst, saying, "I have to acknowledge an unfortunate incident. I used a word that many people find offensive. It was a mistake I made and I'm truly sorry." No further comment was made by the station or Simmons about the incident.[52][53]

I-Team Super Bowl promo editing controversy

On February 5, 2012, the station premiered the I-Team promo during NBC Sports' coverage of Super Bowl XLVI featuring former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, but later on the day after the Super Bowl, they edited out Kelly's clip due to some complaints from rival WCBS-TV. However, the spokesman declined to comment, and criticisms arose from WABC-TV, WNYW and WPIX, the station's rivals. Station's General Manager Michael Jack said in the statement that "our investigative team is among the most experienced in the industry, and to suggest that the station won’t cover the NYPD fairly, accurately and with balance simply because the commissioner appeared in a station promotional spot is simply not true".[54] following the promo was edited out at the station, Lynda Baquero resigned from the investigative team but continued as a reporter for the station. She was replaced by Pei-Sze Cheng and Jonathan Vigliotti.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Digital TV Market Listing for WNBC". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  2. ↑ Pierce, Tony. (2007-06-14) LA DirecTV Customers Can Now Get NY's WNBC, Experience NBC's Amazing Shows 3 Hours Early. Laist.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
  3. ↑ Photo of Felix doll on W2XBS. Earlytelevision.org. Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
  4. ↑ "FDR on TV monitor".
  5. ↑ "1940 Republican Convention on television".
  6. ↑ The Magic Window by James Von Schilling Haworth Press 2002 pages 28 and 29
  7. ↑ "Television Programs in 1941". TV Obscurities. November 19, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  8. ↑ NBC History – About Us News Story – WNBC | New York. Wnbc.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
  9. ↑ "Imagery For Profit" R.W. Stewart, New York Times, July 6, 1941.
  10. ↑ WNBT/Bulova test pattern
  11. ↑ "70 years ago today, the Dodgers made TV history - Farther Off the Wall". Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  12. ↑ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows by Tim Brooks, Earle F. Marsh. Ballantine Books, New York
  13. ↑ V-E Day. TVhistory.tv. Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
  14. ↑ http://eyesofageneration.com/may-8-1945-victory-in-europe-day-times-square-except-for-germany-and-japan/
  15. ↑ "RCA replaces NBC in O&O calls." Broadcasting – Telecasting, October 4, 1954, pg. 78.
  16. ↑ "WRCA to be WNBC?" Broadcasting, April 4, 1960, pg. 88
  17. ↑ Dempsey, John (September 20, 2001). "TV beams back into N.Y.". Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  18. ↑ "NBC Adds Live TV Everywhere". TV NewsCheck. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  19. ↑ Satellite giant Dish sues NBC, alleging breach of contract Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2016
  20. ↑ Dish Network Tells FCC It Will Seek Arbitration To Resolve NBCU Dispute Deadline, March 18, 2016
  21. ↑ "RabbitEars.Info". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  22. ↑ "Mobile DTV Station Guide | www.omvcsignalmap.com". Mdtvsignalmap.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  23. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  24. ↑ CDBS Print. Fjallfoss.fcc.gov. Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
  25. ↑ "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  26. ↑ "NBC Makes Over $480 Million From Auction". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  27. ↑ Vlan, Victor (September 18, 2012). "That iconic WNBC news theme? Turns out it is composed by NJJ Music". Network News Music. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  28. ↑ von Meistersinger, Toby (April 1, 2008). "WNBC Does the Time Warp Again". Gothamist. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
  29. ↑ Marlane, Judith (1999). Women in Television News Revisited: Into the Twenty-first Century. University of Texas Press. p. 219. ISBN 0-292-75228-8.
  30. ↑ von Meistersinger, Toby (May 8, 2007). "The Return of We're 4 New York". Gothamist. Retrieved May 8, 2007.
  31. ↑ Huff, Richard (October 9, 2007). ""News 4 You" no longer on WNBC". Daily News. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  32. ↑ Alex Weprin. TCA: Jimmy Fallon's Late Night to Launch Online. Broadcastingcable.com (2008-07-20). Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
  33. ↑ Huff, Richard (December 8, 2011). "WNBC/Ch. 4 slowly rebuilding news presence after era of downsizing". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  34. ↑ Huff, Richard (June 17, 2011). "Local news Ch. 4 to reclaim 5 p.m. slot, making moves to 'position NBC 4 as the market leader'". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  35. ↑ Shiba Russell. twitter.com
  36. ↑ Barmash, Jerry. (2011-11-18) WNBC/Channel 4 Brings Noon Newscast Back to Viewers. Mediabistro.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
  37. ↑ "NBCUniversal's Non-profit News Partnerships: January 2012 Report" (PDF). Comcast/ NBCUniversal. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  38. ↑ "NBC New York debuts new studio, graphics, music". NewscastStudio. April 22, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  39. ↑ Huff, Richard (March 7, 2012). "New York TV news mainstay Sue Simmons to say farewell to WNBC audiences in June". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  40. ↑ Knox, Merrill (January 7, 2013). "WNBC Expands Sunday Evening Newscast". TVSpy. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  41. ↑ "4 NBC Stations to Launch Afternoon Newscast". January 4, 2016.
  42. ↑ "NBC New York debuts new home, gains more space at 30 Rock". NewscastStudio. October 10, 2016.
  43. ↑ "NYC station promoting new radar". NewscastStudio. December 21, 2016.
  44. ↑ "WNBC is moving its noon newscast and joining the other NBC O&O’s at 11:00 a.m.". Changing Newscasts Blog. December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  45. ↑ Kevin Eck (January 12, 2017). "WNBC Moves Noon Show to 11". TVSpy. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  46. ↑ Don Kaplan (June 30, 2017). "WNBC anchor Chuck Scarborough leaving late-night job after 42 years for earlier shift". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  47. ↑ Shea, Danny (2008-05-22). "David Letterman's Views on Sue's Slip!". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  48. ↑ "Verizon's Broken Promises". Communication Workers of America. October 13, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  49. ↑ McFadden, Robert (December 4, 1998). "News Helicopter Crashes in River Near Newark". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  50. ↑ Tavernise, Sabrina; Newman, Andy (5 May 2004). "TV helicopter crashes on Brooklyn rooftop". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  51. ↑ Huff, Richard (March 26, 2008). "Channel 4 lends itself out for 'Lend America'". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
  52. ↑ Huff, Richard (May 13, 2008). "Curses! Anchor Sue Simmons slips". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  53. ↑ Hancock, Noelle (May 13, 2008). "Sue Simmons Wants to Know What the F**k You Are Doing". New York. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  54. ↑ Huff, Richard (February 6, 2012). "WNBC/Ch. 4 trims promo featuring NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly after Super Bowl airing". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
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