Jump to content

WNBC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Wrajradio (talk | contribs) at 03:20, 29 October 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
For broadcast stations that previously used the WNBC call sign, see WNBC (disambiguation)

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.

WNBC, channel four, is the flagship station of the NBC television network. Located in New York City, its studios are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan. WNBC is the sister station to Linden, New Jersey-based WNJU (flagship of the Telemundo network), and the two stations have some cross promotion.

In the few areas of the eastern United States where viewers cannot receive NBC programs over-the-air, WNBC is available on satellite via C band, and to subscribers of Dish Network and DirecTV, which also provides coverage of the station to Latin America and the Caribbean.

History

Main Article: W2XBS

WNBC traces its history to experimental station W2XBS, founded in 1928. It scored numerous "firsts", including the first live telecast of a Presidential speech (President Franklin Roosevelt opening the 1939 New York World's Fair), 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).

The station began commercial television operations on July 1, 1941, the first fully-licensed commercial television station in the United States. The call letters were changed to WNBT (for NBC Television), and it originally broadcast on channel one (see Channel 1 for more information on this channel). Soon after signing on that day, WNBT aired the first television commercial. The Bulova Watch Company paid $9 for a commercial aired during a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 1946, the station changed its frequency from channel one to channel four after VHF channel one was removed from use for television broadcasting. The station changed its call letters on October 18, 1954 to WRCA-TV (for NBC's then-parent company, the Radio Corporation of America), and on May 22, 1960 channel four became WNBC-TV.

In addition to channel four, NBC also operated two New York radio stations. Located on the AM band at 660 was the station that originated in 1922 as WEAF, later to become WNBC. At 97.1 on the FM band was WEAF-FM, which became WNBC-FM, WNWS, and eventually WYNY. In February 1988, NBC announced the sale of those stations to Emmis Communications, a move which triggered a complicated switch of several stations to new dial spots in October of that same year. 660 AM is now WFAN, and 97.1 is the present home of WQHT.

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 Pat Weaver brought it to the network in 1954. The NBC studio from which Tonight was broadcast during the Jack Paar and early Johnny Carson years (it first originated at the Hudson Theatre on 44th Street) is now WNBC-TV's main news studio - Studio 6B.

File:Chuck&SueWNBC2005 .jpg
Sue Simmons and Chuck Scarborough in 2005.

On June 1, 1992, channel four dropped the -TV suffix from its call letters and became simply WNBC, with the new branding slogan 4 New York. The accompanying station image campaign was titled We're 4 New York. WNBC was rebranded again as NBC 4 on September 5, 1995 with the newscast retitled NewsChannel 4.

On September 11, 2001, the transmitter facilities of WNBC, as well as eight other local television stations and several radio stations, were destroyed when two hijacked airplanes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Center towers in the attack that day. At first the station broadcast from a radio tower originally built by Edwin Armstrong in Alpine, New Jersey. As of 2005, WNBC-TV is broadcasting from the Empire State Building.

In 2004, WNBC served as the model station for NBC Weather Plus, a 24 hour digital weather channel that airs as 4-2 on over the air digital television and on several cable television systems in the tri-state area. The Weather Plus channel was rolled out by other NBC stations in 2005.

Logos

File:Wnbc-hd.png
The NBC 4HD opening logo.

High-Definition

On September 13, 2006, WNBC began broadcasting all local newscasts in HD, making it one of the very first stations in the United States to broadcast local programming in HD, and the first, and only, station to broadcast HD in the New York City Metropolitan Area. On their website, they announced that in addition to local newscasts, they will also broadcast locally produced programs such as "Reel Talk", "NewsForum", and "Mike'd Up" in HD. In total, including network programming, they will broadcast 72 hours of HD programming each week.

They ushered in the High-Definition transition with new, sharper graphics, a slightly altered logo (now including the word "HD"), many Chopper4HD shots of New York, and they began calling themselves NBC 4 HD on station promos, and NewsChannel4 HD on newscasts. The new HD graphics package was designed and executed by Element LLC.

News Operation

File:Sue&BrianWNBC2004.jpg
Sue Simmons and Brian Williams during the 2004 Presidential Election.

For years WNBC has had strong ratings without resorting to sensationalism or forays into tabloid television unlike most of the other stations in the market. WNBC's hallmark over the years has been strong coverage of breaking stories and a no-nonsense news product that informs and at times entertains. Prime examples of this are Live at Five and Today in New York, which provide a mix of news, features and interviews. All newscasts are broadcast from NBC's Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in the Rockefeller Center complex.

WNBC's news team is one of the most stable in the country; many of its personalities have been at the station for 20 years or more. Chuck Scarborough has been the station's main anchor since 1974--the longest unbroken tenure behind an anchor desk in New York television history. Only WABC-TV's Bill Beutel--who had two stints as an anchorman (1962-68 and 1970-2001)--has served as an anchor in New York longer. Since 1980, he has been teamed with Sue Simmons at 11 p.m.. The two have been together longer than any anchor team in New York history, and have had some of the highest ratings of any anchor team ever. Len Berman has been the station's sports director and lead anchor since 1985. Senior correspondent Gabe Pressman has been at the station since 1956, except for a brief stint at WNEW-TV (now WNYW).

WNBC-TV was the first station in the country to have success with a 5 p.m. newscast, adding that block to its Sixth Hour show at 6 p.m. in 1974 and renaming all its local newscasts NewsCenter 4. NBC's other O&Os soon adopted the "NewsCenter" name. The moniker remained until 1980, when they were renamed News 4 New York. The 5 o'clock slot was renamed Live at Five. Its mix of news and celebrity interviews made it the most successful local program in New York (landing the cast on the cover of New York magazine).

For most of the time from 1980 to 2003, it used various themes written by Edd Kalehoff. 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 1992, a fancy die-cut "4." In 1992, the station began calling itself "4 New York," and the campaign song written by Kalehoff was quickly adopted as the theme for the newscast. The theme was briefly brought back after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 1995, after the station started calling itself "NBC4" and its newscasts "Newschannel 4," Kalehoff wrote a new theme called "NBC Stations" featuring the NBC chimes, the chime sequnce is G-E-C. It remained in use for eight years, along with a graphics package using a simple red line for lower thirds. While very popular, it made the station look somewhat dated at the turn of the century.

The 2001 graphics package was created by Emmy Award winner Randy Pyburn of Pyburn Films. Pyburn has produced several promos for the station and the Jane's New York specials hosted by reporter Jane Hanson. The music was written by Rampage Music and features a brassy version of the NBC chimes, and lower thirds feature a shimmering peacock. NBC's O&Os are in the process of standardizing around similar graphics packages used by Pyburn. The current 2006 HD graphics package was designed and executed by Element LLC. based in New York City.

Many WNBC personalities have moved onto the NBC network—including Scarborough, Marv Albert, Jim Hartz, Tom Snyder, Len Berman, Al Roker, Matt Lauer, Tony Guida, Maurice DuBois and Janice Huff. In the past, Albert, Roker, Lauer, Scarborough, Guida and DuBois have worked on WNBC and the network at the same time while Huff and Berman do currently.

File:PerriPeltzWNBC2005.jpg
Perri Peltz on Live at Five in 2005.

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 Don Pardo. This segment also airs on NBC's The Today Show on a monthly basis.

For most of the time from 1980 to 2005, WNBC's weeknight anchor rotation had Simmons and another male anchor on Live at Five, Scarborough and another female anchor at 6, and Scarborough and Simmons together at 11. That changed in 2005 as Live at Five anchor Jim Rosenfield jumped back to WCBS-TV, where he had once been noon and 5 p.m. anchor and took on the role as lead anchor for their 5 & 11 p.m. newscasts. Perri Peltz returned to WNBC to co-anchor Live at Five with Simmons, making New York the one of the few cities that has two women anchors on the two leading 5 p.m. newscasts.

Currently WNBC cooperates with radio station WINS during its morning newscasts to provide additional coverage of traffic in the New York City area.


NYCTV on WNBC

File:Feature nbc logo.jpg

In August, 2006, WNBC General Manager Francis X. Comerford joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and NYCTV General Manager Arick B. Wierson in announcing a ground-breaking syndication agreement between NYCTV and WNBC in which the Emmy-award winning NYCTV licensed over 100 episodes to WNBC to fill in WNBC's 11am slot. In mid-October of 2006, WNBC moved NYCTV's content to the coveted noon (12pm) timelsot to go head-to-head with the mid-day news programs airing on competitors WABC and WCBS. The deal includes five distinct series:

New York 360° starring Amy Palmer and Kela Walker

Eat Out | NY hosted by Kelly Choi

Cool in Your Code hosted by Hank Wasiak

$9.99 hosted by Brian McMullen, Maryam Basir and Julie Laipply

Blueprint | NYC narrated by Kathleen France

The arrangement between WNBC and NYCTV also gives WNBC access to two additional NYCTV series (Secrets of New York and Seven Secrets of Grand Central) on WNBC 4.4, the stations third digital broadcast channel. 4.4 has cable coverage on all major New York cable operators.

File:FrComerford MayorBloomberg ArickWierson.jpg

Frank Comerford (L), Mayor Bloomberg (C) and Arick Wierson (R)


Newscasts and Local Programing

Weekdays

Saturdays

  • Saturday Today in New York - 6:00-7:00 a.m. & 9:00-10:00 a.m.
  • NewsChannel 4 at 6 - 6:00-6:30 p.m.
  • NewsChannel 4 at 11 - 11:00-11:30 p.m.

Sundays

Other

  • Reel Talk Saturdays 10:00 a.m.
  • Jane's New York - selected Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. or 7:30 p m.


Anchors

Main article: WNBC news team

Helicopter crashes

File:Chopper4CrashWABC 2004.jpg
Rival WABC-TV covered the 2004 crash live.

On May 4, 2004, while covering a breaking news of a shooting in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, the WNBC news helicopter "Chopper4" (a Eurocopter AS350BA, registered N4NY) suddenly lost control and crashed onto a Brooklyn apartment building rooftop. The pilot and two passengers received no serious injuries, and actually walked out of the ruined helicopter, thanks to a controlled crash. Rival TV station WABC-TV's news helicopter was covering the same news story when they saw the WNBC helicopter in trouble. They called for help and also got exclusive footage of the actual crash, which won an Emmy Award for their coverage.

In December 1998, WNBC's previous Chopper4 news helicopter crashed into the Passaic River near Harrison, New Jersey and Newark, New Jersey. Again there were no serious injuries. It should be noted that this crash was with a new Chopper4 that WNBC had built earlier that year, which was an upgrade over the previous one (which returned to action after the crash).

Newscast titles

File:1974WNBC2004.jpg
Chuck Scarborough behind the news desk in 1974.
  • The Sunoco Newscast with Lowell Thomas (1940-41) (simulcast with the NBC Blue radio network)
  • The News with John McCaffrey (1950s)
  • The Shell Oil News (1956-1960)
  • The (Gabe) Pressman-(Bill) Ryan Report (1960-1967)
  • The Sixth Hour & Eleventh Hour News (1967-1974)
  • NewsCenter 4 (1974-1980)
  • News 4 New York (1980-1995)
  • NewsChannel 4 (1995-)


Trivia

  • The station's radar is called "Doppler 4000".
  • For many years, in various image campaigns, the station used themes composed by Edd Kalehoff.

See also

File:WNBC Weather Plus 2005.jpg
WNBC Weather plus in 2005.

References

Preceded by
WRCA-TV
 WNBC (TV)
1960-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

Template:TVcoord

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WNBC&oldid=84355961"