NBC Radio Network
The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942)[a] was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it was one of the first two nationwide networks established in the United States. Its major competitors were the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), founded in 1927, and the Mutual Broadcasting System, founded in 1934. In 1942, NBC was required to divest one of its national networks, so it sold NBC Blue, which was soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). After this separation, the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.
For more on the collective history of the National Broadcasting Company, see History of NBC.Type
- General Electric (RCA)
- (1926–1928)
- RCA (1928–1986)
- General Electric (1986–1987)
- Westwood One (1987–1999)
David Sarnoff (founder)
November 15, 1926
- "WEAF chain" (AT&T;
- d/b/a the Broadcasting Company of America)
- April 17, 1999
- (72 years, 153 days)
- Westwood One
- NBC News Radio
NBC Red Network (1927–1942)
National, through regional affiliates
For the first 61 years of its existence, this network was owned by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) with New York City radio station WEAF (renamed WNBC in 1946, WRCA in 1954 and again as WNBC in 1960) as its flagship station. Following the emergence of television as the dominant entertainment medium and much of NBC Radio's talent migrating both to CBS and NBC television, the network made multiple investments in programming in hopes of retaining relevance. These included the weekend program umbrella Monitor (1955–1975), the all-news focused NBC News and Information Service (1975–1977) and the talk radio service NBC Talknet, all of which encountered varying degrees of success and failure.
Following General Electric's purchase of RCA in late 1986, GE sold the NBC Radio Network to Westwood One in 1987. Westwood One previously acquired Mutual in 1985 and gradually merged the two together. NBC Radio News, which was also folded into Mutual's news operations, saw most of its functions cease on April 17, 1999, after further consolidation merged both NBC and Mutual directly into CBS's radio news operations. Westwood One and its successor network continued to use "NBC" branding for some of its programming until 2020, partnering with NBC News to operate NBC News Radio from 2003 until 2014, and with NBC Sports for NBC Sports Radio. From 2016 onward, iHeartMedia has handled production and distribution of NBC News Radio.
Early history[edit]
WEAF chain[edit]
The 1926 formation of the National Broadcasting Company was a consolidation and reorganization of earlier network radio operations developed by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) beginning in 1922, in addition to more limited efforts conducted by the "radio group" companies, which consisted of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and its corporate owners, General Electric (GE) and the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company (and, for a period of time, the United Fruit Company).[2]
Organized radio broadcasting started in the early 1920s, with AT&T soon becoming an industry leader. In 1920 and 1921, AT&T concluded a series of patent cross-licensing agreements with the "radio group" companies.[3] The "radio group" began negotiating under that name through a cross-licensing agreement between GE and Westinghouse, agreed to on July 1, 1921.[4] Under these agreements, AT&T asserted that it held the sole right to sell commercial time on radio stations, which it called "toll broadcasting", although for the next few years the idea of radio advertising remained controversial.[5] AT&T also recognized that its longline telephone network could be used to connect radio stations together to form networks to share programming and costs.[6]