NBC is the English abbreviation of National Broadcasting Company (National Broadcasting Company, also translated as National Broadcasting Company of the United States).
NBC is a mainstream radio and television network company in the United States, headquartered in Rockefeller Center, New York, with a peacock as its logo. It is currently part of the media conglomerate NBC Universal and provides programs to more than 200 affiliated American television stations.
NBC was founded by Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1926. In 1986, RCA was acquired by General Electric Corp. (GE, General Electric Corp.), and it was also purchased. For nearly 20 years, its president and CEO has been Bob Wright.
After NBC merged with the entertainment division of France's Vivendi Universal in 2004, it changed its original "National Broadcasting Company Inc." to "NBC Universal. Inc.)", but NBC still uses its full name "National Broadcasting Corporation" in some programs. In addition, ABC occasionally uses its full name "American Broadcasting Company" in some of its programs and publications.
NBC produces a large number of news, sports entertainment programs and TV series every year, including "The Art of Kindness", "Six" (also translated as "Friends"), "Will & Grace", and "Heroes" and other TV series are familiar to Chinese audiences.
In addition, NBC participated in investing in Hong Kong Wireless Television (TVB) in the mid-1960s, but held a very small shareholding and later withdrew.
The development history of NBC
(1) Broadcasting
NBC and its then 24 affiliated stations began on November 15, 1926 Broadcasting was governed by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which was founded in 1919. RCA is controlled by four companies: General Electric Company (GE), the Westinghouse Electric Corporation (the Westinghouse Electric Corporation), the United Fruit Company (the United Fruit Company) and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T).
Early radio stations: WEAF and WJZ
In the early expansion of broadcasting, RCA acquired the New York radio station WEAF from AT&T, and Westinghouse Electronics, one of RCA's shareholders, There was a similarly positioned pioneer radio station in Newark, WJZ, which was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923 and moved to New York.
WEAF was originally an experimental institution of Western Electric Power Company, a subsidiary of AT&T, responsible for manufacturing receiving equipment and antennas; at the same time, Bell Company, a subsidiary of AT&T, was researching audio transmission technology that could achieve higher quality. , so AT&T opened Radio WEAF in 1922 as a research and development center. WEAF has a fixed program broadcast schedule, and also launches some new programs in response to the needs of advertising and sponsors. WEAF quickly became successful and networked with other stations to broadcast sports and political news. One of WEAF's major innovations was the formation of a model called "chain broadcasting" (today's "Broadcasting Collaboration Network"), which combined Outlet's WJAR radio station in Rhode Island and AT&T in Rhode Island. Washington's WCAP station is closely connected.
RCA also noticed the advantages brought by this model (each station shares programs), so in 1923, RCA opened the WRC station in Washington, transmitting programs among various cities through low-quality means (ATamp ;T had a monopoly on high-quality transmission mode at the time)
In 1925, AT & T's management believed that WEAF radio (and its network) was inconsistent with the company's purpose of telephone service, so they agreed to sell WEAF radio to RCA. After purchasing the WEAF radio station, RCA leased the AT&T telephone network to transmit programs.
NBC Red & Blue Networks was born
RCA purchased WEAF and another Washington sister station, WCAP, for $1 million and closed them immediately WCAP Radio. Then, in the late summer of 1926, The National Broadcasting Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of RCA, was formed. In fact, this company is composed of RCA's 50% investment, General Electric's 30% investment and Westinghouse Electronics' 20% investment. The company's official founding date is November 15, 1926. As the flagship station of the two previous broadcast networks, WEAF and RCA's WJZ co-existed in the newly formed NBC for about a year. In 1927, NBC formally determined their marketing strategy: the NBC Red Network broadcast entertainment and music programs, with content mainly coming from WEAF New York Radio (the frequency was 660KHZ in 1928); the NBC Blue Network ) broadcast news and cultural programs, mainly from WJZ New York radio station (frequency 760hHZ in 1928, 770KHZ in 1941). It is said that this color division comes from the way engineers used to distinguish WEAF and WJZ radio members in the early years. WEAF was identified with a red pushpin and WJZ used blue. A similar two-color division is used in the recording industry to distinguish classical and pop records. In 1930, NBC developed a variety of networks named after colors, such as the NBC White Network in the South, the NBC Gold Network in the Midwest, and the NBC Orange on the West Coast. Network).
NBC became the anchor tenant of the newly built Rockefeller Center in 1936.
NBC scale
The famous NBC three-tone scale was finally born after many years of development. The three-note scale was originally created by WSB station in Atlanta for their own show. Someone at NBC heard it during a broadcast of a Georgia Tech football game and immediately asked permission to use it on radio stations across the country. NBC began using this three-tone scale in 1931, and it was the first "sound trademark" ever registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A variation of the scale that repeats the first note after three rings - also known as the "NBC Four Rings" - was often used during wartime (especially after Pearl Harbor) during the Allied invasion of Western Europe (D-Day). ) and other disasters.
The NBC blue network evolved into the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
In 1934, after the establishment of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the two major NBC networks and their Controlled radio stations monopolize the U.S. radio market. The Federal Telecommunications Commission sued RCA in 1939, arguing that it should divest itself of one of its networks. RCA won the lawsuit, but still split NBC into two companies in 1940 to avoid losing an appeal to the Federal Telecommunications Commission.
NBC Blue Network became "NBC Blue Network, Inc." (today's American Broadcasting Company, ABC), and NBC Red Network became "NBC Red Network, Inc. )".
After losing in the U.S. Supreme Court decision, RCA sold the NBC Blue Network to insurance giant Edward J. Noble in 1943 for $8 million. Noble acquired two and a half stations (WJZ in Newark/New York City, KGO in San Francisco and WENR in Chicago, which shared the frequency with Rancher) and 60 member stations. Noble changed the company's name to "The Blue Network, Inc." but also wanted a name that was easier to remember. In 1944, he obtained the rights to use the name "American Broadcasting Company" from George Storer, and the Blue Network became ABC. The official announcement of the name change was on June 15, 1945. After the blue network was sold, NBC's red network became simply "NBC."
The Golden Age of Broadcasting
In the golden age of network broadcasting, from 1930 to 1950, NBC represented the highest peak of American broadcasting. NBC is also the home of many famous singers (such as Al Jolson, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen, Fred Allen and Arturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra) and programs. Before television became popular in the 1950s, NBC had been an important home for American radio stars. NBC's last major programming boom occurred in 1955 with "Monitor." This is a program that is broadcast continuously on weekends, hosted by many famous program hosts (such as Dave Garroway, Hugh Downs, Ed McMahon, Joe Garagiola and Gene Rayburn), including music, news, interviews and other program content. The success of the "monitor" program continued for many years until the mid-1960s, when some local stations (particularly those in important geographical areas) tended to break away from network broadcasting. In early 1975, the "Listen" program ended its broadcast, and at this time NBC's value was only its hourly news and some related background reports.
At the end of 1975, NBC launched the "NBC News and Information Service" to provide up to 55 minutes of news per hour for some local stations that wanted to broadcast pure news frequencies. The service attracted about a dozen local stations, but it was not enough to make NBC profitable, and the service was discontinued after two years. In the late 1970s, NBC launched "The Source" network, a relatively successful broadcast network that provided news and short reports to FM rock stations.
After General Electric acquired NBC in 1986, it believed that its broadcast business was not in line with their long-term development, so it sold the operations of its broadcast network to Westwood One Company (now the largest broadcast network in the United States, serving as CBS The company's broadcast subsidiary), while some of NBC's radio stations were also sold separately. The NBC Radio Network ceased to exist as a name for a radio programming service in 1989, remaining only as a trademark of Westwood One.
(2) Television
For a long time, NBC was just a means for David Sarnoff to sell appliances.
Sarnoff and RCA developed the broadcasting regulations promulgated by the Federal Telecommunications Commission in 1938 and introduced television to the public at the 1939-1940 World's Fair in New York.
Review of representative dramas over the years:
Classic sitcom - "Friends" (***The tenth season has ended)
Humorous and exciting Hilarious, it is still a well-known oral teaching material, and the six protagonists who starred in the film have become real old friends in real life because of the film. Particularly represented by the friendship between Corny Kox and Jennifer Aniston.
The science fiction drama "Surface" (one season) had a good reputation, but unfortunately it was canceled midway.
The business reality show - "Apprentice" (Hong Kong translation: "The Apprentice") has been in its sixth season so far, and there is news that it may continue
Revolving around New York real estate tycoon Donald A middle management position is offered by Donald Trump. Business elites from various industries and education levels in the United States compete against each other. Each episode is a business project. The career examples and The interview process is highly praised by many white-collar workers and students, and is considered a living textbook for MBA courses. The most famous line: You'r fired.
The political and legal drama "Law & Order" is currently on the air and has spawned two branch dramas "Law & Order: Special Victimization Unit" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Political and legal drama - "The West Wing" (the seventh season)
The attraction of this drama about the work and life of the president and his staff , not only the people and things he touches in the White House that make ordinary people extremely curious, but also the witty, humorous but sharp-edged dialogues, and the convincing idealistic humanistic spirit. Of course, for those Chinese audiences who watch American dramas for the purpose of learning English, the fast speaking speed, large amount of information, coupled with the intelligence, enthusiasm and decisiveness of the characters in the drama, and the fast pace of plot development make this drama undoubtedly a good one. Study material.
Medical drama - "ER" (ER, Season 14 is currently airing)
ER refers to a major scene in the story as its name, simply The two letters are also the abbreviation of Emergency Room in English. This small emergency room is a microcosm of the real world. The characters in the story face various choices at intersections in their lives. Many emergency patients are treated here every day, and each medical staff uses their superb medical skills and kindness to provide the most timely rescue. Many people have recovered their health here, and some have ended their lives here. Health and illness are connected, life and death coexist. This is how this drama tells the real and touching story that happened in the emergency room.
Science fiction action drama - "Heroes" (Season 2 is currently airing)
A group of people with special functions due to genetic mutations came together to save the world. Together. The plot of this drama is real and full of imagination, with rigorous logic. The screenwriter uses a puzzle method to tell the story of each person. They are independent of each other but have some kind of connection. In the end, the story is pushed to the center but stops abruptly. , it took a lot of effort to arouse the audience's curiosity. It is undeniable that this drama will become another NBC drama.
In addition to the masterpieces mentioned above, there are also classics such as "The Office" (Office), "Las Vegas" (Las Vegas), "Will & Grace" (Will & Grace), etc. I won’t say more about the drama series.
(3) News production
In fact, in addition to the production of American dramas, NBC has also made great achievements in the production of news documentaries. Maintaining his usual bold style, he reported on many topics that attracted public attention and controversy, such as chemical and biological weapons, Army intelligence agencies' civilian reconnaissance activities, seasonal labor issues and pension plans. A representative example is that in November 1963, after the assassination of President Kennedy, NBC boldly stopped all advertisements and arranged 24-hour continuous news coverage, setting the precedent for continuous coverage of major emergencies. Later this method was imitated by various television stations. The familiar faces of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley (two of the original evening news anchors) attracted viewers, and viewers were so loyal to them that NBC's Nightly News and News The ratings have consistently ranked first among the three major commercial television networks.
Compared with the other two commercial television networks, NBC appears to be more meticulous and stable. Of course, it still adheres to the bold and innovative style that it has inherited since its establishment, presenting more exciting, real and more exciting programs to the public. A vital piece of television.