NBC, abbreviated as the National Broadcasting Company, was founded in 1926. It launched on July 1, 1941 as the very first television network in the United States. The first of their in-credit text logos debuted on May 7, 1947, with Kraft Television Theatre.
Early years
The "Peacock" logo was introduced in 1956, to increase color programming on the network. Color television became more popular since September 24, 1961, when Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color premiered on NBC, which was replaced by The Wonderful World of Disney in September 1969.
The next logo, known as the "Trapezoid N", debuted on October 11, 1975, with the first broadcast of a comedy series called Saturday Night Live.
The last of the Walt Disney anthology series to air on NBC was Disney's Wonderful World, from 1979 to 1981. When this show premiered, NBC's logo changed again, to combine both the "Trapezoid N" and the return of the Peacock logo, to make a brand-new logo called the "Proud N".
Later years
The current logo debuted on May 12, 1986 on the TV special, NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration.
The official NBC website (www.nbc.com) launched in August 1995.
Children's programming
Discovery Kids on NBC, the network's first children's programming block, premiered on September 14, 2002, and was broadcast on NBC every Saturday morning for three hours. The block ran through September 2, 2006, and was replaced by Qubo the next week. The current children's programming block, NBC Kids, replaced Qubo on July 7, 2012.
NBC today
As of 2004, NBC is now a subsidiary of Universal Studios, marking the establishment of NBC Universal Television Distribution (now NBCUniversal Syndication Studios).
NBC's programs gradually became available in HDTV (16:9/1080i) format since December 9, 2004.
On June 26, 2009, after two weeks of repeatedly showing public service announcements about the digital television transition that ended on all full-power stations at that time, the analog signals of NBC's very first TV station, WNBC, signed off at 11:00 a.m. with a montage of the network's five logos shown below in backwards order, and finally, to the word "GOODBYE", before cutting to static. On digital TV sets, the analog signals usually cut to a blue screen of death, while the digital signals (including those from all converter boxes and DVRs) continued to carry regular NBC programming, whereas they were seen on Channel 4.1.
Programming
| Title | Premiere date (first known) |
Ended (or last aired) |
|---|---|---|
| The Wizard of Oz | April 20, 1968 | March 30, 1975 |
| Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | November 22, 1987 | June 28, 1992 |
| The Goonies | October 23, 1988 | September 2, 1990 |
| Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | March 19, 1989 | June 29, 1992 |
| Mary Poppins | April 15, 1990 | |
| Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 | September 8, 1990 | 1991 |
| Super Mario World | September 14, 1991 | July 25, 1992 |
| Home Alone | November 25, 1993 | November 27, 1999 |
| Barney's Imagination Island | April 24, 1994 | |
| Shrek | February 15, 2004 | May 13, 2007 |
| The Incredibles | November 22, 2007 | December 5, 2009 |
| Horton Hears a Who! | November 24, 2011 | December 25, 2012 |
| Despicable Me 2 | June 19, 2016 | Present |
| Despicable Me | June 25, 2017 | Present |
| How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) | December 25, 2017 | Present |
| Minions | January 20, 2019 | Present |
| The Secret Life of Pets | May 12, 2019 | Present |
Weblinks
- NBC.com (1996-1997)
Gallery
| Television networks | ||
|---|---|---|
| NBC Universal | Over-the-air | NBC |
| Cable | USA Network • Syfy • Universal Kids | |
| Streaming | Peacock | |
| ViacomCBS | Over-the-air | CBS • UPN |
| Cable | Nickelodeon • TeenNick | |
| Streaming | Paramount+ | |
| Warner Bros. | Over-the-air | The WB • CW Network |
| Cable | HBO • Cinemax • TBS • TNT • Cartoon Network | |
| Streaming | HBO Max | |
| Walt Disney | Over-the-air | ABC • FOX |
| Cable | Disney Channel • FX Networks • Toon Disney (1998-2009) • Freeform • Disney XD | |
| Streaming | Disney+ | |
| Other | Over-the-air | Broadcast syndication • PBS • PBS Kids |
| Cable | Hub Network (2010-2014) • Discovery Family | |
| Streaming | Netflix • Hulu • HBO Max • Paramount+ | |