WNBC (AM)
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| City | New York, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | New York metropolitan area |
| Branding | 66 WNBC |
| Slogan | "The Only Station You'll Ever Need" "The Next One" "WNBC Is Gonna Make Me Rich!" "There only one place like 66 WNBC" "66 WNBC - If we weren't so bad we wouldn't be so good!" |
| Frequency | 660 kHz |
| First air date | March 2, 1922 |
| Last air date | October 7, 1988 |
| Format | Full Service |
| Language(s) | English |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | A |
| Callsign meaning | W National Broadcasting Company |
| Former callsigns | WEAF (1922–1946) WRCA (1954–1960) |
| Affiliations | NBC Red Network |
| Owner |
Western Electric/AT&T (1922-1926) National Broadcasting Company/RCA (1926-1986) National Broadcasting Company/General Electric (1986-1988) |
| Sister stations |
WNBC-FM/WNWS/WYNY (1940–1988) WNBT/WNBC-TV (1941–1988) |
WNBC (660 kHz) was a commercial AM radio station licensed to New York City from 1922 to 1988. For most of its history, it was the flagship station of the NBC Radio Network. It was a clear channel Class A station broadcasting at the maximum power for AM radio, 50,000 watts. WNBC left the air on October 7, 1988. Its former frequency has since been occupied by CBS Radio-owned all-sports WFAN.
WNBC signed on for the first time on March 2, 1922, as WEAF, owned by AT&T Western Electric. It was the first commercially-licensed radio station in New York City.
The call letters are popularly thought to have stood for Western Electric AT&T Fone or Water, Earth, Air, and Fire (the 4 classical elements). However, records suggest that the callsign was assigned from an alphabetical sequence. The first assigned callsign was actually WDAM. They were quickly dropped, but presumably came from the same alphabetical sequence.
In 1922, WEAF broadcast what it later claimed to be the first radio advertisement (actually a roughly 10-minute-long talk anticipating today's radio and television infomercials). The ad promoted an apartment development in Jackson Heights near a new elevated subway line (the IRT's Flushing-Corona line, now the number 7 line).
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