This was the day that TV went commercial, with W2XBS becoming WNBT (now WNBC-TV) and W2XAB became WCBW (now WCBS-TV).
It is a well-known factoid of TV lore that WNBT this day aired the first TV commercial: a one-minute static shot of a Bulova watch face, for which the company paid $4. But other commercial spots aired as well. Bulova had a similar one-minute spot that evening (for which they paid the "prime-time" rate of $8!) and other sponsors involved in the day's programming included Lever Brothers (Spry shortening), Proctor & Gamble (Ivory soap), and the Sun Oil Company (later known as Sunoco). Only WNBT was ready to accept ads and sponsors this day: WCBW was not, so though they had a commercial license now, their initial broadcasts were de facto "non-commercial" (unsponsored).
WNBW (channel 1, 50-56 mHz)***
1:30PM Test Pattern
2:30PM Baseball at Ebbets Field (Dodgers vs. Phillies)
6:45PM Lowell Thomas
8:00PM Test Pattern
9:00PM U.S.O Program with Thomas E. Dewey, Mrs. Winthrop Aldrich and Others
Uncle Jim's Question Bee
Musical Revue with the Bottlenecks of 1941
Truth or Consequences (a one-off televised edition of Ralph Edwards' radio version)
(The last 4 programs were part of an overall evening "extravaganza," with no specific start times given for the individual elements.)
WCBW (channel 2, 66-72 mHz)***
2:00PM Test Pattern
2:30PM Dancing Lesson
3:15PM Children's Story
(3:30-7:30PM Off-air)
7:30PM Test Pattern
8:00PM News
8:15PM Joan Edwards (songs)
8:30PM Metropolitan Museum of Art (host Francis Henry Taylor)
9:00PM Bob Edge interviews Yankee pitcher Paul Schreiber and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bloomingdale
*** Yes, Virginia, there was a channel 1. Originally (1937-40), channel 1 occupied 44-50 mHz. (W2XBS had operated there for quite some time as an experimental station.) In 1940, when 42-50 mHz was reassigned to FM radio, channel 1 was shifted up to 50-56 mHz (the slot occupied by WNBT as it started its commercial history). Later still (in 1945) FM was moved to 88-106 mHz (later 88-108 mHz) and channel 1 was shifted back to its original 44-50 mHz position. But with a combination of the time it took for existing FMs to pack their bags and "move on up" to their new home; the greater problems of noise, interference, and CCI at these freqs; and the need for more public service VHF spectrum, it was decided that channel 1 was more trouble than it was worth, and the frequencies reassigned. It is THIS -- the third incarnation of "channel 1" -- that is referenced when the oft-quoted factoid that "no TV station ever broadcast on channel 1" is inevitably brought up. True, post-1945 there were a few channel 1 CPs, but no station actually signing on, but prior to that there were frequencies labeled as "channel 1," and some stations, both experimental and commercial, did operate there.
As for WCBW, note that at this juncture, channel 2 occupied the exact space that the post-1945 channel 4 did. There was a 10 mHz gap between channels 1 and 2, hence why they were able to both be used in the same city in 1941. FWIW, the channel assignments at this stage of history were as follows (with spaces where there were gaps between channels):
Ch. Frequencies
1 50-56 mHz
2 66-72 mHz
3 72-78 mHz
4 78-84 mHz
5 84-90 mHz
6 96-102 mHz
7 102-108 mHz
8 162-168 mHz
9 180-186 mHz
10 186-192 mHz
11 204-210 mHz
12 210-216 mHz
13 234-240 mHz
14 240-246 mHz
15 258-264 mHz
16 264-270 mHz
17 282-288 mHz
18 288-294 mHz
Sure looks weird to our eyes, huh? 18 (not 12) channels, extending from the modern 6-meter ham band way up into the range now used by military aviation, and all those big gaps every few channels. Of course, the fact is that most of these pre-war channels were never used anyway -- some groups and companies applied for them, some even had them officially assigned, but the vast majority never panned out. At this point, television was seen as the next big thing on the horizon, and many business concerns wanted to stake out some "turf," even though they had no immediate or short-term intention of actually doing anything there. :
It is a well-known factoid of TV lore that WNBT this day aired the first TV commercial: a one-minute static shot of a Bulova watch face, for which the company paid $4. But other commercial spots aired as well. Bulova had a similar one-minute spot that evening (for which they paid the "prime-time" rate of $8!) and other sponsors involved in the day's programming included Lever Brothers (Spry shortening), Proctor & Gamble (Ivory soap), and the Sun Oil Company (later known as Sunoco). Only WNBT was ready to accept ads and sponsors this day: WCBW was not, so though they had a commercial license now, their initial broadcasts were de facto "non-commercial" (unsponsored).
WNBW (channel 1, 50-56 mHz)***
1:30PM Test Pattern
2:30PM Baseball at Ebbets Field (Dodgers vs. Phillies)
6:45PM Lowell Thomas
8:00PM Test Pattern
9:00PM U.S.O Program with Thomas E. Dewey, Mrs. Winthrop Aldrich and Others
Uncle Jim's Question Bee
Musical Revue with the Bottlenecks of 1941
Truth or Consequences (a one-off televised edition of Ralph Edwards' radio version)
(The last 4 programs were part of an overall evening "extravaganza," with no specific start times given for the individual elements.)
WCBW (channel 2, 66-72 mHz)***
2:00PM Test Pattern
2:30PM Dancing Lesson
3:15PM Children's Story
(3:30-7:30PM Off-air)
7:30PM Test Pattern
8:00PM News
8:15PM Joan Edwards (songs)
8:30PM Metropolitan Museum of Art (host Francis Henry Taylor)
9:00PM Bob Edge interviews Yankee pitcher Paul Schreiber and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bloomingdale
*** Yes, Virginia, there was a channel 1. Originally (1937-40), channel 1 occupied 44-50 mHz. (W2XBS had operated there for quite some time as an experimental station.) In 1940, when 42-50 mHz was reassigned to FM radio, channel 1 was shifted up to 50-56 mHz (the slot occupied by WNBT as it started its commercial history). Later still (in 1945) FM was moved to 88-106 mHz (later 88-108 mHz) and channel 1 was shifted back to its original 44-50 mHz position. But with a combination of the time it took for existing FMs to pack their bags and "move on up" to their new home; the greater problems of noise, interference, and CCI at these freqs; and the need for more public service VHF spectrum, it was decided that channel 1 was more trouble than it was worth, and the frequencies reassigned. It is THIS -- the third incarnation of "channel 1" -- that is referenced when the oft-quoted factoid that "no TV station ever broadcast on channel 1" is inevitably brought up. True, post-1945 there were a few channel 1 CPs, but no station actually signing on, but prior to that there were frequencies labeled as "channel 1," and some stations, both experimental and commercial, did operate there.
As for WCBW, note that at this juncture, channel 2 occupied the exact space that the post-1945 channel 4 did. There was a 10 mHz gap between channels 1 and 2, hence why they were able to both be used in the same city in 1941. FWIW, the channel assignments at this stage of history were as follows (with spaces where there were gaps between channels):
Ch. Frequencies
1 50-56 mHz
2 66-72 mHz
3 72-78 mHz
4 78-84 mHz
5 84-90 mHz
6 96-102 mHz
7 102-108 mHz
8 162-168 mHz
9 180-186 mHz
10 186-192 mHz
11 204-210 mHz
12 210-216 mHz
13 234-240 mHz
14 240-246 mHz
15 258-264 mHz
16 264-270 mHz
17 282-288 mHz
18 288-294 mHz
Sure looks weird to our eyes, huh? 18 (not 12) channels, extending from the modern 6-meter ham band way up into the range now used by military aviation, and all those big gaps every few channels. Of course, the fact is that most of these pre-war channels were never used anyway -- some groups and companies applied for them, some even had them officially assigned, but the vast majority never panned out. At this point, television was seen as the next big thing on the horizon, and many business concerns wanted to stake out some "turf," even though they had no immediate or short-term intention of actually doing anything there. :