WNBC traces back on July 1, 1928 when the station was experimental as W2XBS founded by the Radio Corporation of America, two years after the foundation of NBC (as a radio network) which both were owned by General Electric at the time; The second experimental TV station after WRGB launched in Schenectady, New York, five months earlier.
Before 1933, W2XBS transmitted as the mechanical television scanning system, which turned into the all-electronic CRT system two years later, licensed as a "field test" converter from WEAF radio studio for television use from Rockefeller Center. Afterwards, when W2XBS began semi-regular broadcasting on Channel 1 (44–50 MHz) in 1938, the TV station was tested at the opening of the World's Fair publicly, scored numerous "firsts" telecasts from April 30, 1939 until August 1940, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) put on hold, as "Channel 1" was reassigned to 50–56 MHz as a minor adjustment for two months. And when W2XBS was brought back, it was televised by FDR's Presidential speech at Madison Square Garden.
WNBT
1941–1946
On June 24, 1941, W2XBS received a commercial authorization to broadcast seven days later, with the changed call letters to WNBT, making officially the first TV station in the United States, starting with the "W" callsign east of the Mississippi River. Although WNBT and WCBW (now WCBS-TV) were supposed to sign on at the same time, WCBW was delayed by one hour due to technical issues. The WNBT call letters meant NBC Television.
1946–1951
BETTER LOGO NEEDED
In the spring of 1946, WNBT changed its frequency to VHF Channel 4 after channel 1 was removed from use for television broadcasting two years later. Previously, New York's Channel 4 was transmitted by W2XVT (later WABD) from 1938 to 1945 before switching to Channel 5.
On October 18, 1954, WNBT became WRCA-TV. The call letters WRCA stood for Radio Corporation of America, NBC's parent company at the time.
WNBC (-TV)
1960–1964
On May 22, 1960, RCA transferred the WNBC-TV callsign from a fellow NBC station serving New Britain, Connecticut (which subsequently became WHNB; it is now WVIT) to its New York City flagship station (though the call letters meant New Britain, Connecticut, not National Broadcasting Company). 2 years later, its sister channel in Los Angeles, KRCA-TV changed its name to KNBC on November 11, 1962. Since then, both sister NBC TV stations share call letters with the last three letters. In this case, this station starts with "W".
The Numeral "4" in Helvetica was shared later with sister stations KNBC in Los Angeles and WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. in 1976.
1976–1979
1979–1980
1980–1990
1980–1986
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
ITC Serif Gothic Extra Bold
Launched:
Unknown
Briefly during 1980, this logo was preceded by an "Octagon 4" and a "zig-zag" 4 that looked somewhat like a cross between the 4 seen here and the logo used by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ABC affiliate WTAE-TV (with the vertical line ending at the top part of the '4').
That logo was the first-longest-reigning logo usage for ten years, then it was surpassed by the 1995 logo, which lasted for 12 years, and the 2008 logo, which currently holds the record for the longest-reigning logo usage by the station.
1986–1990
While the same 1980 "4" logo was kept by WNBC, NBC updated its peacock on May 12, 1986.
1990–1992
BETTER LOGO NEEDED
1992–present
1992–1995
Designer:
NBC
Typography:
Univers
Launched:
1992
This logo's "4" has been used by the station itself and WRC-TV ever since. The same "4" was used on sister stations WTVJ in Miami–Fort Lauderdale, NBC's West Coast flagship station KNBC in Los Angeles and former NBC-owned station KCNC-TV in Denver; the two stations ceased using it in 1995 (when WTVJ switched its channel position with WCIX (now known as WFOR-TV), 1998 and 2003, respectively.
The "-TV" suffix was omitted after NBC sold its AM radio station of the same callsign (now WFAN) in 1988. The template was used by the rest of NBC O&O stations up until 1995.
1995–2007
Designer:
NBC
Typography:
Univers
Launched:
1995
This logo also served as a template and was used for some of NBC's owned and operated television stations and for MSNBC.
The West Coast sister station KNBC in Los Angeles used it a year earlier.
This was the second-longest-reigning logo usage, which lasted for 12 years, surpassing the 1980 logo, which lasted for ten years.
2006–2007
2007–2008
When WNBC revives its "We're 4 New York" ad campaign on the weekend of May 5, 2007, the 2006 logo was combined to include the traditional cursive "New York" script that is similar to the 1992 one, a year later on March 31, 2008, the "HD" mark in the logo was later removed due to the restoration of the "4 New York" station branding.
2008–present
Designer:
Brit Redden
Typography:
ITC Blair
Launched:
2008
The "New York" typeface was changed from its traditional cursive script to All-Caps written in the ITC Blair font. Meanwhile, the "4 New York" station branding, along with the "NBC 4" station branding (which has been in use since 1995), was combined to become "NBC 4 New York" starting in 2010.
Currently, this logo is the third-longest-reigning logo usage by the station, surpassing the 1980 and 1995 logos.
