National Broadcasting Company

National Broadcasting Company
NBC: Proud as a Peacock!
Country: United States Launched: November 15, 1926 (as a radio network) April 30, 1939 (as a TV network) Broadcast area: National

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial terrestrial radio and television network owned by NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, with additional major offices near Los Angeles (at 10 Universal City Plaza), Chicago (at the NBC Tower), and Philadelphia (at the Comcast Technology Center). Founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), NBC is the first major broadcast network in the United States.

Why They Were Proud

1. It was the purest form of the all-American television, that is until, ABC overtook its popularity.
   • Speaking of which, NBC Radio's Blue Network even served as the ABC network's direct ancestor.
2. As mentioned above, it is the very first major broadcast network in the USA, having been around since 1926.
3. The Peacock logo is very creative, having been used for the network's early color telecasts in the late-1950s and early-1960s (though it would be incorporated into their main logo beginning in 1979).
   • The current 1986 Peacock looked so cute, and is even used by parent company Comcast when they fully acquired NBCUniversal in 2011.
4. With the debut of its iconic Peacock logo in 1954, it became the very first all-American major television network to air many programs in color.
   • With the success of Star Trek, it lead to all-American electronic companies to sell more than millions of all-color TV sets around the United States.
5. It was incredibly acquired by Universal Pictures in 2004, becoming Universal Studios' flagship TV network.
   • Prior to this, it aired The Woody Woodpecker Show during the 1970s.
6. The network has aired many fantastic shows, such as Father of the Pride, Saved By The Bell, Friends, Manifest, Seinfeld, Friday Night Lights, L.A. Law, Cheers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Law and Order, The Office, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Saturday Night Live, Star Trek (its most-watched color program), The Good Place, Hannibal, and many more.
   • It aired many kids' shows, including The Ruff and Reddy Show, The Bullwinkle Show, H.R. Pufnstuf, Howdy Doody, The Smurfs, ALF (a primetime program, along with its animated prequel series), Foofur, Top Cat, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and LazyTown.
     • In 2002, Discovery, Inc. collaborated with the NBC-TV network to launch the Saturday morning block of the Discovery Kids programming.
7. Raleigh, NC affiliate WRAL-TV is even testing out ATSC 3.0 (which adds 1080p and 4K video support to the current ATSC system, which currently only supports 720p and 1080i resolutions), making it the first U.S. broadcast network to broadcast at resolutions of 1080p or greater.
8. It had its great theme songs:
   • "Proud as a Peacock" (1979-1981)
   • "Our Pride is Showing" (1981-1982)
   • "Be There" (1983-1984)
   • "Come Home to NBC" (1986-1988)
   • "Come Home to the Best" (1988-1990)
   • "The Place to Be" (1990-1992)
9. The beloved, famous NBC chimes.
10. From mid-1979 to late-1983, it brought The Berenstain Bears to the screen for the very first time.

Bad Qualities

1. Some bad shows have aired on the network, such as "Captain N: The Game Master" Ironside (2013), Supertrain, Manimal, My Mother the Car, Heartbeat (2016), The Million Second Quiz, Wonder Woman (2011), and Grimm.
2. Unlike CBS and ABC, it wouldn't be until 1980 that NBC ceased their wiping practices (whereas CBS ended their wiping practices in 1972; and ABC did the same in 1978, all thanks to Fred Silverman).
3. The channel is involved in many controversies:
   • The NBC television network has been accused of tolerating a culture of sexism and sexual harassment among its employees (especially within upper management and among senior anchors such as Matt Lauer) and also of covering up indiscretions committed by prominent figures in the company through intimidation campaigns against victims that include a widespread use of non-disclosure agreements.
   • In March and April 2019, HuffPost and Wired reported that NBC had paid a firm to improve its reputation by lobbying for changes to the Wikipedia articles on Nextdoor, NBC and several others.
4. Their coverage of the Olympics Games, while it has been very profitable for the network, has been widely criticized for its subpar coverage. Click here to see why.

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