THE RADIO HISTORIAN
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THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NBC NETWORK - 1927 TO 1933

The National Broadcasting Company made its inaugural broadcast from the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on November 15, 1926. The following year it moved into the twelfth and thirteenth floors of a new office building at 711 Fifth Avenue. NBC initially operated three networks: The Red Network served 30 stations in the East and Midwest; The Blue Network fed 26 stations in the same areas; and the Orange Network served 7 stations on the Pacific Coast from studios in San Francisco.

The period 1926-33 was incredible growth for network radio, as well as radio broadcasting in general. Advertising on radio was accepted for the first time, and the income this generated drove a huge expansion of the NBC network. Beginning with only a few hours of programs per week, NBC programming expanded by the early 1930's to fill the majority of the broadcast day for its 100+ affiliated stations. By 1933, having hopelessly outgrown its Fifth Avenue facility, the network moved into the world's largest broadcast studio complex at 30 Rockefeller Center.

Here are some images of NBC's operations from its inauguration in 1926 until its move to Radio City in 1933:

NBC Aviator's Dinner, 1931. (NOTE: This is NOT a photo of the NBC inaugural broadcast.)
The Vaudeville comedy team Weber and Fields performed for NBC's inaugural broadcast, November 15, 1926.
Merlin Aylesworth was NBC's first president, from 1926 to 1932. He was hired away from the National Electric Light Association, where he was the managing director. He left NBC in 1932 to become president of RKO Pictures.
By 1929, NBC was sending programs to more than 100 radio stations around the country.
A list of NBC's affiliated stations, about 1931.
NBC's first studios were in the top floors of this building at 711 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
A three-dimensional floor plan of the NBC facility at 711 Fifth Avenue.
The 13th floor at 711 Fifth Avenue.
The 15th floor at 711 Fifth Avenue.
Studio 'H', the largest studio, measured 80'x 40' with a 20' ceiling. It was located on the 15th floor and capable of seating 250 people.
Studio 'E', on the 13th floor, measured 21' x 32' with an 11' ceiling. The room was decorated in a burnt orange color scheme.
A program rehearsal at 711 Fifth Avenue.
The NBC 'Library Studio' at 711 Fifth Avenue.
Arthur J. Perry, NBC studio engineer, at the control board of one of the NBC studios, 1930.
Another view of an NBC control room during a 1930 broadcast.
The master control room, on the 13th floor at 711 Fifth Avenue (labeled 'Plant' in the floor plan). This room contained audio amplifiers for each studio, as well as the outgoing amplifiers that fed the phone lines to the network stations and the WEAF and WJZ transmitters.
Engineer George McElrath testing the microphones to be used in the broadcast of the Hoover inaugural, 1929.
Engineers A.R. Cullen (L) and George McElrath (R) test a control panel that will be used for the broadcast of the Hoover inaugural, 1929.
NBC remote broadcasting equipment.
A parabolic microphone developed by NBC for directional pickup of music and sports events.
Preparing for a national address by the president, March, 1931.
NBC Engineers Howard Luttgens and Marshall Rife check the equipment that will broadcast the Republican and Democratic conventions in Chicago, 1932
Announcer Marley Shorrin tests the NBC hookup in the Republican convention hall, 1928. Graham McNamee (inset) will narrate the broadcast.
NBC announcers are stationed on the steps of the U.S. Treasury in Washington, DC, waiting for the arrival of the Charles Lindbergh welcome parade -- 6/14/1927.
NBC reporter Ed Thorgerson broadcasts news of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping from a general store in Hopewell, NJ - 3/3/1932.
Aviatrix Elinore Smith with an NBC announcer during a live remote broadcast.
On May 22 and 23, 1931, NBC broadcast live reports from this Ford Tri-Motor, received on the ground in a moving vehicle.
The broadcast covered an Army Air Corps simulated bombing air raid over New York City involving 672 planes.
NBC announcers, engineers and Army soldiers inside a Ford Tri-Motor airplane, 1931.
This temporary audio control panel was built specifically to handle the special broadcast of the Army Air Corps' simulated bombing raid.
Philips Carlin, NBC announcer and later program executive broadcasts the landing of the Graf Zeppelin atop the mooring mast at Lakehurst, NJ, 1928.
NBC announcer George Hicks broadcasts from a Navy submarine submerged in Long Island Sound, 1930.
The broadcast from the submerged submarine was received by this equipment in a second submarine, and relayed back to NBC studios, 1930.
Announcer Milton Cross was a radio pioneer, starting with RCA's station WJZ in 1921.
Milton Cross (rear) announces a live NBC broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera, 1937. He hosted the program from 1931 to 1975. Music critic Deems Taylor is at left, and the program's engineer is at right.
Music critic Deems Taylor at a Metropolitan Opera broadcast, 1931.
NBC announcer William S. Lynch died in surgery in 1930, at the young age of 23.
Walter Damrosch, host of the 'Music Appreciation Hour', 1929
Walter Damrosch, host of the 'Music Appreciation Hour', 1929
Reinald Werrenrath was an American baritone opera singer whoappeared regularly on radio in the 1920's.
Paul Whiteman and his orchestra in NBC Studio B, 711 Fifth Avenue.
Orchestra leader Paul Whiteman with comedian Lou Holtz
Virginia Rea sings Paul Whiteman conducts. She faces a glass curtain separating her from the audience.
Ukranian singer and Broadway actress Tamara Drasin, 1934.
Candid photo of an unidentified singer during an NBC broadcast.
The Frigidarians, 1931.
The Singing Violins, 1928
Singer Jessica Dragonette was one of network radio’s first big stars. Here she sings with the Cavaliers Quartet for her “Cities Service Concerts” program, 1931.
The musical duet of Harding and Birkenholz, 1931.
The Michelin band performed for the opening broadcast of the "Michelin Hour" on NBC, April 17, 1928. They dressed in costume "a-tire" for this publicity shot.
Popular NBC pianist "Little Jack" Little tries out a new microphone design, 1932.
Ray Perkins, host of the series "Crush Dry Cronies and Old Topper", 1930.
Bob Emory, popular host of the "Big Brother Club" children's show on WEEI in Boston, moved up to the NBC network in 1930.
"Jolly Bill and Jane" was a morning children's program heard on NBC from 1928 to 1938.
5-year-old Ann Pickard, part of the Pickard Family, a hillbilly novelty act
The child singing sensation Baby Rose Marie had her own show on NBC from 1929 to 1934.
The "Lady Next Door" program dramatized children's stories, using real child actors.
The NBC program "Great Moments in History"
A Broadcast of the "Townsend Murder Mystery", NBC 1933
Ed Wynn, popular host of the Texaco Fire Chief Program, 1933.
Ed Wynn and Graham McNamee on a broadcast of the Texaco Fire Chief Program.
Another view of Ed Wynn's Texaco Fire Chief Program.
Al and Cal Pearce, NBC comedians
Winifred Wishard, host of the mid-day housewife program "The Canny Cook", with William Benton, 1929.
Claudine MacDonald, host of the "Woman's Radio Revue"
Raymond Knight, host of the NBC "Cuckoo Hour" comedy show, 1930-36.
A candid behind-the-scenes photo from a broadcast of the "Cuckoo Hour" on NBC Radio. An unidentified British actor is at the microphone. Sound effects hardware is visible at the extreme left.
The Pickens Sisters - Jane, Patti and Helen - a vocal trio from Georgia, 1933
Sound effects specialists create the sounds of a locomotive, using a bell, drums, roller skate and compressed air tank.
NBC radio sound effects technician Ray Kelly shows some of the devices used to create specialized sounds, 1931.
NBC radio sound effects technician Herman Ashbaucher demonstrates a device used to create automobile sounds, 1931.
Candid photo of a sound effects technician during an NBC broadcast, 1930's.
Heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney appears on the NBC network in 1927, in a speech heard over 29 radio stations.
Nellie Taloe Ross addresses the NBC audience, 1932.
Al Smith, former New York Governor and 1928 presidential candidate, speaks from the NBC New York studios, October, 1930.
Anna Roosevelt Dall, FDR's daughter, broadcast a series of talks with host Mary Lewis.