First U.S. Commercial TV Broadcast

2013

An RCA TRK-12 television camera at the 1939 New York World's Fair, the broadcasting infrastructure that made the 1941 Bulova ad possible. WNBT (later WNBC) New York airs the first commercial television broadcast on July 1, 1941, a Bulova watch ad shown before a Brooklyn Dodgers vs Philadelphia Phillies baseball game. Bulova pays $9 for nine seconds. There are an estimated 4,000 TV sets in the New York area. The subject dates from 1941; this photograph was taken in 2013.