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.