Research material by David Schwartz/Game Show Network
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the first full day of commercial TV, as WNBT Channel 1 in New York launched.
After some amateur boxing filled a couple hours the night before, this Tuesday afternoon schedule featured the Dodgers-Phillies game from Ebbets Field from 2-to-5 p.m. The Phillies won 6-4, with just more than 3,000 in attendance(linked here).
During the game, the first TV commercial also aired: For Bulova watches. The spot cost $9 for the 20 seconds it was on.
Less than two years earlier, the first televised MLB game was on W2XBS, an experimental station that was to become WNBC-TV. Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, watched by those who were at the New York World’s Fair.
