WRC-TV/Channel 4 hit the air for the first time 75 years ago Monday.
When the switches were flipped to start up the transmitter on June 27, 1947, there were only 700 televisions in the Washington, D.C. region. We were only on the air for three and a half hours that first evening.
Today, NBC4 operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on not only broadcast television but websites, apps and social networks.
In the seven and a half decades that NBC4 has served the D.C. area, we've been home to a number of firsts, including:
- First live TV coverage from Capitol Hill: hearings about the Marshall Plan
- First public affairs show: "Meet the Press"
- First airing of a presidential inauguration: Harry S. Truman
- First appearance of Kermit the Frog on Jim Henson's locally produced children's show, "Sam and Friends"
Former News4 chief meteorologist Bob Ryan and entertainment reporter Arch Campbell sat down with Doreen Gentzler to reflect on their years at NBC4 and the impact the station has had on the community.
For nearly 25 years Susan Kidd anchored, reported and took part in community events around the region and Liz Crenshaw spent more than 30 years at WRC working for our viewers as a consumer reporter. They sat down with Jim Handley to chat about their time at News4.
Between the two of them, Bob Ryan and Doug Kammerer have been keeping viewers safe from severe weather in the Washington area for 42 years. The meteorologists sat down to talk about forecasting in D.C.
For more than 20 years, Lea Thompson anchored newscasts, hosted shows and broke dozens of important stories with the News4 investigative unit. She chatted with Pat Lawson-Muse about her time at NBC4.
