NBC News facts for kids
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| News division of | NBC |
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| Key people | Rebecca Blumenstein (President) |
| Founded | February 21, 1940 |
| Headquarters | 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, U.S. |
| Major Bureaus |
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| Area served | Worldwide |
| Broadcast programs |
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| Divisions | NBC News International |
NBC News is the news part of the American TV network called NBC. It's a big part of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. NBC News has a president, Rebecca Blumenstein, who leads all its news operations.
The NBCUniversal News Group also includes other channels. These are MSNBC, which shows news all day, and CNBC for business news. There's also Noticias Telemundo for Spanish speakers and Sky News in the UK.
NBC News made history on February 21, 1940. They aired the very first regular news show on American TV. Their main offices and studios are in New York City. They are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
NBC News produces some of America's most-watched news shows. These include NBC Nightly News and Today. Today was the world's first morning TV show of its kind. They also have Meet the Press, which is the longest-running TV series in American history. It's a Sunday morning show where they interview important people.
Contents
History of NBC News
Early Days of TV News
The first regular TV news show in America was on NBC News. It aired on February 21, 1940. Lowell Thomas was the anchor. The show was a TV version of his radio broadcast. It could only be seen in New York.
In June 1940, NBC's New York station, W2XBS, covered the Republican National Convention. They showed 30 hours of live coverage from Philadelphia. This was one of the first "network" programs for NBC Television.
After World War II, NBC showed news highlights called NBC Television Newsreel. Later, in 1948, it became Camel Newsreel Theatre. In 1949, John Cameron Swayze became the anchor. The show was then called Camel News Caravan.
In 1948, NBC worked with Life magazine. They covered President Harry S. Truman's surprising election win. The Camel News Caravan started in 1949. It had many features of today's news shows. NBC hired its own film crews. This helped them do better than rival shows for a while.
In 1950, David Brinkley started working as a reporter in Washington. In 1955, Camel News Caravan started losing viewers. So, in 1956, NBC replaced it with The Huntley–Brinkley Report.
The Huntley-Brinkley Era
In the late 1950s, TV became very important in American homes. NBC News was known for its great news coverage. NBC's president, Robert Kintner, gave the news division lots of money and air time.
In 1956, NBC put Chet Huntley and David Brinkley together as anchors. They became very famous. Other important reporters included John Chancellor and Nancy Dickerson.
Their show, The Huntley–Brinkley Report, started on October 29, 1956. For most of its 14 years, it had more viewers than its main competitor.
NBC also played a big role in covering the Civil Rights Movement. In 1955, they covered Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1956, John Chancellor reported on black students joining Little Rock Central High School. This was a time when TV news became very important.
NBC News also covered American space missions. Reporters like Frank McGee and Jay Barbree covered NASA's Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and Apollo program. NBC even set up its largest studio, Studio 8H, for space coverage. They used models and maps to show what was happening in space. In 1969, NBC won an Emmy Award for its coverage of the first Moon landing.
On November 22, 1963, NBC broke into its regular shows. They announced that President John F. Kennedy had been shot. NBC then provided 71 hours of continuous news coverage. This included the only live broadcast of Lee Harvey Oswald being shot.
The NBC Nightly News Era
NBC's viewership started to drop after Chet Huntley retired in 1970. The main news show changed its name to NBC Nightly News on August 3, 1970.
The network tried different anchors. Eventually, John Chancellor became the main anchor. Even with his efforts, Nightly News was usually second to CBS. By the end of the 1970s, ABC also became a strong competitor.
Tom Brokaw became the sole anchor in 1983. In the late 1990s, Nightly News became number one again. It has held that spot for most years since. Brian Williams took over as anchor in 2004. In 2015, Brian Williams was suspended for telling an inaccurate story. Lester Holt became the interim anchor. On June 18, 2015, Holt became the permanent anchor.
In 1993, Dateline NBC aired a report about General Motors (GM) trucks. GM found that the footage used in the report was not accurate. NBC admitted this and settled a lawsuit with GM.
On October 22, 2007, Nightly News moved to new high-definition studios. These studios are at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. NBC News and MSNBC now share these new headquarters.
Recent Years (2007–2016)
During the financial crisis around 2008, NBC News had to save money. They laid off some reporters. This was the biggest layoff in NBC News history.
After Tim Russert, the host of Meet the Press, passed away in 2008, Tom Brokaw hosted for a short time. Then David Gregory became the new host. In 2014, Chuck Todd took over as the host of Meet the Press.
By 2009, NBC was a leader in network news. They had the highest-rated morning, evening, and Sunday news shows.
In 2012, NBC News reporter Richard Engel and his team were kidnapped in Syria. They escaped after five days. Later, NBC had to update their story about the kidnapping. This was after new information came out.
In 2015, the NBC election team got a permanent space at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. This is where they make important decisions during elections.
NBC News was the first to have a tape of Donald Trump from Access Hollywood. They discussed whether to release it. Another news organization, The Washington Post, got a copy and released it first. NBC News then released their own story shortly after.
Changes in 2024
In March 2024, NBC News hired Ronna McDaniel, who used to lead the Republican National Committee. This caused some discussion. After a day of on-air protests from various MSNBC anchors, NBC decided not to hire her.
Leaders of NBC News
Many people have been president of NBC News. The first was William R. McAndrew. Later, Deborah Turness became the first woman to lead the division in 2013. Currently, Rebecca Blumenstein is the President of NBC News. She started in January 2023.
NBC News Shows
NBC News has many popular shows:
- Meet the Press (since 1947)
- Today (since 1952)
- Today 3rd Hour (since 2018)
- NBC Nightly News (since 1970)
- Saturday Today (since 1992)
- Dateline NBC (since 1992)
- Early Today (1982–1983; since 1999)
- Today with Hoda & Jenna (since 2019)
- Sunday Today with Willie Geist (since 2016)
- NBC News Daily (since 2022)
Past Shows
Some shows that are no longer on air include:
- Camel News Caravan (1948–1956)
- The Huntley-Brinkley Report (1956–1970)
- NBC News Overnight (1982–83)
- NBC Nightside (1991–1998)
- Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric (1993–94)
- Rock Center with Brian Williams (2011–2013)
Other Productions
NBC News also creates content for the internet and other cable news channels. These include CNBC and MSNBC. They produce a daily show called Stay Tuned for Snapchat. They also launched The Overview on Peacock in 2021.
NBC News International
In 2016, NBCUniversal planned to buy a part of Euronews, a European news company. This deal was finished in 2017. Deborah Turness was chosen to lead "NBC News International." This group helps NBC work with other news organizations.
In 2020, NBCUniversal sold its part of Euronews. They wanted to focus on a new service called NBC Sky World News. However, this new service was later canceled.
NBC News Radio
NBC News Radio is a radio news service. It is made by iHeartMedia with NBC News. You can listen to it on iHeartRadio online. It plays news, sports, and other features every 15 minutes. Its slogan is "The news you want, when you want it."
This radio service uses reports from NBC News reporters. The anchors are employees of iHeartMedia. It also provides hourly news updates to over 1,000 radio stations. WOR in New York City is its main station.
NBC News Radio is NBC's first full-time news radio service since the 1970s. The original NBC Radio Network was sold in 1987. This happened when General Electric bought NBC's parent company.
Westwood One still shares some NBC-branded shows with radio stations. This includes audio versions of NBC TV shows like Meet the Press. The current NBC News Radio service started in 2016.
You can also listen to the audio from NBC News cable channels like MSNBC and CNBC. They are available on online radio services like TuneIn and SiriusXM.
Bureaus Around the World
Main Bureaus
- New York City: This is the main headquarters for NBC News.
- Universal City, California (Los Angeles): This is the West Coast office.
- Washington, D.C.: This office handles government news.
- London: This is the main office for news from Europe.
Other Bureaus in the United States
- Atlanta
- Boston
- Chicago
- Denver
- Fort Worth – Dallas
- Houston
- Miami – Fort Lauderdale
- New Britain – Hartford – New Haven
- Philadelphia
- San Diego
- San Jose – San Francisco – Oakland
- San Juan, PR
International Bureaus
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Kabul, Afghanistan
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Singapore
- Sydney, Australia
- Tokyo, Japan
- Hong Kong
- Beijing, China
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Baghdad, Iraq
- Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine
- New Delhi, India
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Tehran, Iran
Famous Coverage
NBC News was the first American news group to interview two Russian presidents: Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Gorbachev. Also, Tom Brokaw was the only American TV news reporter to see the Berlin Wall fall in 1989.
Notable People at NBC News
Anchors and Hosts
- Peter Alexander – Co-Anchor of Saturday Today
- Mika Brzezinski – Co-Anchor of MSNBC's Morning Joe
- Savannah Guthrie – Co-Anchor of Today
- Lester Holt – Anchor of NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC
- Hoda Kotb – Co-Anchor of Today and Today with Hoda & Jenna
- Rachel Maddow – Anchor of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show
- Chuck Todd – Senior Political Analyst for NBC News
Reporters and Correspondents
- Richard Engel – Chief Foreign Correspondent
- Stephanie Gosk – Correspondent
- Courtney Kube – Pentagon Correspondent
- Kelly O'Donnell – Senior White House Correspondent
- Al Roker – Chief NBC News Meteorologist and Today Weather Anchor
- Harry Smith – Senior Correspondent
Contributors and Analysts
- Mike Barnicle – Contributor for MSNBC's Morning Joe
- Jean Chatzky – Financial Editor for Today
- Meredith Vieira – Special Correspondent
International Broadcasts
MSNBC is not usually shown outside the Americas on its own channel. However, some shows like NBC Nightly News and Meet the Press are shown on other channels around the world.
In the Philippines, NBC Nightly News and Today are shown on TAP TV. TAP TV also sometimes airs special coverage from NBC News, like U.S. Elections.
In Australia, the Seven Network has strong ties with NBC. They often share news resources. Today, Weekend Today, and Meet the Press are all broadcast on the Seven Network in Australia.
In Hong Kong, NBC Nightly News is shown daily on TVB Pearl.
In the United Kingdom, the ITV network used to show parts of NBC Nightly News. NBC News also shares facilities with ITN in the UK. NBC News Now, a streaming channel, used to be available on Sky and Virgin Media platforms in the UK.
Theme Music
Meet the Press, NBC Nightly News, and special news reports use music from "The Mission" by John Williams. This music was first used by NBC in 1985. The Today show also used a part of "The Mission" until 2013.
See also
In Spanish: NBC News para niños
