NBC America via Satellite ID (1998)

In the mid to late 1990s, American network affiliates were uplinked to C-Band satellites by a company called "Primetime 24" for consumer reception. Although NBC programming was officially offered via WNBC New York, PT24 would delete any NYC based local commercials and promos, instead replacing them with national spots for a North America-wide audience, and also rebranding WNBC to NBC America. All national NBC programming as well as all WNBC newscasts and syndicated programming were left intact. This practice ended in the early 2000s with WNBC's availability on DirecTV and Dish Network as well as C-Band. Here is a brief NBC America ID with the "via satellite" tag from 1998.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• NBC
• America
• WNBC
• Satellite
• C-Band
• Primetime
• 24
• Videocipher
• 1990s
• 1998
• network
• ID
• Bumper

[Sheri451]

I wish you could get other stations off the air but NO! They had to switch to digital, and now you're a prisoner to the cable or satellite people.

[jcice3]

@Sheri451 Over the air signals still exist by law in every USA TV market - you just need to hook up your antenna to an ATSC tuner or digital converter box - free HDTV with no cable or satellite required.

[closedsource]

This was very much apart of the famed "Primetime24" package. I started receiving this particular gem just PRIOR to the 1996 Olympics that CitySon mentions. It replaced Atlanta's WXIA at the worst possible time, too. Just months before the games. I used to love the local news coverage leading up to the games. They even ran a jingle promo "The World is Coming to Atlanta" PT24 used to routinely "rotate" stations, remember?

[jcice3]

You're right about the frequent changes -

when I first got the PT24 package around 1994, IIRC the affiliates were WXIA-NBC Atlanta, WRAL-CBS Raleigh, WABC New York, and WFLD-Fox Chicago. I had to give up my C-Band dish when I moved in 2002, so I have no idea what affiliates they use now.

[CitySon]

I remember this during the 1996 Olympics. Didn't it have a little jingle too? "We're NBC! America!!!"

[EncoreEnterprisesLLC]

I remember seeing this a lot back when we got DirecTV in the late 90s and they got their distant network feeds from PT24. I also remember seeing the WSEE "See CBS" bumper too.

[filmnet]

@jcice3 It's amazing that some in North America are brainwashed into thinking that terrestrial tv no longer exists. I read about a Canadian who thought that watching tv over the air might be illegal for "avoiding cable fees". Here in the UK the majority don't have satellite or cable, I hope the same ignorance won't happen. But I wouldn't be surprised if old people are conned into subscribing to a satellite package after switchover.

[oiromaha]

Yes, they did. They used both versions at the same time.

[WinterWeatherII]

Can you still get this on C-BAND? I have a tv guide program and it shows WABC and WNBC and the PBS national feed being the list of channels.