On August 26, 1939, the first televised Major League baseball
game was broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was
to become WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber (below) called
the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn
Dodgers at Ebbits Field in Brooklyn, New York.
In 1939, the World’s Fair—which was being held in New York,
became the catalyst for the historic broadcast. The television
was one of the fair’s prize exhibits, and organizers believed
that the Dodgers-Reds doubleheader on August 26 was the
perfect event to showcase America’s grasp on the new
technology.
