Here’s the schedule for NBC’s commercial station WNBT in New York City for the week starting Sunday, November 30th, 1941, straight from daily television listings printed in The New York Times. The station was off the air on Thursday.
Sports for the week including football on Sunday, boxing on Monday and wrestling on Tuesday. Films included I Was a Spy (1933), Phantom Ranger (1938), Blazing Barriers (1937) and Death Rides the Range (1939).
Highlights for the week included another installment in WNBT’s “Search for Beauty” contest; another five-minute “Television and You” broadcast; a program on the care and feeding of dogs; and something called “Fefe’s Monte Carlo Floor Show” on Saturday.
Other programs included another Radio City Matinee, a quiz show called Common Knowledge, as well as programs featuring WNBT regulars Julien Bryan and Harvey Harding, plus news with Ray Forrest and Face of the War with Sam Cuff.
Sunday, November 30th, 1941 [1]
2-4:45PM – Football: Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh, Ebbets Field
8:30-10PM – Film: I Was a SpyMonday, December 1st, 1941 [2]
9-11PM – Boxing: Jamaica ArenaTuesday, December 2nd, 1941 [3]
3:30PM – Search for Beauty–Ned Wayburn
3:45PM – Radio City Matinee, with Alfred E. Smith, Others
8:30PM – Julien Bryan, Travelogue
8:55PM – Igor Gorin, Songs
9:05PM – Civilian Defense Program
9:20PM – Harvey Harding, Songs
9:30PM – Wrestling: Ridgewood GroveWednesday, December 3rd, 1941 [4]
3:30PM – Film: Canada’s Cozy Corner
3:40-4:40PM – Film: Phantom Ranger
8:30PM – Television and You
8:35PM – Civilian Defense Program
8:45PM – Care and Feeding of Dogs
8:55PM – Play the Game
9:25PM – News–Ray ForrestThursday, December 4th, 1941
No Programs ScheduledFriday, December 5th, 1941 [5]
3:30PM – Film: Land of the Cree
3:40-4:40PM – Film: Blazing Barrier
8:30PM – Jerry Sears, Music
9PM – Quiz–Common Knowledge
9:30PM – Face of the War–Sam CuffSaturday, December 6th, 1941 [6]
3:30-4:30PM – Film: Death Rides the Range
8:30PM – Fefe’s Monte Carlo Floor Show
9:15PM – Civilian Defense Program
9:25PM – News–Ray Forrest
Note: Television listings published in newspapers were based on information provided by stations and were subject to change at the last minute. They may not be an accurate representation of what actually aired.
Works Cited:
2 “Radio Today.” New York Times. 1 Dec. 1941: 36.
3 “Radio Today.” New York Times. 2 Dec. 1941: 46.
4 “Radio Today.” New York Times. 3 Dec. 1941: 50.
5 “Radio Today.” New York Times. 5 Dec. 1941: C44.
6 “Radio Today.” New York Times. 6 Dec. 1941: 32.
How ironic or maybe not depending on how cynical you are, that one of the last broadcasts of the evening is about civil defense!
Howdy! It is amazing They had a program about Canada, times has change that is for sure. As a Canadian I can appreciate that and the courage of this Television Station to broadcast a program about Canada. It is very admirable.
Have a nice day!
P.S. It is a film but nonetheless. Very courageous.
Fefe’s Monte Carlo was just about NYC’s most exclusive night club – $20 cover, for pete’s sake, in 1939. Many a night photographers hung around outside to catch the notables (who may or may not have been paying the cover).
Television too was pretty much a toy of well-heeled New Yorkers before WW2, so Fefe’s was a natural for a small screen recreation. Apropos indeed that it aired the night before Pearl Harbor! Fefe’s would take a hit from wartime austerity and close its doors in 1942.
Stills were taken during the broadcast by a photographer from LOOK magazine. Some can be viewed at the Museum of the City of New York, at this address:
https://collections.mcny.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=24UP1GRAOMWNP&PN=1&WS=SearchResults&FR_=1&W=1073&H=739