On November 14, 2025, the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) will launch NBC’s centennial celebration at the Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts gala in New York City’s Gotham Hall, nearly 99 years after NBC’s first radio broadcast on November 15, 1926.
Founded by RCA, NBC pioneered the nation’s first permanent radio network with a four-hour, 26-station coast-to-coast broadcast. Its Blue and Red networks shaped broadcast syndication, with the Red Network evolving into today’s NBC, a cornerstone of modern mass media.
The centennial will be honored alongside industry leaders at LABF’s annual awards. Kristen Welker, moderator of Meet the Press—the longest-running U.S. broadcast program, debuting on radio in 1945 and moving to television in 1947—will accept the Giants of Broadcasting award for NBC.
LABF Co-Chairs Heidi Raphael and Jack Goodman lauded NBC’s 100-year legacy in innovation, journalism, and entertainment.
Other 2025 honorees include David Muir (ABC World News Tonight), Lynn Beall (retired TEGNA EVP), Rick Dees (radio personality), John Feore Jr. (communications attorney), Dick Ferguson (former Cox Radio Group EVP), Gary Sandy (WKRP in Cincinnati), and Lesley Visser (pioneering sportscaster).
Steven Portnoy, ABC News White House Correspondent, will receive the LABF Excellence in Broadcast Preservation Award for his work preserving broadcast journalism history.