The first official television commercial ran in 1941

Photo byAjeet MestryonUnsplash

The first official television commercial was broadcast on July 1, 1941, at 2:29 p.m.

The commercial ran on an NBC-owned station out of New York, WNBT, before the broadcast of the baseball game of the Brooklyn Dodgers versus the Philadelphia Phillies. It's now known as WNBC.

This first commercial was an ad made by Bulova Watches. It ran for almost 60 seconds. It had visuals of a Bulova clock superimposed on a U.S. map with the catchy phrase America runs on Bulova time.

If you’re wondering whether Bulova still makes watches, it does. When I was growing up, my mother had one.

How much did Bulova pay for its ad?

Bulova only paid $9 to broadcast its ad. That included air fees of $4 and station fees of $5. That sounds insane compared to today’s outrageous fees.

See below for the very brief first commercial that ran before the baseball game.

This was a ground-breaking 10-second commercial.

The most crazy expensive commercials run today are Superbowl ads. Compare ads running in 2019 for $4.5 million to $7 million in 2024. They have cost more in the past.

for reading and sharing.