Bulova Wrist Watch and Television's First Commercial

The Bulova Watch Company, subsidiary of Citizen Watch Co. and makers of the Bulova Wrist Watch, have a long and storied history in being first.

In 1926, Bulova pounced on the idea of advertising over the new phenomenon called “radio” and produced the first radio commercial in the history of the United States. A voice spoke out “At the tone, it’s 8 P.M., B-U-L-O-V-A Bulova Watch Time!”

Only two years later, Bulove introduced the world’s first clock radio.

By 1940, Bulova was first in national advertisements, becoming a sponsor for all of the top 20 radio shows, including Charley McCarthy, Jack Benny, and Fibber McGee.

And in 1941, 14-years after pioneering the world with radio-advertisement, Bulova became the first company to ever advertise on television.

It was the first day of July, and the Brooklyn Dodgers were hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. The baseball game was being broadcast on WNBT, the flagship station of the NBC television network. Commercial television had just been authorized earlier that morning, as it had previously been illegal.

At 2:29:10, superimposed over a test pattern, Bulova Watch Company and NBC aired the first television commercial. It was a 10-second advertisement, consisting of an image of a Bulova clock over a map of the United States. A voice-over then announced “America runs on Bulova time.”

The ad cost Bulova a whopping four dollars.

In an era where the broadcasts of sporting events are typically dominated by advertisements for light beer, sports cars and men’s deodorant, it’s almost hard to believe that it was one of the world’s oldest and most innovative watch companies that introduced a nation to the world of television advertisement.

For anyone keeping score at home, the Phillies defeated the Dodgers that day by a score of six to four.