In This Story NFLX +0.03% DIS +0.78% AMZN -0.65% CMCSA -0.11% WBD -1.27% The first television commercial aired on July 1, 1941, in New York City just before a Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies baseball game on an NBC-owned ( CMCSA -0.11% ) station. The minimalistic black-and-white ad promoting Bulova watches featured a simple branded illustration of a clock over a map of the United States. It was just under 10 seconds long and had a voiceover that said, “America runs on Bulova time.”