WBTV signs on: July 15, 1949.

• A crowd of 5,000 arrives at the Armory auditorium to watch WBTV sign on the air at 7 p.m. 
• Many of the television station's performers come from radio station WBT. WBT is heard throughout the East and gives black musicians a larger audience than they have ever reached before. 
• The Golden Bell Quintet were frequent broadcast performers.