NBC The National Broadcasting Company , now formally called NBC Universal Television or , simply , NBC , is a US television network , founded in 1939 ( as part of the NBC radio network , founded in 1926 ) , based in New York City ' s Rockefeller Center . As of May 2004 , it became part of NBC Universal . " Star Trek " affiliation . By airing on the first season episode , NBC has gained the distinction of becoming the very first US television network to air a " Star Trek " live - action production , introducing the phenomenon to the general US populace . However , NBC lost out on the world premiere to Canadian network CTV , which had aired the episode two days earlier . Yet , by canceling the less than three years later , it has also garnered NBC the enduring wrath of generations of " Trekkie s " . " The Original Series " . In early the network became acquainted with " Star Trek " when Herbert F . Solow ( formerly a NBC executive before his tenure at Desilu ) presented a thoroughly groomed , prepared and coached Gene Roddenberry and his " Star Trek is . . . " pitch at his very last - chance meeting with NBC executives Jerry Stanley and Grant Tinker , besides taking a very active part in the presentation himself , eventually resulting in success . Due to their previous dealings with Roddenberry on " The Lieutenant " , NBC was wary , but Solow had instructed Roddenberry to keep quiet when not required to speak ( which , given Roddenberry ' s predilection to the contrary , was excruciating for him ) , and most notably to drop the in " Star Trek " - lore famed " " Wagon Train " To The Stars " line , Roddenberry had used on previous pitching occasions . It worked as , " " ( i ) t was Herb ' s tenacity and Herb ' s presentation that sold the series . " " , as Stanley later conceded . While not a science fiction fan himself , Solow strongly believed in Roddenberry ' s format , which he considered a more adult counter balance to the somewhat juvenile " Lost in Space " series soon to be aired by CBS . ( " " , 1st ed , pp . 21 - 25 , 28 - 32 ; " " , 1997 , pp . 13 - 23 ) In the first pilot episode was shown to NBC executives and famously rejected as being " too cerebral " . Essentially calling their bluff , Desilu executive Oscar Katz recalled , " " [ NBC ] didn ' t like the type of story we told . I think they selected [ this pilot ] to test Desilu on the hardest kind of story to produce because of the reputation Desilu had . Then , when they saw it , they were satisfied that Desilu was able to produce quality material , but it was the wrong kind of episode to take around to advertising agencies and sell . It was too off the beaten path . I asked NBC , " Why are you turning this down ? " and was told , " We can ' t sell it from this show , it ' s too atypical " . " " Subsequently , Katz pounded home the point to NBC , " " I said , " But you guys picked this one . I gave you choices " [ Roddenberry ' s " Star Trek is . . . " pitch contained twenty - five story outlines ] " . " " NBC then conceded their bluff being called , as Katz clarified , " " [ Mort Werner ] said , " I know we did and , because of that , we ' re going to give you an order for a second pilot . " " ( " " ) Ordering a second television series pilot episode , was nothing less than writing television production history , as no such thing has ever been done before or after . The original " Star Trek " aired on NBC from to . On the occasion of its debut in the television season 1966 - 1967 , NBC released an eight - page promotional information brochure , introducing the series to interested parties . The brochure was in its entirety reprinted in the 1996 reference book " " . The network attempted to cancel the series twice , in and in , but renewed it for an additional season both years , due to letter - writing campaigns . By late November 1966 , when the first season production was nearing its end , studio and Roddenberry were led to believe that " Star Trek " was not doing well in the ratings by a chagrined NBC , and Roddenberry sensed the possibility of a cancellation in the air . He discussed the matter with Harlan Ellison ( with whom he was still on good terms at that time ) and together , both men decided upon a campaign to save " Star Trek " . Ellison organized " The Committee " , an advisory group of the foremost science fiction writers of the time through which a letter - campaign was organized . Science fiction fans ( general , not specifically Trekkies alone ) started to write in , and a veritable contemporary who ' s who of science fiction made their favorable opinions known in numerous publications , chief amongst them , renowned author Isaac Asimov , with whom Roddenberry would strike up an enduring friendship , stemming from this period . On 9 March 1967 , a NBC announcer broadcast over the closing titles of that , " " Star Trek will be back in the fall . And please don ' t write any more letters . " " Thus was born the myth in " Star Trek " - lore that a letter campaign had saved the series for the first time . Actually , NBC had already decided to continue with the series before the campaign had even gathered steam , and Herb Solow had always been doubtful that the letter campaign had anything to do with this . He was informed by his former NBC colleagues that the network was fully aware that the relatively modest campaign was organized and artificial , and was merely considered a nuisance as the network had a standing policy to answer each and every letter sent to them . Reassured by some of his former colleagues , sincerely or not , that NBC was proud to air " Star Trek " , Solow could not get his suspicion confirmed that the decision was inspired by NBC ' s holding company RCA , which was selling color television sets at the time and who had commissioned the A . C . Nielsen Company ( the rating company ) to investigate the popularity of these sets among the public . " Star Trek " was still one of the few full color television series being aired at the time . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 299 - 307 ) The networks policy of answering each and every letter however , was to come back in full force to bite them in the behind not too long afterwards . Near the conclusion of the second season , cancellation was made definitive by NBC . However , and much to the dismay of NBC , it found itself subsequently and suddenly confronted with a public outcry in the form of the famed , massive letter campaign , complemented by a deluge of phone - ins and unusually large picket - lines at both the New York City headquarters , and the Burbank , California , location , the likes of which , no network or studio had ever been confronted with before ( years later , it turned out that the cancellation was an East Coast decision , the West Coast actually wanted to continue with " Star Trek " ) . The ultimate saving of " Star Trek " constituted the by Gene Roddenberry secretly funded and coordinated letter - writing campaign , initiated by Bjo Trimble and her husband in late - and early - , which succeeded in making a shell - shocked NBC buckle and to renew , albeit reluctantly , " Star Trek " for a third season . Ironically , the funding Roddenberry provided , was not even his own ; He managed to claim the money as business expenses from Paramount Television . For decades , network and public were led to believe that it was a spontaneous action organized by Trekkies , but Robert Justman and Solow debunked the " spontaneous " nature of the campaign in their book " Inside Star Trek : The Real Story " . The original series was first aired Thursday nights at 8 : 30 , where it replaced the show . For its second season , it moved to Friday nights at the same time . After being renewed for the third season , NBC moved it into the 10pm timeslot in place of the recently canceled . Originally , NBC had intimated to Roddenberry a new , more family - oriented timeslot of Monday or Tuesdays 7 : 30PM for the third season , and he threatened to pull out if the network did not do so . Roddenberry grossly overestimated his value as perceived by network and studio , and since he did not possess the political and diplomatic skills – nor would he ever have – to deal with upper network or studio echelons ( Solow had always ran interference for Roddenberry and the network and studio , but the former had left the production by now ) , the network was only too happy to call his bluff . When the network finally doomed Star Trek to the " graveyard slot " of Fridays 10PM , Roddenberry , having stated at the time to a newspaper , " " If the network wants to kill us , it couldn ' t make a better move " " ( " Toledo Blade " , 15 August 1968 ) and his bluff gone awry , felt that he had no choice but to recuse himself from the remainder of the series . ( " " ) NBC canceled " Star Trek " definitely in . Production on the series ceased in June of that year , leaving the entire production at US $ 4 . 7 million in debt . ( " " , p . 399 ) " Star Trek " legacy . No " Star Trek " series has aired on the national NBC network since , yet several of the have made their network debut on NBC , including ( in ) and ( in , although the initial premiere was pushed back several weeks due to the events of September 11 , 2001 . Hence , it finally premiered in 2002 , to coincide with the theatrical release of " Nemesis " ) . While reviled by " Star Trek " fandom ever since for its cancellation decision in 1969 , NBC , ironically , to this date receives residual income from the airing in syndication of the " Original Series " , as the original contractual obligations stipulated that net profits had to be shared between the Desilu / Paramount Television ( 26⅔ % ) , Roddenberry ' s production company Norway Corporation ( 26⅔ % ) , Captain Kirk performer William Shatner ( 20 % ) and NBC ( 26⅔ % ) . ( " " , p . 220 ) " The Animated Series " . Former " Original Series " writer D . C . Fontana reported in the fanzine " Star - Borne " of that , " " Paramount . . . [ is ] enormously impressed by the quantity ( and quality ) of fan mail they continue to receive . The possibility seems to be slowly developing of a " Star Trek " feature movie for theatrical release , aimed at becoming the new Star Trek television pilot . . . on the network front , NBC still expresses great interest in doing Star Trek in some form . Both NBC and Paramount continue to receive a great deal of mail and have had to assign secretaries for the sole job of answering it . " " NBC ' s surprising complete turnaround ( who had canceled the live - action precursor in 1969 , purportedly for poor ratings performance ) not only stemmed from the spectacular resurgence of the " Original Series " in syndication , but also from its own accounting department . Shortly before Fontana ' s report , NBC had replaced its old Nielsen rating system with a new and updated one . When they ran the original " Original Series " figures through their new system they found out much to their surprise that it had not only reached full penetration into their most coveted target audience , the male population between 18 and 45 , but also that the series had been one of the most successful series , the network had ever aired . The sickening realization hit upon the dismayed network executives , that they had slaughtered the goose that laid the golden eggs , something that every " Star Trek " fan at the time could have told them , and which they actually had done in the first place . Hurriedly approaching Roddenberry to see if the series could be revitalized , turned out to be unfeasible , as Paramount had only a few months earlier cleared out their warehouses from the vast majority of the remaining " Star Trek " production assets , they either being scrapped , given away or simply stolen . Recreating them , calculated at US $ 750 , 000 , was deemed far too cost - prohibitive . It did however , lead to NBC commissioning the creation of . ( " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , pp . 51 - 52 ) Even though they did not produce the new series themselves , Paramount Pictures , possessing all rights and title to the " Star Trek " brand , was legally the owner of the new property . The animated " Star Trek " aired on NBC from through , with re - runs airing during . " The Next Generation " . In the fall of 1986 , NBC had another chance to air an entirely new " Star Trek " television series , when Paramount ' s Television Group President John S . Pike approached then NBC President Brandon Tartikoff for , that was in development at the time . On that occasion Tartikoff declined , as interest in science fiction for television was at an all time low at the time ( after " The Next Generation " started its run , it was for years the only " new " science fiction series being aired ) . While Tartikoff was yet to revise his stance on " Star Trek " , NBC missed out on one of the most successful science fiction productions in television history on this occasion . ( " " )