When did the first ad run on television?

Question

e.g. was it a sponsored soap opera?

Answer 1

I do not think anyone would know but anyway ... good luck  :)

Answer 2

July 1, 1941 W2XBS New York NY becomes a commercial station, changes call to WNBT (later calls WRCA-TV, WNBC-TV). At 1:29 p.m., General Mills sponsors a Brooklyn Dodgers-Philadelphia Phillies game, followed by the "Sunoco Newscast" with Lowell Thomas. At 9:15 p.m., "Uncle Jims Question Bee," hosted by Bill Slater and sponsored by Spry, made its one-and-only appearance and, at 9:30, Ralph Edwards hosted "Truth Or Consequences," simulcast on radio and TV and sponsored by Ivory Soap. This was the first game show broadcast on TV. The world's first (legal) TV commercial for Bulova watches occurs at 2:29:10 superimposed over a test pattern. According to a 2004 article in Newsday: "On July 1, 1941, the world's first television commercial aired on NBC, at that time known as WNBT-TV. The 10-second advertisement for Bulova clocks and watches consisted of the image of a clock and a map of the United States, with a voice-over that announced, 'America runs on Bulova time.' The ad was broadcast before a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies and cost the Woodside-based company less than ten dollars." [According to microfiche records at the FCC, WNBT was granted a C.P. on 6/17/41 for Channel 1 (50-56 mhz.), effective 7/1/41. License to cover the C.P. granted 6/17/41, eff. 7/1/41. First operation was granted to be effective 7/1/41. The first listed call letters were WNBT. They changed to WRCA on 10/18/54 and to WNBC on 5/22/60.]