WNBH has often claimed to be one of the oldest broadcast radio stations in America; it has asserted that it was the 11th oldest in the USA, going back to May 21, 1921; but there is no evidence to support that assertion. According to the Department of Commerce records, WNBH received its license in November 1925. When WNBH went on the air, it had its studios at the New Bedford Hotel, from whence it derived its call letters. An early transmitting antenna for the station was lifted onto the chimney of Atlas Tack Company in Fairhaven by using helium-filled balloons. When the rig was in the right spot, the balloons were deflated by shotgun blasts.