Originating as a USO activity created by Canadian Don Reid for World War II soldiers, The College Quiz Bowl was developed into a radio show by Reid and John Moses. It debuted on NBC in the fall of 1953. Two teams of All-American Varsity students from different universities competed for prizes and recognition. On Sunday, February 21st, 1954 at 6PM eastern time, the ladies of Smith College defended their title against the men of Washington and Lee University. Washington and Lee would win this even...
Feb 10, 2022•11 min
In February of 1954, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy was touring the circuit, giving speeches entitled “Twenty Years of Treason.” He claimed that President Eisenhower didn’t want a whitewash government and the Democratic label was “stitched with the idiocy of Truman, rotted by the deceit of Acheson and corrupted by a Red slime of a White.” Indiana Senator William Jenner claimed democrats deliberately tried to lose the Korean War. The President’s assistant Sherman Adams charged the dems with be...
Feb 07, 2022•6 min
In February of 1954, Jack Benny was in the midst of his sixth year on CBS, and his twenty-second in radio. Although his TV program was in the midst of its fourth season, his radio show was still airing in the familiar Sunday 7PM eastern time slot. It had a radio rating of 8.2, second-highest on the air. To many, he was simply the most famous comedian alive. February 14th, 1954 was Jack Benny’s real-life sixtieth birthday. Of course, here was a man who’d been claiming to be thirty-nine for years....
Feb 05, 2022•31 min
During the 1953-54 season, NBC Chicago’s WMAQ and the Speech Department at Northwestern University, jointly broadcast a series of radio essays entitled Americana. Each episode explored a facet of American life or history and the characters who made it come alive. Hosted by Professor Martin Maloney, It followed the previous season’s The Meaning of America. The February 13th, 1954 episode was called “A Study in Villainy.”
Feb 03, 2022•10 min
The first voice you'll hear is that of Lee de Forest. The second is of Bill Froug. Producer/Director Bill Froug spent the early 1950s in charge of The Hallmark Hall of Fame. The show began in the 1940s as Radio Reader’s Digest before rebranding as The Hallmark Playhouse until 1953. With radio audiences leaving in droves for TV, the sponsor abruptly changed format. They brought in Lionel Barrymore to host true stories of Americana. The February 7th, 1954 episode was a profile on de Forest, one of...
Feb 01, 2022•10 min
When ABC radio took out a Broadcasting Magazine ad in 1954 touting their year-over-year sales growth, they juxtaposed theirs against the decline of the other three networks’ in the same period. It painted a bleak picture for the industry. In November of 1952, total network monthly advertising billing was fourteen million, four-hundred seventy-seven thousand dollars. The next year, advertising numbers were down to thirteen million, six-hundred sixty four thousand dollars. The loss of revenue was ...
Jan 29, 2022•23 min
For those who wanted Breaking Walls episode 123 in the traditional format. ___________ In Breaking Walls episode 123 we open 2022 with a six-part mini-series on radio business and programming in 1954. We’ll begin with January, in a radio half-season that was for many, the end of the line. —————————— Highlights: • Ringing in the New Year with Fibber McGee and Molly • Gunsmoke’s Stage Holdup • People Are Funny is Radio’s Top-Rated Show • January 1954 with Ozzie, Harriet, David, and Ricky • Jack Be...
Jan 19, 2022•2 hr 23 min
Next time on Breaking Walls, we move into February and discuss polio, falling ratings points, and radio profit margins. ___________ The reading material used in today’s episode was: • The General: David Sarnoff & The Rise of the Communications Industry - by Kenneth Bilby • On the Air — By John Dunning • Network Radio Ratings — by Jim Ramsburg As well as articles from: • Broadcasting Magazine • LIFE Magazine • Time Magazine ___________ On the interview front: • John Guedel, Phil Leslie, and D...
Jan 17, 2022•5 min
Back in July of 1935, head of RCA David Sarnoff asked friend and inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong to remove his experimental FM equipment from RCA’s Empire State Building Laboratory. RCA wanted to test its TV system. ___________ Armstrong saw FM as a revolutionary new communications service that would make AM obsolete. Sarnoff thought it an important advancement and wanted it to be TVs audio supplement, but he didn’t see FM as a new core technology. Without the backing of Sarnoff, Armstrong decid...
Jan 15, 2022•6 min
Amanda Randolph was born on September 2nd, 1896 in Louisville, Kentucky. Her father was a methodist minister and her mother a teacher, but she would find her calling in music, vaudeville, and eventually radio. ___________ A star by 1948, she led her own musical TV program for the DuMont network. It made her the first African-American woman with her own daytime TV show. ___________ Her sister Lilian was also a big radio performer, starring in both The Great Gildersleeve, and Amos ‘n’ Andy. ______...
Jan 12, 2022•8 min
By the mid 1950s, smog was becoming a serious problem in American cities, especially Los Angeles. On January 15th, 1954 KNX broadcast a special called “The Troubled Air.” ___________ Residents of Los Angeles suffered from burning eyes, runny noses, persistent cough and shortness of breath. It came from pollutants caused by automobiles, factories, and garbage incinerators. This documentary aired in an effort to drive awareness, and speed-up City Hall’s solution to the problem. ___________ Five da...
Jan 10, 2022•4 min
Although Jack Benny spent his TV time on September 13th, 1953 dreaming of being with Marilyn Monroe, on January 15th, 1954 she was officially taken off the market. That day she and retired baseball star Joe DiMaggio were married at San Francisco’s city hall. They would divorce the following year, but remain close friends for the rest of her life. ___________ Airing in his familiar Sundays at 7PM eastern time slot, in 1954 Benny had a radio rating of 8.2, second-highest on the air. For twenty yea...
Jan 09, 2022•30 min
Under the sponsorship of Heinz Foods, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet moved to ABC’s potent Friday night schedule on October 14th, 1949. Ozzie Nelson had negotiated a ten year, non-cancellable contract. It guaranteed him complete creative control. ABC also had the option to bring the show to TV after 1951. Ozzie and Harriet were weary of the new medium. Universal Studios gave them the opportunity to make a film, and in 1952 the family starred in Here Come The Nelsons. The film was a hit, and...
Jan 05, 2022•19 min
People are Funny debuted on April 10th, 1942 on NBC. It was created by gameshow maven John Guedel. He was a jack of all trades who’d spent time as a WPA ditch digger, a traveling salesman, and a collector of his own rejection slips. By the fall of 1943, Guedel had negotiated a large raise from the initial production offer and made Art Linkletter the sole emcee. People Are Funny became a Friday night staple throughout the 1940s. In addition Guedel would create House Party and You Bet Your Life. B...
Jan 03, 2022•19 min
When Gunsmoke was sponsored for a single broadcast on November 21st 1952, by Chrysler Plymouth, the show drew a good rating against ABC’s This is Your FBI, and was heard by roughly 8 million people. After eighteen months on the air, on October 3rd, 1953, the critically acclaimed show got sponsorship from General Foods’ Post Toasties. But the sponsorship ended thirteen weeks later on December 26th. The show continued to air, sustained by CBS, on Saturdays at 8:30PM. The next week, on January 2nd,...
Jan 01, 2022•17 min
The United States entered 1954 in an uncertain position. Years of racial discrimination were coming to the forefront. In May, Brown vs. the Board of Education would make racial segregation in schools illegal. ___________ The Korean War was over, but the communist Red Scare was reaching its height.Dwight D. Eisenhower was completing his first year as U.S. President. Elizabeth II was now Queen of England. Joseph Stalin was dead. So was Hank Williams, Maude Adams, Jim Thorpe, Herman Mankiewicz, Doo...
Dec 30, 2021•31 min
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 98: Christmas Week 1947 with Radio's Biggest Stars ———————————— For the four major radio networks, 1947 was a year or record business: ABC saw a 7.25% gross billings increase. NBC sold out its entire primetime programming block. CBS had seventeen shows with ratings higher than fifteen. And Mutual Broadcasting had the most affiliates in the country. Total radio revenue was over five-hundred million dollars. There were now more than thirty-six million ...
Dec 09, 2021•11 min
In Breaking Walls episode 122 we spend the holidays in the old west with Jimmy Stewart, director Jack Johnstone, and The Six Shooter. —————————— Highlights: • Jack Johnstone’s Early Radio Career • The State of Network Radio in December of 1953 • James Stewart on the Hollywood Star Playhouse • The Six Shooter Launches • A Pressing Engagement • The Radio Industry - More Than Kin • Britt Ponsett’s Christmas Carol • Britt Ponsett Rides Off Into the Sunset • Looking Ahead of January 1954 —————————— T...
Nov 27, 2021•2 hr 50 min
On Easter Sunday in 1982, Dennis Day was a guest of John Dunning's radio show for 71KNUS in Denver. The two spoke about Day's life and career, which naturally led to his association with Jack Benny. In this clip, Dennis Day talks about his first experience performing for TV in late 1946 and Benny's transition from radio to the small screen.
Nov 24, 2021•2 min
In Breaking Walls episode 121, we finish our Americana mini-series by coming home for November’s festivities. We’ll cheer for the home team, taste the best turkey dressing, and remember what’s most important with some of radio’s best. —————————— Highlights: • What Can We Be Thankful For? • Thanksgiving with The Answer Man and Radio’s Origin • Ken Carpenter and One Man’s Family • The Columbia Workshop Relaunches • Hearts in Harmony • Damon Runyon’s Football Homecoming • John Brown’s Communist Tro...
Oct 29, 2021•3 hr 12 min
In Breaking Walls episode 120, we continue our Americana mini-series in autumn with a host of harvest-centered radio programing. We’ll warm by the fire and listen in on stories from some of the medium’s most prominent. —————————— Highlights: • Welcome to October, Welcome to Harvest Season • Fibber and Molly Launches • Feast from Cavalcade’s Harvest • Mel and Dennis Get Their Own Shows • Gale Gordon’s Green Acres • How Mild Can Richard Diamond on ABC Be? • From Peary to Waterman as Gildy Changes ...
Sep 26, 2021•3 hr 6 min
In Breaking Walls episode 119 we continue our Americana mini-series by bringing our appetites to the diner. We’ll hear stories from some of radio’s best and center ourselves around shows taking place in establishments. —————————— Highlights: • What Exactly is a Diner? • Lux Presents Hollywood • Suspense At the End of World War II • The Diner After World War II • Bill Conrad, Burt Lancaster, and The Killers • ABC Takes Friday Nights With This Is Your FBI • Frank Sinatra and His Rocky Fortune • Go...
Aug 28, 2021•3 hr 5 min
Conductor Howard Barlow, who'd later go on to be known as "the voice of Firestone," was conducting in-studio for CBS during their first big broadcast in 1927. In this clip, recorded for Westinghouse's 50th anniversary in 1970, he talks about the in-studio confusion during those early days.
Aug 28, 2021•2 min
Barbara Walters interviewed George Burns for 20/20 in 1979. During the course of the interview George spoke about marrying Gracie while performing on the vaudeville circuit.
Aug 25, 2021•46 sec
In August of 1982 SPERDVAC (www.sperdvac.com) hosted a CBS panel at the Thousand Oaks Library in California. The panel featured some of the best known radio character actors of the 1940s and 1950s. When the panel was asked about their recollections of Frontier Gentleman and Antony Ellis, Frontier Gentleman star John Dehner had this to say.
Aug 22, 2021•1 min
Corey Ford was an American humorist, author, outdoorsman, screenwriter, and occasional member of the famed Algonquin Round Table in New York City. He penned several famous works, including the 1946 Cloak and Dagger. It became a film starring Gary Cooper, Lili Palmer, and Robert Alda. It’s the story of an undercover agent for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, on a mission to make contact with a Hungarian nuclear physicist, and thwart a German nuclear project. The film earned m...
Aug 20, 2021•30 min
In September of 1972, former NBC engineer and producer Aldo Gizalbert sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for their Hartford, CT-based WTIC Golden Age of Radio Program (full interview here - https://goldenage-wtic.org/gaor-30.html). Mr. Gizalbert speaks in this clip about the early days of NBC's programming at Radio City.
Aug 18, 2021•3 min
On August 6th, 1976 Chuck Schaden sat down with Norman Corwin for a conversation about the latter's life and career (full interview here). During the course of the conversation, they touched on Corwin's VJ-Day piece, "Fourteen August," which aired over CBS on August 14th, 1945.
Aug 14, 2021•27 sec
On August 14th, 1945 after the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan accepted the United States' terms of surrender, officially ending World War II. That evening, Norman Corwin produced a special broadcast commemorating this event. Because the staff at CBS was unsure if and when Japan would accept the US' surrender terms, Corwin had very little time to prepare this piece. What he did prepare was a self-aware, fitting epitaph for the people of an exhausted nation. Orson Welles was the...
Aug 13, 2021•16 min
In the winter of 1945 there were many soldiers who were still injured and recovering in army hospitals across the world. To help pay back its war debt, the people of the United States banded together through donations, bond purchasing, and spreading glad tidings and good cheer. Sadie Marks (Mary Livingston) spoke this Red Cross PSA at the end of the December 2nd, 1945 episode of the Jack Benny Program. The PSA is followed by a show-closing Lucky Strike commercial that is comical by today's stand...
Aug 12, 2021•2 min
