In 1946 he purchased his own radio station, KNET/Palestine. The year after he moved to Dallas, Texas and launched KLIF, the station was mainly used for baseball and sports broadcasting but this was not enough to keep the station afloat. He then created the show The Old Scotchman and aired re-creations of games with the help of sound effects and wire service reports. These were played over 400 stations by the Liberty Broadcasting System. In 1950 he made KLIF one of America's first Top 40 stations, and each month dropped thousands on stunts and contests to promote the station. [2]
Edward R. Murrow
One of the most notable news anchors in radio history, his signature tag line being “This…is London” Edward would broacast the news into the homes of Americans giving the play by play of what was happening over seas in during the war. Starting in 1935 he joined CBS as a manager and started the CBS news legacy. He would risk his personal safety by reporting from the rooftops of London during the German Blitz in 1940. [2]
Jose Miguel Agrelot
A famous Hispanic radio host, also a television host, stand-up comedian, and media icon; Jose was well known for having multiple character personalities. It was said they were somewhere in the upwards of 200, Jose had a popular character by the name of Don Cholito and “Torito Fuertes,” a mischievous eight-year-old in a family sitcom endorsed by Borden’s evaporated milk. Jose started working with radio at the young age of 14.[2]
CBS World News Roundup
The CBS World News Roundup began on March 13, 1938. It was used to keep the people in the United States informed on the growing tensions in Europe which eventually resulted in what we know as World War II. The most famous reporter was Edward R. Murrow, who gave reports from London. His colleague William L. Shirer giving reports from Berlin; the two were essential for anyone interested in the events taking place over seas. The program has outstanding in-depth coverage and still runs on CBS today, making it the longest running radio news program. [2]
Bob & Ray
Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding would come together in 1946 to run a radio comedy that would last for forty years. The two were known for their "improvisation, and a keen understanding of the absurd." Their daily show on WHDH was Matinee With Bob & Ray. From there the show left Boston and went to to be broadcasted as The Bob and Ray Show. Appearing on NBC, CBS, the Mutual Broadcasting System, and New York stations WINS, WOR and WHN. The popular characters on the show were Mary McGoon, "adenoidal reporter Wally Ballou and incompetent showman Barry Campbell."[2]
Eve Arden
Starting radio in 1945 on the CBS show The Danny Kaye Show; Eve also co-starred on The Sealtest Village Store. Then owner of Columbia Broadcast System William S. Paley offered her a title role on a new series called Our Miss Brooks. Eve portrayed a school teacher by the name of Connie Brooks, as clever, sarcastic, and kindhearted. The show premiered July 19th, 1948. A comedy soap opera sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive-Peet, promoting Palmolive soap.[2]
Fred Foy
His career in radio started in 1940 with WMBC/Detroit. He is most remembered for his announcing during World War 2. He was place at Unit/Armed Forces Radio, stationed in Cairo, where he worked alongside greats like Jack Benny and Nelson Eddy. His commercial career can be summed up with these words: “Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...” Fred as the narrator for The Lone Ranger, his delivery helped the programs popularity rise throughout the years.[2]
Milo Hamilton
A sports broadcaster who has witnessed some of the biggest moments in baseball history. He started in radio back in 1945, then in 1953 got a job working for St. Louis Browns. He has also announced for teams such as: Cardinals, Cubs, White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Pirates and Houston Astros. Milo has witnessed nine no hitters and Ernie Banks' five grand slams in a season, Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961. He also announced Hank Aaron's legendary 715th home run in April 1974.[2]
Glen Miller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQseFAcWvtE
The Land of the Lost
A childrens show starting around 1940, kids would send "letters written about something they lost and wanted to have returned." The show was created by by Isabelle Manning Hughson, a female radio pioneer, The Land of the Lost is a children's adventure program about two children who travel "in that wonderful kingdom at the bottom of the sea." The show was about discovering lost items at the bottom of the ocean floor.[6]
American Portraits
The show tells history and discusses the lives of famous historical figures in America. " This old time radio program attempts to humanize figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin), and many others." In my opinion the show was very educational and is what I would consider the History Channel version in radio.[6]
Black Museum
A crime drama from the 50s, the show is "based on Scotland Yard’s Black Museum (aka Crime Museum) in London, where crime artifacts are stored." The shows narrator Orson Welles takes the listener on a journey as he described the story behind each item located in the museum. Most revolve around horrific murders and such; the show sounds very interesting to me and each story is loosely based on a real crime story and object from the museum. Theres no way to prove what aspects of the story are real but I guess that's what makes the show exciting.[6]
Can You Top This
The comedians on the show Ed Ford, Harry Hershfield, and Joe Laurie Jr. received jokes each week from the listeners. The guidelines were "jokes could be sent in about any subject except religion, politics or arson." "Ed, Harry and Joe then had to top the joke with another joke of the same subject. Whether the joke was “topped” was judged by the Colgate Laugh Meter, a giant smiling man’s face with a meter that moved with the live audiences laughter." I personally would love to see a show like this still on radio or television, maybe even a podcast, but with todays degenerate humor I doubt it would even be possible. It was a game show too, "their joke was read on the air, listeners received $5. They received an additional $2 per non-topping jokester."[6]
Murder at Midnight
Starting in 1946, "The classic series, Murder at Midnight, offers stories of the "witching hour, when night is darkest, our fears are the strongest, our strength at its lowest ebb -- MIDNIGHT!" I've never heard a horror show on the radio, I really only watch horror movies, but this could work. If the narrator of the show is top notch, I could find myself being scared listening to this radio program, otherwise, it is probably pretty corny. Nothing is worse than a low-budget horror story, unless you're watching it for laughs.[6]
The Whistler
"These are tales of mystery and terror, begun each week with the signature echoing footsteps and haunting whistled theme. Our host is the moody Whistler, who serves as host and narrator in these twisted tales of fate." Not to be harsh but this show does not sound appealing, it was produced by George Allen and it features many famous radio stars in each episode. The narrator was Bill Forman for the majority of the series run, and "Dorothy Roberts did the whistling weekly for 13 years."[6]
Bill Sterns Sports Reel
His show was based around tall tales of "horses winning races with dead jockeys on their backs, to armless and/or legless baseball players, to a blind athlete winning a marathon but lose his only love." He was famous for his portrayal of the stories, "long, overstated pauses, soap-opera-like vocal emotion, relentless repetition, and major exaggerated words in every sentence." The show was sponsored by Colgate Shave Cream.[6]
Mr. President
"Mr. President was a show that told stories about the Commanders-in-chief of the Union and about their untold tales about everyday life while in residency in the White House." The narrator Edward Arnold would never reveal the identity of the President in the story. It was the job of the listeners to guess who the president was. Personally this show sounds quite interesting, but any history buff could probably crack the case pretty quickly. I think a show like this should be put on CD and used for tests in history class, that be educational and fun.[6]
Silent Men
The show was "stories about "the special agents of all branches of our federal government, who daily risk their lives to protect the lives of all of us … to guard our welfare and our liberties, they must remain nameless - THE SILENT MEN!!" According to my source the show only lasted a year,(1951-1952) it does not specify why but I think the show sounds really interesting. It's seems like it's a superhero but he works for the government and doesn't have special abilities. Almost like an old-school Agent Jack Bauer.[6]
Space Patrol
The show was famous for using "whooshy and rumbling sound effects instead of music." The unique market catchphrase for the show was adding an "o" after things. So "cool names like spaceophones, projectoscopes and atomolights" are very similar to Apple with iPod, iTouch, etc. The catch phrase: "High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with Buzz Corey, commander-in-chief of the Space Patrol! "[6]
Theater Royal
Originally an English show, which was later syndicated for the United States, the format is "based on the best of literature, such as Dumas, Conrad, Stevenson, Dickens, James, and London." The show started in 1954 and featured fine British actors such as: "Robert Morley, Harry Andrews, Muriel Forbes and Daphne Maddox." I personally do not find this in the least bit interesting, and literature based radio sounds boring, definitely a British thing to do.[6]
Ever been in a long car ride and you need a game to play? Well this is where that came from, apparently "The simple game of 20 questions became a surprisingly popular old time radio show, running for almost 10 years. In its first summer, between 10,000 and 20,000 letters came rumbling into the show weekly!" It was a game show and on air personalities such as Herb Polesie "offered comic relief with his questions such as “Can I give it to my mother-in-law?” or “Can I do it to my wife?” I really wish this were still around today, I would love to call in on a game show like this, but with today's people it would probably just get prank calls involving Howard Sterns genitals as the punchline.[6]
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