Radio History: Oct 14

➦In 1934..."Lux Radio Theater" premiered.

Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934-35); CBS Radio (1935-54), and NBC Radio (1954-55). Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years and continued on television as the Lux Video Theatre through most of the 1950s.

Broadcasting from New York, the series premiered at 2:30pm, October 14, 1934, on the NBC Blue Network with a production of Seventh Heaven starring Miriam Hopkins and John Boles in a full-hour adaptation of the 1922–24 Broadway production by Austin Strong. The host was the show's fictional producer, Douglass Garrick (portrayed by John Anthony). Doris Dagmar played another fictional character, Peggy Winthrop, who delivered the Lux commercials. Each show featured a scripted session with Garrick talking to the lead actors. Anthony appeared as Garrick from the premiere 1934 episode until June 30, 1935. Garrick was portrayed by Albert Hayes from July 29, 1935 to May 25, 1936, when the show moved to the West Coast.

Cecil B. DeMille took over as the host on June 1, 1936, continuing until January 22, 1945. On several occasions, usually when he was out of town, he was temporarily replaced by various celebrities, including Leslie Howard and Edward Arnold.

Lux Radio Theatre strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance. In 1936, when sponsor Lever Brothers (who made Lux soap and detergent) moved the show from New York City to Hollywood, the program began to emphasize adaptations of films rather than plays. The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the movie's stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell.

➦In 1939...BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) formed

➦In 1943...RCA (Radio Corporation of America) sold the NBC Blue Radio Network to Edward Noble for $8 million dollars. It was renamed ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.

Although RCA was identified as the creator of the network, NBC was actually owned 50% by RCA, 30% by General Electric, and 20% by Westinghouse. The network officially was launched at 8:00 Eastern time on the evening of Monday, November 15, 1926.

"The most pretentious broadcasting program ever presented, featuring among others, world famed stars never before heard on the air, will mark the Introduction of the National Broadcasting Company to the public Monday night," the press noted, with "a four hour radio performance by noted stars of opera, stage and concert hall".  The broadcast was made simultaneously on WEAF and WJZ. Some of NBC's programming was broadcast that evening on WEEI (Boston) WLIT (Philadelphia), WRC (Washington), WDAF (Kansas City), and WWJ (Detroit)., noted by the different background color. NBC Blue would utilize this logo until their 1943 sale.

On January 1, 1927, NBC formally divided the its programming along two networks. The two NBC networks did not have distinct identities or "formats." The NBC Red Network, with WEAF as its flagship station and a stronger line-up of affiliated stations, often carried the more popular, "big budget" sponsored programs. The Blue Network and WJZ carried with a somewhat smaller line-up of often lower powered stations sold program time to advertisers at a lower cost. It often carried newer, untried programs (which, if successful, often moved "up" to the Red Network), lower cost programs and un-sponsored or "sustaining" programs (which were often news, cultural and educational programs). In many cities in addition to New York, the two NBC affiliated stations (Red and Blue) were operated as duopolies, having the same owners and sharing the same staff and facilities.

Legend has it that the color designations originated from the color of the push-pins early engineers used to designate affiliates of WEAF (red pins) and WJZ (blue pins), or from the use of double-ended red and blue colored pencils. A similar two-part/two-color strategy appeared in the recording industry, dividing the market between classical and popular offerings.

On April 5, 1927 NBC reached the West Coast with the launching of the NBC Orange Network, which rebroadcast Red Network programming to the Pacific states and had as its flagship station KGO in San Francisco. NBC Red then extended its reach into the midwest by acquiring two 50,000 watt clear-channel signals, Cleveland station WTAM on October 16, 1930 and Chicago station WMAQ (coincidenally, a CBS Radio Network charter affiliate) by 1931. On October 18, 1931, Blue Network programming was introduced along the NBC Gold Network, which broadcast from San Francisco's KPO. In 1936 the Orange Network name was dropped and affiliate stations became part of the Red Network. The Gold Network adopted the Blue Network name.

In 1939 the FCC ordered RCA to divest itself of one of the two networks. RCA fought the divestiture order, but divided NBC into two companies in 1940 in case an appeal was lost.

➦In 1971...Flashback with WCFL Music Survey..

➦In 1977... Entertainer Bing Crosby suffered a fatal heart attack while playing golf at a course near Madrid, Spain. The 73-year-old Crosby (with some 36 #1 records) had just completed a tour of England that included a sold-out engagement at the London Palladium.

During the "Golden Age of Radio", performers had to create their shows live, sometimes even redoing the program a second time for the west coast time zone.

Crosby's radio career took a significant turn in 1945, when he clashed with NBC over his insistence that he be allowed to pre-record his radio shows. The live production of radio shows was also reinforced by the musicians' union and ASCAP, which wanted to ensure continued work for their members. In On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, historian John Dunning wrote about German engineers having developed a tape recorder with a near-professional broadcast quality standard:

"[Crosby saw] an enormous advantage in prerecording his radio shows. The scheduling could now be done at the star's convenience. He could do four shows a week, if he chose, and then take a month off. But the networks and sponsors were adamantly opposed. The public wouldn't stand for 'canned' radio, the networks argued. There was something magic for listeners in the fact that what they were hearing was being performed and heard everywhere, at that precise instant. Some of the best moments in comedy came when a line was blown and the star had to rely on wit to rescue a bad situation. Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, and also Crosby were masters at this, and the networks weren't about to give it up easily."

Crosby's insistence eventually factored into the further development of magnetic tape sound recording and the radio industry's widespread adoption of it.  He used his clout, both professional and financial, to innovate new methods of reproducing audio of his performances. But NBC (and competitor CBS) were also insistent, refusing to air prerecorded radio programs. Crosby walked away from the network and stayed off the air for seven months, creating a legal battle with Kraft, his sponsor, that was settled out of court. Crosby returned to the air for the last 13 weeks of the 1945–1946 season.

Cliff Richard is 84

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Director Carroll Ballard (“The Black Stallion”) is 87. 
• Country singer Melba Montgomery is 87. 
• Singer Cliff Richard is 84. 
• Singer Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues is 78. 
• Actor Greg Evigan (“My Two Dads,” ″B.J. and the Bear”) is 71. 
• Singer Thomas Dolby is 66. 
• Actor Lori Petty (“A League of Their Own”) is 61. 
• Actor Steve Coogan (“Night at the Museum” movies) is 59. 
• Singer Karyn White is 59. 
• Actor Edward Kerr (“Pretty Little Liars,” “Snoops”) is 58. 
• Actor Jon Seda (“Chicago P.D.,” ″Homicide: Life On the Street”) is 54. 
• Bassist Doug Virden (Sons of the Desert) is 54. 
• Country singer Natalie Maines of The Chicks is 50. 
• Singer Shaznay Lewis of All Saints is 49. 
• Actor Stephen Hill (2018’s “Magnum, P.I.”) is 48. 
• Singer Usher is 46. 
• TV personality Stacy Keibler is 45. 
• Actor Ben Whishaw (“Paddington”) is 44. 
• Actor Skyler Shaye (“Bratz”) is 38. 
• Comedian Jay Pharoah (“Saturday Night Live”) is 37. 
• Actor Max Thieriot (“Fire Country,” “SEAL Team”) is 36.

✞REMEMBRANCES:

• In 1959..Errol Flynn, Australian actor (Captain Blood, Robin Hood), dies of a heart attack at 50
• In 1977..Bing Crosby, American singer ("White Christmas", "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy") and actor ("Going My Way"), dies of a heart attack at 74
• In 1990..Leonard Bernstein, American Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning conductor (New York Philharmonic, 1958-69; Israel Philharmonic; London Symphony), and composer (West Side Story; Chichester Psalms), dies of a heart attack at 72
• In 1998..Cleveland Amory, American animal rights activist and TV critic (TV Guide), dies at 81
• In 1998...Frankie Yankovic, American accordionist known as 'America's Polka King' and winner of 1st Grammy Award for Best Polka Recording, dies of heart failure at 83
• In 2020..Rhonda Fleming [Marilyn Louis], American actress and singer nicknamed the "Queen of Technicolor" (Spellbound), dies at 97
• In 2020..Steve York, British session and touring rock bassist (Vinegar Joe; Marianne Faithful; Dr. John), dies of cancer at 72