Historical Moments In Radio May 1996 The Year 1950 Historical Moments in Radio .. stories of the rich and exciting past on the a.m. radio dial .. and today I am delighted to bring you the latest news from the 1950 edition of the Broadcasting Magazine Yearbook. For many years, including 1950, the industry anxiously awaited the publication of this bible, some 544 pages measuring 9" by 12" of valued information about all aspects of radio and tv broadcasting. Now, after a few pages of index and ads by station representatives, we come to the U.S. Steel page where they confirm they will continue to sponsor the United States Steel Theatre Guild on the Air .. featuring top actors and actresses from the stage and screen who broadcast fine drama entertainment each week over the 164 radio stations of the National Broadcasting Company. But wait; something is wrong. For the first time since 1936, the networks had less profit in 1949 than in the preceeding year. True, spot sales on the local level had never been better, but there was a question buzzing through the halls at 30 Rock and over at the ABC, CBS and Mutual radio network offices that network radio programming had better start shaping up before there was a problem. A 2-page ad just beyond that analysis points out that in all advertising, there’s one ONE medium where ONE advertiser reaches over half the population of the country .. with ONE program .. and that’s on the CBS Radio Network. And then we come to around 400 pages of ads from radio stations .. the first is WBOC .. dominating Maryland’s second market .. ideal, they point out, as a test market along the eastern shore of Virginia, Maryland and southern Delaware. Next is WMBI, now 24 years old .. with AM and FM .. a pioneer Christian station, originating 250 programs every week. As we flip the pages of the yearbook we find full-page ads .. with lots of art work .. WJAS loves Columbia .. and Pittsburgh loves WJAS. The Quiz Kids are now available for local sponsorship .. Cleveland’s "OK" station .. WDOK is a new voice in northern Ohio .. at 1260 kc. WHAM covers 17 counties with a primary signal .. and its new sister station, WHAM-TV is affiliated with all four tv networks. I’ll bet you can’t name the four national tv networks but, at the end of this program I’ll tell you what they were. Hmm .. I’m glad I wasn’t the Program Director at WHAM-TV who had to decide which programs to carry and then to answer complaints about not carrying all the others! Here’s another radio ad: WLW reached 4 out of five radio homes each day during February and March, 1949 .. in 7 states .. well, in those parts of 7 states that lie within about 200 miles of Cincinnati. When you want Impact, you want WLW. 1000 Watt KIEM, Eureka, CA .. the Voice of the Redwoods .. proudly affiliated with the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System. Your bonus for advertising with us? It’s the 600,000 tourists each year who visit our region. Twelve per-cent of the audience in the nation’s third largest market tune to our long hair music on 1330, KFAC, Los Angeles. Hey, wait a minute, third largest market?? I guess it grew faster than Chicago after 1950. In Florida’s fastest growing market, WFLA delivers the BIG audience. Georgia’s largest mail pull station, WEAS .. 10,000 Watts at 1010 on your dial in Atlanta-Decatur. The Chicago perimeter .. 4 station coverage .. spot radio sold in combination on WJOL-Joliet, WKRS-Waukegan, WJOB-Hammond and WRMN-Elgin. The Peak in Topeka .. WREN, an ABC affiliate. The Nation’s Newest Blue Ribbon Market .. we’re now 103rd among the Nation’s top major metropolitan areas .. and WJBO dominates Baton Rouge. We Excel In Merchandising .. 250 Watts with Mutual and Yankee .. those are the plus values in the Fitchburg market. Your Home Station in the Detroit Area .. WEXL in Royal Oak. Silent Cal started the Northwest’s biggest voice .. yes, in 1928, President Calvin Coolidge touched a golden key at the White House and put KSTP on the air .. Nobody but Nobody knows the Italian audience better than .. WHOM-1480 in New York. The only station that actually delivers comprehensive coverage in the fastest growing market in the nation .. KGW, Portland. The greatest primary signal in the Lehigh Valley, WAEB, Allentown .. also serving Easton and Bethlehem .. just like the call letters would suggest. The oldest CBS affiliate in Texas is now the exclusive CBS voice for Dallas and Fort Worth .. KRLD, the only full-time 50,000 Watt station in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. (Of course, you must understand that WBAP at 820 was also 50,000 Watts .. but they only were on the air half of each day. And what about the other half of the day on 820? Oh, that was covered by WFAA, another 50,000 Watt station that shared time with WBAP on 820 (and also on 570 .. but that’s another story). So the KRLD claim that they were the only full time 50,000 Watt station was quite true! Misleading, perhaps, but true. Well, that’s all the time we’ve got for this Historical Moment .. Oh! The four national tv networks were ABC, CBS, NBC and DuMont .. I guess one of the most successful of the DuMont shows was the weekly Ernie Kovacs Program .. it ended the week he died in an auto accident in California .. the network went defunct not too long after that .. and the rest is history. This is John Bowker.