Breaking Walls

On November 10th, 1970, comedy legend Milton Berle was a guest of Chuck Schaden's radio program (full interview here - www.speakingofradio.com/interviews/be…milton-actor/)... Early in the conversation recorded in the Green Room at the Mill Run Theatre in suburban Chicago, Berle recalled his first showbiz gig.

This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 98: Christmas Week 1947 with Radio's Biggest Stars

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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 radio homes, and urban centers accounted for 60% of the US population.

It was in this season that Milton Berle finally established himself on radio. The Milton Berle Show was one of a half-dozen titles showcasing Berle in his star-crossed radio career. Until 1946 he was considered radio’s best-known ratings failure.

But NBC saw potential in Berle where CBS had failed. In March of 1947 they gave him his own variety show, sponsored by Philip Morris. It featured some of radio’s top comedic talent, like Arnold Stang, Pert Kelton, Arthur Q. Bryan, Jack Albertson, Ed Begley and Frank Gallop.

In its second season on NBC Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m, the show’s audience jumped 40% and Berle finally cracked radio’s Top 50. In December his rating was 17.5 against Big Town on CBS.

There will be a programming format change coming to Breaking Walls beginning on January 1st, 2022.

Going forward, I’ll be releasing each episode in parts. These parts will be available on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Once all parts of an episode are released, I’ll release the full-length episode for those who want to listen to it in the traditional format.

It's an easier way to break down content, to get content up onto Youtube, which requires all files uploaded to be a movie file, and to make the parts of each episode more easily digestible for you, the audience.

If you want to listen to new episodes in the traditional full-length format immediately, as of January 1st, you'll be able to do so at Patreon.com/TheWallBreakers for as little as $1 per month.

If you have any questions, email me: [email protected]

On October 17th, 1984, Chuck Schaden sat down for a conversation with longtime friend Jim Jordan about his life and career (full interview here - www.speakingofradio.com/interviews/jo…m-1984-actor/). During the course of the chat Jim Jordan spoke about working after his late wife, actress Marian Driscoll Jordan, passed away in 1961.

This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 98: Christmas Week 1947 with Radio's Biggest Stars

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On Tuesday nights in December of 1947, NBC ran four of the top thirteen shows on the air with Amos n’ Andy, Fibber McGee & Molly, The Bob Hope Show, and The Red Skelton Show.

Jim and Marion Jordan were in the midst of their ninth consecutive season with a top-three rated show. In December, their show rating was 29.9. Unfortunately for Fibber, he's lost his keys right in the middle of a snowstorm. His key ring contains the key to his hall closet where all the Christmas presents are stored.

Eighty years ago when The University of Chicago Round Table took to the air over NBC's Red network at 2:30PM Eastern time, President Roosevelt had just announced the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

There were numerous cut-ins for further announcements during this program. A bulletin occurred at 2:39PM announcing the air attacks on Manila. At 2:52PM it was announced that the Japanese were bombing Burma. The United States of America would soon declare war on Japan.

This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 98: Christmas Week 1947 with Radio's Biggest Stars

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At 11:30AM Pacific Time on Christmas Morning in 1947, as families were opening their homes to loved ones, King George VI’s Royal Christmas Message was delivered from England, and broadcast over all CBS stations.

King George said "the unity and steadfastness of the British Commonwealth and Empire, saved the liberties of the world." He called on listeners not to doubt their will to win in the face of post-war challenges.

In Los Angeles, opposite on Mutual’s affiliate, KHJ in its regular time slot was Queen For a Day.

At 1PM Pacific Time over all CBS stations, The Elgin Watch Company broadcast their sixth annual Christmas Special. Like their Thanksgiving special the previous month, it featured a numerous entertainment celebs offering seasons greetings. Opposite NBC broadcast an orchestral Christmas concert featuring Thomas L. Thomas.

The morning NBC News broadcast with John Cameron Swayze from December 1st, 1947.

In December 1947, The UNs’ partitioning of Palestine into Arab and Jewish quarters touched off a series of riots on its only neutral site, Jerusalem. The holy ground was in shambles. The UN’s decision led to Civil War and riots in other parts of the world.

This is Your FBI debuted over ABC in New York in April of 1945. It ran stories from official Federal case files and was sponsored by the Equitable Life Assurance Society. After it cracked radio’s top-twenty-five in 1947, ABC moved the series to the west coast.

Now recording from KECA in Hollywood, famed radio character actor Stacy Harris took the lead of Special Agent Jim Taylor.

In December of 1948, This is Your FBI gave ABC something it lacked on any other evening: the highest rated show on the air. That month, the show’s rating was 16.2, while Jimmy Durante fell to a 14.3 for NBC and Easy Aces pulled a 13.4 on CBS.

On Christmas Eve 1948, This Is Your FBI broadcast an episode entitled “The Return of Saint Nick” about a pageant Santa who inexplicably runs away from his favorite holiday event.

This is Your FBI proved that even G-men celebrate Christmas.

This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 98: Christmas Week 1947 with Radio's Biggest Stars

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President Truman spent only two Christmas’ at the White House during his tenure. The first was in 1947. It preceded the extensive renovations the Presidential Mansion would undergo during Truman’s second term.

On Christmas Eve, at 5PM eastern time, live from The White House, all four networks broadcast the annual Christmas Tree ceremony. President Truman and his daughter Margaret lit the main tree on the South Grounds before heading back inside to celebrate the Holiday. The President spent his Christmas Morning visiting with patients at the Naval Medical Center and the Walter Reed Hospital.

The General Mills sponsored Lone Ranger from WXYZ in Detroit first began airing on January 31st, 1933. The next year it became one of the cornerstone programs which led to the formation of the Mutual Broadcasting System. The show moved to the Blue Network in 1942 and would remain on the network after it became ABC.

In the fall of 1947, after 15 years in the same Monday-Wednesday-Friday time slots, The Lone Ranger nearly doubled its previous season’s rating. It was the only program airing multiple times per-week to crack the season’s top fifty, climbing all the way to 35th with a rating of 16.4.

It would remain the number one multiple run program for the next three seasons. On Christmas Eve, 1947 at 7:30PM Eastern Time while families gathered around the table, kids everywhere snuck away to hear The Lone Ranger’s broadcast of “The Mission Bells.”