Breaking Walls

Enjoy this classic 1968 musical bumper from NBC's Monitor, and tune into Breaking Walls Episode 116: The Launch of NBC’s Monitor (1955) to learn more about this seminal radio programming service that ran for almost twenty years.

In Breaking Walls episode 116, it’s June of 1955 and network radio is in uncharted territory. TV’s encroachment has the entire industry looking for new ideas. We’ll focus on the launch of one of the most successful—Monitor—which will air in some form or fashion until January of 1975.

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Highlights:

• The Changing Network Radio Landscape

• Who Is Sylvester “Pat” Weaver?

• Monitor Origins

• Building the Team

• Radio Central

• The Soft Launch

• An Auto Tragedy at Le Mans

• Going to San Quentin Prison

• Lots of Tunes in Remote

• A Potential United Automobile Workers Strike

• Dave Garroway Interviews Marilyn Monroe, live on Monitor

• Fibber McGee and Gildy Too

• Here’s Henry Morgan

• Monitor’s Last Hour

• Miss Monitor Finally Makes an Appearance

• The Full Launch

• Looking Ahead in Time and Space

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The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

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The reading material used in today’s episode was:

On the Air - By John Dunning

Monitor: Take 2: By Dennis Hart

Network Radio Ratings — by Jim Ramsburg

Articles from:

Broadcasting-Telecasting Magazine

Monthly Labor Review

The New York Daily News

The New York Times

Newsweek

Printer’s Ink

Variety

As well as the websites:

http://accordions.com/ for their interview with Art Van Damme

Dennis Hart’s http://monitorbeacon.net/

http://tipsontables.com/

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On the interview front:

• Pat Weaver was interviewed for Fred Allen’s May 29th, 1956 Biography In Sound.

• Ben Grauer was interviewed for NBC’s 50th Anniversary and Westinghouse’ 50th Anniversary.

• Dave Garroway and Willard Waterman spoke with Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• Jim Jordan was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear this full interview at Goldenage-WTIC.org.

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Shangri-La — By the New Spike Jones Band

• Maris’ Farewell — By George Winston

• Moon Moods — By Les Baxter & His Orchestra

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Special thanks to:

The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com/

The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

https://www.ghoulishdelights.com/

Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://www.twelvechimesradio.com/

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Subscribe to Burning Gotham—the new audio drama set in 1835 New York City. It’s available everywhere you get your podcasts and at BurningGotham.com.

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A massive thank you to Gordon Skene and Dennis Hart for their contributions to this episode. Gordon maintains a tremendous sound collection. You can visit his site at PastDaily.com.

Dennis Hart is the preeminent Monitor researcher. If this subject interests you pick up Monitor: Take 2, or go to MonitorBeacon.net.

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Thank you to:

Tony Adams

Steven Allmon

Orson Orsen Chandler

Phil Erickson

Briana Isaac

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Chris Pilkington

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WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

On November 24th, 1954 Fred Allen was a guest of Tex and Jinx's New York talk show for a discussion about his life and career. It was recorded on a grey, rainy Wednesday before Thanksgiving in Peacock Alley at The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York city.

In Fred's first memoir, Treadmill to Oblivion, he explained that giveaway programs played a large part in killing radio. During the course of the interview, he explained how.

Allen shows up in numerous episodes of Breaking Walls, including BW - EP81: The Fred Allen Show—His Life On The Air (1932 - 1956), BW - EP92: Radio And Coney Island (1906 - 1960), and BW - EP111: NBC Answers the CBS Talent Raids (1949)

In November of 1970, director Bill Spier and actress June Havoc sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio to talk about their individual and conjoined careers.

At the time, Bill and June had been married for twenty-three years. It was a guest role on Suspense that introduced the two. During the course of the conversation, Bill explained why a-list actors wanted to appear in starring roles on the show.

The full interview is here - https://goldenage-wtic.org/gaor-08.html

On May 25th, 1943 Agnes Moorehead guest-starred on The Columbia Broadcasting System's Suspense. The play was the very first broadcast of Lucille Fletcher's soon-to-be famous, "Sorry, Wrong Number." This is that broadcast in its original form, complete with the blown ending that necessitated (along with the popularity of the broadcast with listeners) for the play to be redone in August.

Joseph Kearns was The Man in Black. It is, perhaps, the single most famous Suspense play in radio history.

On November 24th, 1954 Fred Allen was a guest of Tex and Jinx's New York talk show for a discussion about his life and career. During the course of the interview, Allen recounted a demonstration he gave to a friend about the power of radio as an advertising medium.

Allen shows up in numerous episodes of Breaking Walls, including BW - EP81: The Fred Allen Show—His Life On The Air (1932 - 1956), BW - EP92: Radio And Coney Island (1906 - 1960), and BW - EP111: NBC Answers the CBS Talent Raids (1949)

When Jack Benny passed away on December 26th, 1974 after a short battle with cancer at the age of 80, it was Jack's best friend George Burns who was supposed to eulogize him at Benny's funeral. Burns attempted to, but was overcome with emotion and unable to continue.

Bob Hope, another close friend and long-time comedy peer, delivered one of the most poignant speeches of his lifetime. This is a portion of it, recorded live at Jack Benny's funeral.

In June of 1983, Jack Carney broadcast a two-part audio documentary on the life and career of Jack Benny featuring interviews and recollections with the cast, and audio from the show.

During the first part of the documentary, in an interview recorded years before, the late Jack Benny spoke of the importance of organic character and joke development on the Jack Benny Program.

In May of 1955, radio’s highest rated show was still The Jack Benny Program. Just under three-million homes tuned in, and many more in their cars. On May 22nd after twenty-three seasons on the air, Jack Benny brought his radio show to a close. At the time, the cast and crew didn't realize this would be their last new radio program, so there was no big sendoff. However, In the fall, Benny and his program would move solely into TV.

This is the last episode.

In January of 1976, famed radio director William N. Robson was a guest of Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran's on WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio (full interview here - https://www.goldenage-wtic.org/gaor-70.html).

During the course of the conversation, Mr. Robson expressed his feelings on the death of dramatic radio, a medium in which he captivated audiences for almost thirty years. He didn't hold back. Rarely did he ever.