This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 96: Halloween On The Air (1943 - 1953)

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Sherlock Holmes peaked on radio between 1939 and 1946 with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce playing Holmes and Watson. They made fourteen films during this time, and their rating climbed to 14.1 in 1942 on NBC.

The next year, the entire cast moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System. They remained for three seasons until Holmes left for ABC. Basil Rathbone stayed with Mutual to star in a new series called Scotland Yard.

Nigel Bruce stayed on as Watson while Tom Conway became Holmes. When the Semler Company discontinued sponsorship in the spring of 1947, ABC cancelled the show.

That summer Clipper Craft Clothing signed to pay the bills. The show moved back to Mutual with John Stanley as Holmes and Alfred Shirley as Watson.

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes signed on the air Saturdays at 7PM. On October 26th, Holmes and Watson tackled the case of the Laughing Lemur.

That season, the Holmes rating was only 9.9. No incarnation cracked the top one-hundred programs on American radio ever again.