''The Ford Show Featuring Bing Crosby'' was a 5-minute CBS network radio show broadcast from 1957 to 1958. It included an opening theme, one or two songs by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

, commercials by Ken Carpenter, closing theme, and on occasion a guest such as

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...

Overview

These were not live programs but were taped segments put together by Crosby's editor, Murdo MacKenzie. Bill Morrow wrote the scripts and produced the show; and Ken Carpenter was the commercial announcer. The music was taken from the substantial library of songs recorded with Buddy Cole and His Trio. The Ford Road Shows were not confined to Bing Crosby exclusively. The advertising technique, devised by the ad agency

J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...

was to keep

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

cars in front of the public by radio “saturation.” Thus, five-minute segments were sponsored for news and commentary as well as for entertainment. The other Ford Road Shows featured Rosemary Clooney, chit chat by

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...

and news by

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe f ...

. The Ford sponsorship covered 21 shows a week for a total of $3.5 million. Rosemary Clooney's Road Shows also employed Buddy Cole and His Trio, which later led to a merger of Crosby and Clooney's shows into the Crosby-Clooney programs of 1960-62. The 5-minute programs were scattered through the program day, five days a week. Crosby's program was aired on CBS twice on Sunday, then Monday-Wednesday-Friday and on alternate weeks, Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. It is believed that 286 of these shows were produced for the series, which started Monday, September 2, 1957 and ended Sunday, August 31, 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford Road Show Featuring Bing Crosby, The American variety radio programs 1957 radio programme debuts 1958 radio programme endings Bing Crosby