''Philco Radio Time'' was an old-time radio radio series starring entertainer Bing Crosby. The series ran over ABC Radio with episodes airing from October 16, 1946–June 1, 1949. The series also was syndicated for a period of time over the

Armed Forces Radio Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...

. The series is also known for being the first pre-recorded radio program aired on the major USA radio networks. For the first season, the shows were recorded on disc, but beginning with the series' second season, the show began using Ampex tape recorders for their broadcasts. The program was usually recorded in Hollywood and was sponsored by the

Philco Corporation Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased by Ford and, from 19 ...

Show origins

Starting in 1931, singer and entertainer Bing Crosby had had many appearances on radio as a solo performer before ''Philco Radio Time''. In January 1936, Crosby moved from CBS Radio to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

working as the master of ceremonies for the '' Kraft Music Hall''. In June 1945, with the ensuing accompaniment of much legal wrangling, Bing Crosby terminated his almost, ten-year association with the Kraft Foods Company, leaving himself free to choose another sponsor. He declined other offers in favour of a deal with the Philco Corporation of America which, apart from the financial considerations involved, afforded the appealing convenience of pre-recording his broadcasts. He was obliged to honour an agreement with Kraft which required him to appear in thirteen more shows, the last of which was broadcast in May 1946 but then, on Wednesday October 16th 1946, ‘Philco Radio Time - The Bing Crosby Show’, opened on the ABC network and (according to the publicity of the time), Wednesday, became ‘Bing’s Day’.

Seasons One through Three (1946–1949)

Season one

''Philco Radio Time'' premiered on Wednesday October 16, 1946 on the newly formed

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

was the program's first guest. The program had an audience rating of 16.1 during the season which made it one of the network's top shows but left it outside the top twenty. ''

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...

'' again topped the Hooper ratings with 30.2 but they had to share the position with ''

The Pepsodent Show ''The Pepsodent Show'' is an American radio comedy program broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio. The program starred comedian Bob Hope and his sidekick Jerry Colonna along with Blanche Stewart and Elvia Allman as high-society crazies Brenda ...

'' starring

. The series faced immediate problems during its first season having to do with its recording process. The first season of ''Philco Radio Time'' was recorded onto 16-inch diameter lacquer-coated aluminum disks. This made editing the show difficult, but not impossible. The actual broadcast was an edited version of the live performance shipped to radio stations on two discs with detailed instructions on when and how to play them. However, as the season progressed the editing of the recorded show on the disks caused loss of quality, and unfortunately many people complained that the sound quality was inferior to a live broadcast. Sound engineer Mary Howard suggested that part of the problem was the local radio stations:

Season two

Crosby continued to pioneer in radio broadcasting during ''Philco's'' second season. However, the show had to address the poor audio quality of the recordings. During the summer before the show began, Jack Mullin was demonstrating his rebuilt Magnetophon recorders. The Crosby staff heard the quality of his recorders and the ease in which the tape could be edited. They asked him to give a demonstration to Bing Crosby in early August 1947, and Bing asked Jack Mullin to record the first show of the season on 10 August along with the usual transcription recording. The Magnetophon tape recording was far superior to the transcription disk and was used for the show broadcast on 1 October. However, the program was transferred to unedited transcription disks for the broadcast because of the concern of the tape breaking. Beginning with the program's second-season premiere on October 1, 1947, ''Philco Radio Time'' pre-recorded all of their programs on to tape. Not only was the audio quality much improved, but tape was more easily edited than disks. Beginning with Season Three Ampex tape recorders based on the Magnetophon design were used with new tape provided by Minnesota Mining (3M). The audience share for the season was 16.8 which enabled the programme to scrape into twentieth place in the Hooper ratings. ''

The Fred Allen Show ''The Fred Allen Show'' is a long-running American radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepat ...

'' was in top place with 28.7 and the '' Kraft Music Hall'' (with

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

as host) reached eleventh position with 21.4.

Season three

The third and last season of the program premiered on September 29, 1948. Several "firsts" were made during this season of the program. The first 33rpm long-playing record changer was introduced to the public through this program. Also the first ad for Philco television sets were also broadcast through this program. Finally, the Ampex tape recorders facilitated the first use of canned laughter in radio broadcasting, according to audio engineer

John T. Mullin John Thomas Mullin (October 5, 1913 – June 24, 1999) was an American pioneer in the field of magnetic tape sound recording and made significant contributions to many other related fields. From his days at Santa Clara University to his death, ...

. On show number 93, broadcast February 16, 1949, comedian Bob Burns was getting excessive laughter from some improvised lines. The lines were cut for broadcast, but producer/writer Bill Morrow had Mullin save the laughs and insert them in a later program. ''Philco Radio Time'' attained an audience share of 15.7 for the season. It reached nineteenth position in the Hooper ratings. The top evening program was the ''

Lux Radio Theater ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' with 28.6. The last episode of the program aired on June 1, 1949 and in September Crosby started on The Bing Crosby – Chesterfield Show.

Ratings

References

{{Reflist 1940s American radio programs 1946 radio programme debuts 1949 radio programme endings American anthologies ABC radio programs