Hey everyone, James Scully here, producer and host of Breaking Walls, the docu-podcast on the history of US Network Radio Broadcasting. I wanted to let you know about a new webinar I’m doing on Monday June 30th, 2025 at 7PM. It’s Part 2 of the CBS Talent Raids on the early Television era.

This webinar focuses on the rise of TV throughout the 1940s and early 1950s as the CBS Talent Raids took hold. 

If you missed Part 1, don’t worry, when you register for Part 2 I’ll email you a video of the webinar for Part 1. And if you’re interested in this Part 2 webinar and can’t make it live on Monday, June 30th at 7PM, don’t worry I’ll be emailing every person who registers a video of Part 2’s webinar as soon as it’s done. Here's a link to register — https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-cbs-talent-raids-part-2-the-early-television-era-webinar-tickets-1419361692029?aff=oddtdtcreator

Here's an overview of the webinar below:
When David Sarnoff officially launched network television at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City, he intended to have TV sets in everyone's homes by the early 1940s. World War II interrupted his plans. Meanwhile network radio soared in popularity throughout the 1940s. By the fall of 1948, three of the four major radio networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — were funneling their soaring radio profits into the burgeoning television side of their businesses. And because all individual U.S. citizens were taxed 77% on all income over $70k (roughly $907k today), big stars of the day like Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, and Freeman Gosden had the idea to incorporate their popular shows as businesses in order to qualify for significant breaks under capital gains tax laws. What happened when David Sarnoff and RCA, the parent company of NBC, the nation's #1 network at the time, refused to make this deal with its stars? It's time to uncover how a smart bet by CBS helped it overtake its main rival during the golden age of radio and exactly how this affected the early years of television.

Join James Scully — Radio historian and producer/host of Breaking Walls, the docu-podcast on the history of U.S. network radio broadcasting for the second part of this two-part series that explores the events surrounding the CBS Talent Raids of 1948, and the many men and women who benefited from this monumental period in entertainment.

In Part Two: Early Network Television, we'll focus on the rise of TV throughout the 1940s and early 1950s as the CBS Talent Raids took hold, including:

• From Farnsworth to the 1939 World’s Fair — Early TV History and How World War II slowed TV’s oncoming growth

• How NBC, CBS, and ABC Launched into TV while siphoning radio profits into their TV networks

• The Dumont Network and Pro Rasslin’ — Could the network have lasted longer?

• Berle, Godfrey, Sullivan and The TV ratings landscape as we enter the 1950

• I Love Lucy Launches, forever altering Television viewing

• How Television’s explosive growth in the early 1950s changed America’s way of life

• TV’s profits are radio’s losses

Afterward, I’ll do a Q&A — any and all questions are welcomed and encouraged!Can't attend live? Not to worry! I'll be recording the event and sending the video out to all guests who register so you can watch it later. See you (virtually) there!

Monday 6.30.2025 — A New Webinar: The CBS Talent Raids, Part 2 — The Early TV Era

This episode was originally released on 4/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 90 and on the second part of our western trilogy, dramatic radio goes from boom to bust in a nine year period after World War II, as a group of actors become radio legends, while the radio western grows up.


Highlights:
• William S. Paley’s Plan to Overtake NBC
• The West-Coast Hollywood Actors 
• Robson, Yarborough, Lewis, and Hawk Larabee
• Escape Moves the Western Forward
• The Life and Death of Jeff Chandler
• CBS Becomes Number 1
• NBC Fires Back with New Western Shows
• Elliott Lewis, Suspense, On Stage, and Crime Classics
• The Birth of Gunsmoke
• Jack Johnstone, Jimmy Stewart, and The Six Shooter
• The Networks Pull the Plug in 1954
• What’s Next


The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning
• Radio Rides The Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929 - 1967 by Jack French and David S. Siegel
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg

As well as passages from
• Broadcast Magazine — 12/22/1947, 2/16/1948, 3/1/1948
• Sponsor Magazine — 10/1/1951


On the Interview Front:
• Parley Baer, Harry Bartell, Lillian Buyeff, Mary Jane Croft, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Sam Edwards, Herb Ellis, Virginia Gregg, Jack Johnstone, Byron Kane, Elliott Lewis, Jeanette Nolan, and Herb Vigran were with SPERDVAC, the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy. For more information, please go to SPERDVAC.com

• Hans Conried, Howard Duff, and Elliott Lewis with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. The full interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org 

• Jack Benny, Hans Conried, Betty Lou Gerson, Elliott Lewis, and Lurene Tuttle were with Chuck Schaden. Chuck’s interviews from an over 39-year career can be listened to for free at SpeakingofRadio.com

• Eve Arden, Elliott Lewis, and E. Jack Neuman were with John Dunning for his 1980s 71KNUS Radio program from Denver. Some of his interviews can be found at OTRRLibrary.org

• William Conrad, John Dehner, Rex Koury, Norman Macdonnell, John Meston, William N. Robson, and George Walsh were John Hickman of WAMU for his Gunsmoke documentary. 

• Mr. Hickman was the longtime host of “Recollections.” A modern version of this program is heard each Sunday evening as “The Big Broadcast.” For more information, please go to WAMU.org

• William Conrad was also with collector Chris Lambesis for a December 15th, 1969 interview

• Jimmy Stewart was with Larry King in 1986

• And William S. Paley and Frank Stanton were interviewed for CBS’s 50th Anniversary program in 1977. 


Selected Music Featured in Today’s Episode Was:
• I’ve Got the World on a String - by Frank Sinatra
• Pyramid of the Sun & Voodoo Dreams - by Les Baxter
• I’ll Be Seeing You - by The Harry James Orchestra
• Route 66 - by Nat King Cole

BW - EP90: The Hollywood People Behind Radio’s Baby Boomer Boom (1945 - 1954) [Rewind]

Hey everyone, James Scully here, producer and host of Breaking Walls, the docu-podcast on the history of US Network Radio Broadcasting. I wanted to let you know about a new webinar I’m doing this Thursday July 17th, at 7PM on Orson Welles' early career of Orson Welles through the end of 1941.

If you can't make it live this Thursday July 17th at 7PM, don't worry,  I’ll be emailing every person who registers a video of the webinar once it's over. Here's a link to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/orson-welles-career-part-1-from-boy-wonder-to-trouble-maker-webinar-tickets-1445315741289?aff=oddtdtcreator

Some more information:
Throughout the last one-hundred years of American entertainment, few people have gotten as strong a reaction as Orson Welles. A rare quadruple threat: writer, director, actor, producer, Welles found immense success on stage, in films, on television, and in radio. In fact, he took center stage in the United States on more than one occasion… and not always to a positive reaction, but always with pushing the creative envelope in mind.

Welles managed to alienate the newspaper industry, the Hollywood studio system, and occasionally even the broadcasting networks, but he rarely had a door closed in his face.

Welles was known to work himself to the bone, and party even harder. He had romances with some of the most famous and attractive women in the country, including Virginia Nicholson, Dolores del Rio, and Rita Hayworth.

He was hailed as a genius, a charlatan, a magician, an incredible friend, an a***hole, a hard-driver, a steady worker, and a man who drank too much. Welles liked to joke that he began his career on top and spent the rest of his life working his way down. Such a strong-willed, creative person deserves an in-depth look.

In Part 1: From Boy Wonder To Trouble Maker (1931-1941) we’ll explore Welles’ early life, through his explosion of success in the 1930s all the way to the end of 1941, complete with audio clips and highlights including:

• Beginnings in Illinois and China — How they helped shape Orson

• The Todd Seminary School — His first exposure to theater and Radio

• Connections and Early Breaks — How his mentor Roger Hill, Thornton Wilder, Alexander Woollcott, and Katharine Cornell helped Orson get to Broadway

• Orson meets John Houseman and Archibald MacLeish, and first appears on the March of Time

• 1935-1937 — From the March of Time to the Columbia Workshop, and how Irvin Reis taught Orson how to create for radio

• How the US Government shaped the opportunity for Orson to write, direct, and star in Les Misérables on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1937

• The Shadow Knows! — Agnes Moorehead and Orson Welles’ one season on The Shadow

• The birth of the Mercury Theater on the Air as First Person singular. How its success led to the most infamous night in radio in October of 1938

• Mainstream success with Campbell’s Soups

• Orson goes to Hollywood, and signs the greatest autonomous film contract in history at 24

• Citizen Kane — How William Randolph Hearst and RKO shaped the film

• Lady Esther Presents — Orson comes back to radio in the autumn of 1941

• Pearl Harbor Day and collaborating with Norman Corwin

• How Joseph Cotton introduced Orson to Rita Hayworth

Afterward, I’ll do a Q&A — any and all questions are welcomed and encouraged! Can't attend live? Not to worry! I'll be recording the event and sending the video out to all guests who register so you can watch it later. See you (virtually) there!

Thursday 7.17.2025 — A New Webinar: Orson Welles' Career, From Boy Wonder To Trouble Maker

The Falcon hit the airwaves back in the early 1940s, sliding right into the shoes of slick, sharp-tongued detectives like The Shadow and Sam Spade. But where those blokes leaned hard into the tough-as-nails, gritty vibe, The Falcon mixed it up — charm, cheek, and a dash of danger. He was your classic gentleman sleuth, smooth as, but always keen to jump headfirst into the next messy crime.

Support the Podcast and help it grow! 😁
www.patreon.com/SFGT

Help me with an iTunes Review ❤
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stor…st/id1219424878

*****
📧Send me your stories, feedback and more📧
StoriesFablesGhostlyTales@gmail.com

Show Links:
🏠 www.storiesfablesghostlytales.com/
📘Contact me: www.facebook.com/StoriesFablesGhostlyTales
🐤 Twitter: www.twitter.com/StoriesFablesGT
*****
Copyright Information:
All Radio episodes, or public domain content are in the Public Domain and freely used unless notified otherwise.

CC BY-SA 4.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
All stories are either Creative Commons, or the author has provided direct approval to narrate their story.

PATREON LINK

The Falcon - Worried Wife and The Miss (Old Time Radio Remastering)

Support the Podcast and help it grow! 😁
www.patreon.com/SFGT

Help me with an iTunes Review ❤
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stor…st/id1219424878

*****
📧Send me your stories, feedback and more📧
StoriesFablesGhostlyTales@gmail.com

Show Links:
🏠 www.storiesfablesghostlytales.com/
📘Contact me: www.facebook.com/StoriesFablesGhostlyTales
🐤 Twitter: www.twitter.com/StoriesFablesGT
*****
Copyright Information:
All Radio episodes, or public domain content are in the Public Domain and freely used unless notified otherwise.

CC BY-SA 4.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
All stories are either Creative Commons, or the author has provided direct approval to narrate their story.

DRAGNET (Repaired and Remastered) Vintage Radio

This episode was originally released on 7/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 93 we ride the rails with some of the most famous stars in radio history.

During radio’s golden age, there were three main production hubs: New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. With so much daily content to produce, radio’s greatest minds developed programs and episodes centered around every recognizable theme, like the New York city subway.

While this episode will take place in or around New York’s public transportation system, we’ll focus just as much on the relationships forged by radio’s legends on both coasts.



Highlights:
• Mercedes McCambridge, Himan Brown, and Grand Central Station
• How Bill Spier influenced the careers of his wife June Havoc and his protégé Elliott Lewis
• From Suspense to Broadway is My Beat, Elliott Lewis shines
• Jack Benny stars on Suspense
• Cathy Lewis: Mrs Radio
• Mandel Kramer, Jan Miner, and Subway Soaps from New York
• Byron Kane and Subways Are For Sleeping
• William N. Robson, Shirley Mitchell, Virginia Gregg and Jack Kruschen on radio in the 1950s
• Bob and Ray head down into the Subway
• Himan Brown brings dramatic radio back to life in the 1970s
• Next Stop: The Soda Shop


The WallBreakers:
thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
patreon.com/TheWallBreakers


The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• On The Air - By John Dunning
• The CBS Radio Mystery Theater Handbook - by Gordon Payton & Martin Grams Jr.
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-53 - by Jim Ramsburg
• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

as well as articles from:
• Broadcasting Magazine - November 3rd, 1947
• And Billboard Magazine - May 1st, 1948


On the interview front:
• Himan Brown, June Havoc, Mandel Kramer, Elliott Lewis, E.G. Marshall, Jan Miner, William Spier and William N. Robson were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. These interview can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org.

• Ralph Bell, Himan Brown, Lawrence Dobkin, Betty Lou Gerson and Byron Kane, were with SPERDVAC. For more information, please go to S-P-E-R-D-V-A-C.com.

• Himan Brown, Virginia Gregg, Elliott Lewis, Mercedees McCambridge, Shirley Mitchell and Alan Reed were interviewed by Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats and many others from Chuck’s over thirty-nine year career and SpeakingofRadio.com.

• Ellott Lewis was with John Dunning on May 23rd, 1982.

• Jack Kruschen, Shirley Mitchell, and George Walsh were with Jim Bohannon on September 12, 1987.

• And Morton Fine was with Dan Haefele on August 9th, 1988.



Selected music featured in today’s episode was:
• It’s been a Long, Long Time - by Keely Smith
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - by the Mallet Men
• The Big Heist and Salute to Charlie Christian - by Barney Kessel
• Atlantis and Roller Coaster - by Les Baxter
• I’ll Take Manhattan - by Blossom Dearie
• And Fly Me To the Moon - by Julie London

BW - EP93: Radio And The New York City Subway (1941 - 1975) [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 8/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls episode 94 we visit the malt shops, drug stores, and soda counters in America’s heartland and spend time with radio’s best dramatic actors and actresses.


Highlights
• Norman Corwin, Margaret Sullavan, and Byron Kane’s Big Break
• The Pharmacist Goes to War—and Saves a Life
• Inner Sanctum and Santos Ortega
• Dennis Day: Soda Jerk
• The Rise of Jack Webb
• Dragnet Is Born and Radio Changes Forever
• Tales of the Texas Rangers and the Wheaties Big Parade
• The End of Fibber McGee and Molly
• Back to School



The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers




The reading material used in today’s episode was:
On The Air - By John Dunning
Network Radio Ratings, 1932-53 - by Jim Ramsburg
Forecast: Is there a Sponsor in the House - by Martin Grams Jr. 
Just the Facts, Ma'am : The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb - by Eugene Alvarez & Daniel Moyer

And articles from Radio Life, January 1949. 



On the interview front:

• SPERDVAC was with Harry Bartel, Ralph Bell, Himan Brown, Lilian Buyeff, Lawrence Dobkin, Herb Ellis, Virginia Gregg, Byron Kane, Jeanette Nolan, Herb Vigran, and Peggy Webber—For more info, please go to SPERDVAC..com

• Chuck Schaden interviewed Eve Arden, Himan Brown, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Jim Jordan, Lurene Tuttle, and Herb Vigran. Hear their full chats at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• Joel McCrea was with educator Al Greenberg. For more information please go to OrcoDevelopment— That’s O R C O Development (dot) org.

• Jim Jordan was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. This interview can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org. 

• While Dennis Day and E. Jack Neuman were with John Dunning for 71KNUS and Vic Perrin was with Neil Ross for KMPC.



Selected music featured in today’s episode was:
• Sleep Walk — By Santo & Johnny
• Go Slow — By Julie London
• The Klezmer's Wedding — By André Moisan 
• Living Without You — By George Winston
• See you in September — By The Happenings

BW - EP94: Radio And The Drugstore/Malt Shop (1940 - 1955) [Rewind]

This episode was originally released on 9/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

____________

In Breaking Walls Episode 95, we go back to school with radio’s teacher’s pets, class clowns, and perhaps the most iconic “Miss” in radio history. 

——————————

Highlights:
• How William Paley used The Columbia Workshop to launch shows and careers.
• Suspense Moves to Hollywood and Gets Sponsorship
• The Radio Rise of Eve Arden and the Launch of Our Miss Brooks
• The NBC University Theater dramatizes a Washington Irving Classic
• The New Mr. and Mrs. Ronald and Benita Colman Show
• Johnny Dollar Investigates a Suspicious Schoolhouse Fire
• Theater Five saves a Nursery
• All Hallow’s Eve

——————————

The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:
http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

——————————

The reading material used in today’s episode was:
• The Who Is Johnny Dollar Matter — by John C. Abbott
• On The Air — By John Dunning
• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-53 — by Jim Ramsburg

As well as articles from:
• Broadcasting Magazine -  April 27th, September 14th, and November 30th 1964, as well as January 4th, January 11th, and June 28th, 1965.
• Radio Daily - September 30th, 1949
• Sponsor Magazine -  September 2nd, 1952

——————————

On the interview front:

• SPERDVAC was with Jack Johnstone, Al Lewis, Jeanette Nolan and Elliott Reid—For more information, please go to SPERDVAC.com.

• Chuck Schaden interviewed Eve Arden, Parley Baer, Ken Carpenter, Norman Corwin, Gale Gordon, Jack Haley, Agnes Moorehead, Russell Thorson, and Willard Waterman. Hear their full chats at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• Hans Conried, William N. Robson, and William Spier were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. These interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org. 

• Eve Arden, Roberta Goodwin Bailey, and E. Jack Neuman were with John Dunning for 71KNUS.

• Elliott Reid was with Frank Bresee and Walden Hughes on October 14th, 2002 and Don Quinn was interviewed by Owen Cunningham in 1951. 

——————————

Selected Music featured in today’s episode was:
•I Wonder Why - by Dion and the Belmonts
• Pyramid of the Sun - by Les Baxter
• Moon - by George Winston
• The Look of Love - by Billy May and his Orchestra
• Young at Heart - by Frank Sinatra
• I’ll be Seeing You - by the Harry James Band
• Spooky - by Dusty Springfield

——————————

BW - EP95: Radio And The Classroom (1939 - 1965) [Rewind]

Support the Podcast

Michael Shayne | Gunfire and Gambling! 🎲

Hello again, Dear Listeners, and welcome back to The Lost Signal. Tonight, we bring to you another file from The Department with Tilsen Mulalley's "Treasure Falls." Join us, won't you?

Tonight's episode guest stars Ike Emeche as David and Brendan Finch as Tyler. Clyde Barnes is played by Tilsen Mulalley. Sound Effects and Music are provided by epidemicsounds.com. 

The Lost Signal is a Podmoth Network Podcast. After you've finished listening, don't forget to check out all the other great shows on the Podmoth Network.

Created by Tilsen Mulalley
Written by Tilsen Mulalley
Artwork by Tilsen Mulalley

Ep. 69- The Department: Treasure Falls

900+ Episodes of Advert free storytelling, three times a week! Supported by lovely listeners the Tale Teller brings you a mixed bag of horror, fantasy, sci-fi,  custom remastered old time radio stories, folk tales and more.  The Stories Fables Ghostly Tales Podcast has something for everyone. 

With the Aussie Tale Teller here to bring you unique tales from various cultures around the world and research tales to share with you something new. Take a listen and you won't be disappointed. 

Feel free to reach out, ask questions, and submit stories and research ideas to the Podcast at storiesfablesghostlytales@gmail.com

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting.

From the depths of your radio static, The Lost Signal Podcast brings you original audioplay productions of the pulp and macabre, brought to life with sound effects and voice-acting.

New tracks tagged #old time radio