Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #214
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 5/25/2003 12:00 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 214
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Surviiving Inner Sanctum Sponsored S  [ "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed]; ]
  Monitor                               [ "Mike Carraher" <mike_carraher@hotm ]
  Re: Familiar voices                   [ "Bob Pedersen" <bobbyp@[removed]; ]
  Familiar voices                       [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
  Re: last days of old CBS Radio (1960  [ eric_cooper@[removed] ]
  Re: Marian Seldes                     [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]

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Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 15:30:16 -0400
From: "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Surviiving Inner Sanctum Sponsored Shows

My thanks to Doug Berryhill for breaking down the surviving sponsored shows
of Inner Sanctum.  I didn't realize that so many sponsored versions still
existed.  But at least I was correct in my assumption about the Lipton
sponsored shows.  Have to admit I was disappointed that only a handful of
Bromo-Seltzer shows survive.  I thought those commercials were very
interesting too.

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Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 17:02:22 -0400
From: "Mike Carraher" <mike_carraher@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Monitor
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

The Roman Empire in the West lasted over 400 years.  People ask why it fell.
I heard a history professor say the better question would be why did it last
so long.  Monitor lasted 18 years.  Why did it die?  The better question
would be why did it last so long?

(1) Monitor assumed people would listen all weekend.  Average radio
listening time is a little over 20 minutes.
(2) Monitor had "communicators" who sounded stodgy, even by the standards of
the 50's and 60's.  Some were old time radio "golden throats."  Some were
news anchors, monologists and game show hosts -- some of the best ad-libbers
ever, who were forced to work from a script (and it sounded like it).
Compare the work of Monitor "communicators' on TV news, game shows or local
New York radio with what they did on Monitor.
(3) Radio had already started to evolve into a collection of diverse
formats.  Monitor did not fit most of them.  It did fit "Full Service" or
"Middle of the Road" stations -- but even here, Monitor's music sounded
"old."
(4) With all the time they had to fill each weekend, Monitor covered events
that held little interest for most people.  Most of its features were of the
type Charles Kuralt would use as the basis for TV feature reports.  Fine for
the end of the news, but hardly compelling "going places and doing things"
radio.
(5) Even from the beginning, Monitor clearances were spotty.  The kind of
station likely to carry Monitor was also the kind of station likely to carry
live sports broadcasts on the weekends -- and paid religion on Sunday.
(6) Stations were often faced with a choice of Monitor or local programming
that would generate revenue.  Not a difficult choice for a station manager
to make.
(7) Monitor had a core audience of fans, but there was little broad demand
for Monitor.  People would listen, but if a local DJ show or local ballgame
came on, they'd be OK with that, too.
(8) Monitor did not save money.  This was before computer automation.  You
still needed a local announcer, somebody to do the local news breaks and an
engineer at the transmitter.  Smaller stations could combine three functions
into one, but Monitor did not reduce weekend staffing demands over what the
station would need to play records.

If Monitor had lasted a few years more, it might still be here.  It would be
well suited to an era of satellite delivered format radio, where programming
is offered to any station that wants it (not just to a single affiliate in
the market).  Today's technology would enhance Monitor's capabilities to
cover stories.  In a way, some all news stations on weekends come close to
being Monitor without the records (one wonders why they included records in
the first place).  Maybe Monitor can best be described as an evolutionary
link between old time network radio and what radio has become.

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Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 19:17:14 -0400
From: "Bob Pedersen" <bobbyp@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Familiar voices

Would like to know if anyone else remembers voices of actors who were not
too well known but their voices were instantly recognizable.
  Andrew Godfrey

Herb Vigran does have a very recognizeable voice. Also, I can always
recognize Lou Merrill in dramatic shows. Don't know what he looked like but
I sure know his voice. John Brown was distinctive if he used his natural
voice but if he disguised it, as with Digger O'Dell, I wouldn't know without
hearing the credits.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 19:18:52 -0400
From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Familiar voices

Andrew Godfrey asked about easy-to-recognize voices among OTR talent.

For me, William Conrad is probably at the top of the list. With his deep and
resonant voice - 'great pipes,' we say in radio - Bill Conrad is always a
standout, whether he's playing Matt Dillon or any of the innumerable heroes
and heavies in shows such as Escape and Suspense.

Next, I'd have to list John Denher. Dehner was a mainstay of the 1950s CBS
players, often playing alongside Conrad. His quintessential role was as [removed]
Kendall, the English newspaperman who was the title character in the
short-lived but superb "Frontier Gentleman." He also played a wide assortment
of characters in Gunsmoke, among other shows.

Regards,
Art

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Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 19:28:59 -0400
From: eric_cooper@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: last days of  old CBS Radio (1960-62)

The memories I have of CBS radio are mainly post 1962 . I have seen
reprinted , in a book called "THE SERIALS", a letter from CBS Radio's head
office to all affiliates dated August 1960. It stated that they were merely
cancelling those forms of programming that "could best be done by other
media". But the real reason was that other competing stations in each CBS
affiliate's market were selling the two hour morning time block opposite Ma
Perkins et al, to advertisers, at much higher rates than CBS stations were
able to. There was thus a LOT of pressure put upon CBS radio to "modernize"
its format. The ten minute news on the hour and five to 10 minute
news/personality features during the balance of the hour fit in much more
with the way the  radio medium was changing by 1960. It would be interesting
to have some statistics on ratings of soaps, Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall, Bob
and Ray, Gunsmoke etc during those final days. Who WAS still actually
listening. At least CBS should be credited with keping drama on radio longer
than any one else in America and for trying to foster and sustain its
revival in the 1970s.

Eric Cooper
Age 46

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Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 13:40:50 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Marian Seldes

     My mental picture of Marian Seldes is of the
slender and exotically-attractive brunette I
remember from late 1950s television appearances.
(I also remember having had a crush on her.)

     If I remember correctly, she had looks very
similar to Jean Marsh, "Rose" of British TV's
UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS (as well as that program's
producer).

     Marian Seldes is a "relate" of the
"literary" Sedleses - Gilbert and George.

     By the way, I'm looking for a copy of a
television drama from the late 1950s starring
Marian Seldes and horror movie star Gloria
Talbot. This was originally a live drama, but
since I saw it two or three times in reruns
around that time I assume it was preserved on
film and thus probably still exists.

     Sincerely,

     George Wagner

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #214
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