Of all the influences on the early days of television, none were so direct and widespread as Golden Age. The dawn of commercial radio began in 1920, with the first commercial stations, but little can be confirmed before 1926, since few authenticated recordings exist. It was in 1926 that made its first broadcast, initially as the separate 'Red' and 'Blue' networks. Early broadcasts were primarily news or sports related, but The Happiness Boys, a vaudeville duo, began a show in 1921 which continued until 1940.
Goldfinger Theme Song
The 'Golden Age' proper began around 1929. NBC was soon joined. One noteworthy thing to happen during the Golden Age of radio was the episode of which aired on October 31, 1938. Director Orson Welles headed a production of Howard Koch's adaptation of. It may say as much about the character of the time as the quality of the performance that many listeners actually believed the radio play to be a news report of an actual alien invasion. The resulting chaos is probably the reason that all subsequent US carry numerous disclaimers.
Many of the Golden Age radio dramas eventually, and several co-existed on TV and radio. But by the mid 1950s, televisions were becoming commonplace, and radio went into a decline. Most authorities agree that the 'Golden Age' ended on September 30, 1962, with the final episodes of and. Most Golden Age radio dramas suffer from some percentage of, but, at least after the earliest days, these are surprisingly uncommon: Audio recording was cheap and the technology highly available, so recordings of 1930s and 1940s are available in much greater supply than their television contemporaries. The advertising structure for Golden Age radio differed greatly from modern television. Shows typically had a single sponsor, which provided all the advertisement for the show.
Actors would occasionally. As a result, an account could dry up, leaving the show commercial-free while the network 'sustained' it. A perfect example of both items was again which ran for a period on the network's own expense until the ',' made such a sensation that the Campbell's Soup Company jumped at the chance to sponsor the series, which led to it being renamed The Campbell Playhouse. Economic forces being what they were, advertisements were almost always for consumable products (that is, automakers and long distance carriers need not apply), such as gum, wine and soap (which was mostly advertised during daytime dramas, leading to the term ').
One side effect is that almost all recordings of Golden Age radio drama available today still include the original commercials. Another memorable feature of radio dramas was, usually a tie-in to both the show and the sponsor's product. An entire plot thread could be built around use of the premium. One sent in three box tops and a dime, or the seal from under the Ovaltine lid, etc. 's Ovaltine shake-up mugs and Code-O-Graph badges are some of the best known. Note While there were plenty of rings being offered, most 'Secret Decoder Rings' were actually badges with cipher disks. An actual decoder ring was offered on in the 1960s.
Premiums weren't limited to kids; soap operas offered Helen Trent Friendship Necklaces and Ma Perkins Cookbooks. It may also be worth noting that Golden Age radio shows tended to run much longer than television shows. The longest-running radio show was, which began life in 1926 on NBC Blue under the title Sam and Henry. It ran until 1960. The comparative ease and cheapness of production may have been a contributing factor (not to mention the fact that, lacking precedent, no one knew that 20 years was a long time for a show to run). However, since the audience didn't have to see the actors, it was easy and common to pull off a ( went through six actors in the title role plus two more in audition episodes).
Persists to this day, but only as a shadow of its former glory, mostly for nostalgia purposes. A brief revival in the 1970's led to shows such as Zero Hour, General Mills Radio Adventure Theater, a radio show, National Lampoon Radio Hour (which was a predecessor to ), the production of, and the best known series of that era,. Today, most radio dramas are one-off or miniseries events. One rare exception is, a long-running variety show hosted by Garrison Keillor. In the United States, these are produced primarily by public radio affiliates.
Also produces a number of these on the other side of the pond, the best known of which is the original incarnation of. Free from the financial constraints of commercial networks, continues to broadcast regular dramas on two of its national networks (which have included adaptations of, and novels), and has also set up a digital channel, (later BBC Radio 7; as of 2012 known as BBC Radio 4 Extra), as an outlet for archive radio drama and comedy. They also continue to broadcast one of the in the world, in the form of, which began as a thinly disguised farming advice broadcast, and has been running continuously 5 days per week since 1955. For non- audio dramas, see.