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Radio Does TV

J

joeybabe25

By 1960 television had penetrated about 90% of the population in the United States. A big number, but one that left millions (in mostly rural areas) without any tv.

I wonder if there were radio stations of the time that carried the audio of tee-vee programs?

Joe
 
WLW carried the audio of the Bob Braun Show in the mid 70s. Some news/talk stations carry the audio of "Meet The Press" today; I'd guess that some did back then too.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
WLW carried the audio of the Bob Braun Show in the mid 70s. Some news/talk stations carry the audio of "Meet The Press" today; I'd guess that some did back then too.
Click to expand...

ditto Face The Nation and Issues and Answers
 
Many stations today carry audio of local TV newscasts. Some CBS stations in recent years carried audio of opening segment of the CBS Evening News.

Also in the 50s, several popular TV shows were adapted for radio - not simulcasts but separate products with a different or original TV cast. This was in addition to radio shows that moved to TV. TV shows porting to radio included (off the top of my head)...

Have Gun, Will Travel
What's My Line
I Love Lucy
My Little Margie
 
If you had a channel 6 in your area, you could listen to them over your FM radio at 87.7 MHz. This was always very handy so that you could listen to weather coverage even if a storm had knocked out your electricity.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
WLW carried the audio of the Bob Braun Show in the mid 70s.
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Actually, WLW Radio started picking up that audio in the late 1950's when it was Ruth Lyons' 50-50 Club and continued to do so well into the Braun Show period. After WLW stopped, WMLX in Florence, Ky. (then at 1180-AM and featuring a "Music of Your Life" format) started airing it in the 1980's.
 
KyDXIn said:
Groucho Marx's "You bet your life" appeared on both radio and television during the 1950s.
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True but YBYL was a radio show first and then went to TV, not the other way around.
 
The Jack Benny Show (I know it was on radio first) still had radio shows after the TV show started.Also, there was a radio version of Gunsmoke.

I'd never heard about a radio version of I Love Lucy before. Does anyone have more information on that?
 
Desi Arnaz produced one episode of "I Love Lucy" for radio (it was a tv episode with an open and close for radio) but it was a one off thing.

Lucy's show really didn't translate well to radio.

As far as my original post, I was wondering more if at the time 10% of the population could hear tv audio broadcast by radio stations. Or were they just in the dark when it came to television?

Joe
 
anotherguy said:
The Jack Benny Show (I know it was on radio first) still had radio shows after the TV show started.Also, there was a radio version of Gunsmoke.

I'd never heard about a radio version of I Love Lucy before. Does anyone have more information on that?
Click to expand...

Actually, Gunsmoke was a radio show with a TV version. The radio version ran to 1961 and most of the half-hour TV scripts were adapted from radio scripts. Dragnet was also a radio show with a TV version, running on radio until 1957 and adapting most of the TV scripts from radio scripts. In the case of both shows, TV adaptations ran a season or two later and were not simulcasts (like You Bet Your Life).

What's My Line was also a TV show which produced a radio version. These were separate episodes with same host and panel but different guests and airing on a different night.

Although CBS and Phillip Morris did not go ahead with a radio version of Lucy, the tape of the pilot is in circulation among radio program collectors. It was not a read radio show but used the TV audio plus additional narration from Desi. However, many of the I Love Lucy scripts were adapted from Lucy's radio show "My Favorite Husband" and had worked well on radio.
 
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