Breaking Walls

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BW - EP134—006: Christmas With Jack Benny In A Changing World—Jack Goes Christmas Shopping Dec 13, 2022

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At 7PM eastern time on December 18th, 1949 Jack Benny took to the air with what had become a programming staple: His Christmas shopping episode.

BW - EP134—005: Christmas With Jack Benny In A Changing World—What About 1950 Dec 10, 2022

Show notes

The U.S. spent the first ten months of 1949 in a recession. Competition for the advertising dollar was stiffer. There were now over two-thousand-six-hundred AM and FM radio stations in the country, and TV was becoming a serious threat. Over one-hundred Television stations were on the air. Only two Network Radio shows had ratings higher than a 20. Just two years earlier, there were fifteen. Radio’s average Top 50 ratings were their lowest since 1937 and network radio revenue dropped for the first time since 1933. Meanwhile, NBC, ABC, CBS, and the Dumont Network reported a combined TV income of $29.4 Million. But advertisers were learning that TV production costs were much greater than radio’s. The extra money had to come from somewhere. Radio budgets were the likely source. On December 18th, 1949, NBC broadcast an episode of America United with a panel discussion on estimates and predictions concerning 1950. It was moderated by David Brinkley, at the time NBC’s Washington commentator. The post-World War II world had been chaotic. Europe was rebuilding slowly as the US and Russia became the two superpowers. That same day, as the Philadelphia Eagles were beating the Los Angeles Rams in the 1949 NFL Championship Game, Nikita Khrushchev was made The Soviet Communist Party’s secretary of the Central Committee, and single-party Communist elections were held in Bulgaria. Two days later, Josef Stalin was awarded the Order of Lenin as part of celebrations for his seventieth birthday.

BW - EP134—004: Christmas With Jack Benny In A Changing World—The Texas Benefit With Frank Leahy Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

By December Jack Benny’s rating was up to 25.4, tops on radio. On December 11th, 1949, Jack attempted to make arrangements for his Texas benefit appearance. Notre Dame football coach Frank Leahy was the guest star.

BW - EP134—003: Christmas With Jack Benny In A Changing World—Benny Launches Fall 1949 Season Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

To take advantage of Capital Gains laws, Jack Benny had formed his holdings into a corporation and sold it to CBS for Two-point-two-six Million dollars. Benny opened the fall 1949 season by taking stock of his pantry. The October 2nd program got a rating of 20.3. On election night, New York City Mayor William O’Dwyer, who’d succeeded Fiorello La Guardia, won reelection. He was soon confronted with a police corruption scandal uncovered by Kings County DA, Miles McDonald. O'Dwyer would resign from office on August 31st, 1950. President Truman appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. O’Dwyer would return to New York in 1951 to answer questions about his association with organized crime. He resigned as ambassador in 1952.

BW - EP134—002: Christmas With Jack Benny In A Changing World—Fall 1949 World News Dec 04, 2022

Show notes

By the time Mel Allen broadcast Game four of the 1949 world series at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn on October 8th, the world was in turmoil. The Yankees would win that day and take the series four games to one, but people's attention was turned toward world politics. The Communist People’s Republic of China was formed on October 1st and recognized by the USSR the next day. The Democratic Republic of East Germany was formed on October 7th. On October 14th, Ten Communist Party USA leaders were sentenced to jail time. Two days later the Greek Civil war ended with a Communist surrender, and on October 24th the cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters was laid in New York. As 1949’s holiday season approached, India adopted a constitution, while the labor government was defeated in Australian Federal elections. A growing red scare was now deeply embedded in the media. Alger Hiss’ second perjury trial began in November, while Mahatma Gandhi's assassins were executed, and Chinese communist troops continued their march to Taiwan. Members of the media had been claiming there were potential communist cells in the entertainment industry for more than two years.

BW - EP134—001: Christmas With Jack Benny In A Changing World—Benny Comes To CBS Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

On December 23rd, 1948, CBS Chairman William Paley and CEO Frank Stanton broadcast a special closed circuit press conference to their affiliates and staff. The move was to officially announce that Jack Benny was switching his program from NBC to CBS. The change would begin with the first broadcast of the new year. When William Paley signed Jack Benny in November, he’d convinced sponsor American Tobacco to make the jump to CBS by agreeing to pay the cigarette giant $3K per week for every ratings point lost after the migration. The move signaled that Paley was intent on not just equalling Benny’s audience on NBC, but growing it. In December of 1948, Benny’s last month on NBC, his program rating was 25.8. His first episode rating for CBS? — 28.3. It was the most-listened to show in the U.S. Benny ended the 48-49 season in May on a high note. His combined rating for his last three months on NBC was 22.7. His combined rating for his first three months on CBS was 25.8.

Burning Gotham Chapter 2 and Breaking Walls Reminder Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

James Scully here, wanting to remind you that Burning Gotham 002: Bankruptcy is now available in the Burning Gotham feed. You can subscribe (for free) anywhere you'd get a podcast by searching for Burning Gotham or going to http://burninggotham.com/. Also, Breaking Walls EP134: Christmas With Jack Benny in a Changing World (1949)will be out this Thursday, 12/1/2022 in full on the Breaking Walls Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/TheWallBreakers) feed, and in parts beginning in the normal Breaking Walls feed as well. You can support the Burning Gotham Patreon for as little as $2 per month (https://www.patreon.com/BurningGotham) and the Breaking Walls Patreon for as little as $1 per month. The combined cost — $3 — is frankly. less than the cost of one cup of Starbucks coffee. So keep getting out there, keep breaking those walls. My name is James Scully, and you'll hear from me soon.

Burning Gotham 001: Moving Day Nov 27, 2022

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BURNING GOTHAM 001: MOVING DAY May 1st, 1835 — It’s a cold and rainy Moving Day. Every renter in New York is out on the street looking for lodging. Most of the city’s quarter-million live below Houston Street in buildings four stories or smaller, but construction is booming. New people are pouring onto New York’s dangerously overcrowded streets by the thousands. Rich and poor, many come to earn an honest living. Others for more nefarious reasons. It’s the perfect place to begin. Aaron Columbus is an illegitimate son, desperate to make his fortune. Together with Aaron’s brother Wyndham Bowen—an African man born in Europe—they involve themselves in backroom deals, Abolitionism, potential war with France, and City politics. Aaron has struck an illegal import deal with John Jacob Astor, America’s richest man. The import? Two exiled Russian Countesses; Sorina and Raisa Zubov, and their inheritance—eleven pounds of diamonds. The two women have just arrived in New York. ___________ Download Episode Transcript ___________ Written By: Olga Lysenko & James Scully ___________ Cast: Eirik Gislason Kacie Laforest Roland Lane Mary Murphy Anna Pirogov Nancy Pop Matt Roper James Scully ___________ Music: The Hesperus Early Music Ensemble The Itinerant Band ___________ Engineer: Josh Wilcox of Brooklyn Podcasting Studio ___________ Director & Post-Producer: James Scully ___________ Support Burning Gotham on Patreon

BW - EP133: Thanksgiving With I Love A Mystery (1949) Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

In Breaking Walls episode 133 we spend Thanksgiving 1949 with the cast of I Love a Mystery. —————————— Highlights: • Thanksgiving Eve, 1949 • Carlton E. Morse—Budget Stretcher • The First Two I Love a Mystery Runs • Mutual Broadcasting in 1949—I Love a Mystery Relaunches • Thanksgiving Day 1949—Thorson and Boles • Mercedes McCambridge—Oscar Winner • Tony Randall’s Early Career • I Love a Mystery is Canceled • Parley Baer and One Final Pilot • Wrapping Things Up • Looking Ahead to Christmas With Jack Benny —————————— 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 The I Love A Mystery Companion — By Martin Grams Jr. Network Radio Ratings — By Jim Ramsburg —————————— On the interview front: • Parley Baer, Jim Boles, Mercedes McCambridge, Carlton E. Morse, Tony Randall, Russell and Don Wilson, were with Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com. • Parley Baer and Himan Brown were with SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com. —————————— Selected music featured in today’s episode was: Sligo Creek — By Al Petteway It All Depends on You — By Frank Sinatra Shenandoah — By Michael Hanna The Holly and the Ivy — By George Winston —————————— A special thank you to Ted Davenport, Jerry Haendiges, and Gordon Skene. For Ted go to RadioMemories.com, for Jerry, visit OTRSite.com, and for Gordon, please go to PastDaily.com. —————————— Thank you to: Tony Adams Steven Allmon Ron Baron Orson Orsen Chandler Phil Erickson Eirik Davey-Gislason Jessica Hanna Perri Harper Briana Isaac Thomas M. Joyce Ryan Kramer Gary Mollica Barry Nadler Christian Neuhaus Aimee Pavy Martin Schwartz Ray Shaw John Williams —————————— WallBreakers Links: Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

BW - EP133—010: Thanksgiving With I Love A Mystery—Looking Ahead To Christmas With Jack Benny Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

Well, that brings our look at I Love A Mystery to a close, but there’s no mystery about what people thought of the subject of our next Breaking Walls episode. Next time on Breaking Walls, we celebrate the holidays by going shopping with the one and only Jack Benny.

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