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142-523: The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual ; sometimes referred to as MBS , Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network ) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama , Mutual was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow . For many years, it

284-561: A Day "awarded prizes to women who could come up with the most heart-stabbing stories told by the sick and the downtrodden .... On one show, a mother of nine requested a washing machine to replace one that broke when it fell on her husband and disabled him—and who, by the way, also needed heart surgery." In May 1947, a simulcast version began airing on the Don Lee system's experimental TV station in Los Angeles, W6XAO (later KTSL ). It

426-434: A concept called trunking is commonly used to achieve better efficiency of radio spectrum use and provide very wide-ranging coverage with no switching of channels required by the mobile radio user as it roams throughout the system coverage. Trunking of two-way radio is identical to the concept used for cellular phone systems where each fixed and mobile radio is specifically identified to the system controller and its operation

568-675: A conspiracy "hindering and restricting Mutual freely and fairly to compete in the transmission in interstate commerce of nationwide network programs." The FCC's Supreme Court victory in 1943 led to the sale of the Blue Network and Mutual dropping its lawsuit. These developments appear to have been of more symbolic than practical value to Mutual—the transfer of the NBC Blue stations to the new American Broadcasting Company did little to help Mutual's competitive position. In 1945, it reached 384 affiliates, and by December 1948, Mutual Broadcasting

710-528: A failed bid for the group, claiming it violated Mutual bylaws stating no group could hold more than 25 percent of network stock. General Tire retained KHJ, KFRC and KGB, divesting the other stations. At the same time, Mutual acquired the television broadcast rights to the World Series and All-Star Game for the next six years. Mutual was likely re-indulging in TV network dreams or was simply taking advantage of

852-512: A few long-running features". This would characterize Mutual's essential approach for the next three and a half decades, through a further series of ownership changes. In July 1966, 3M sold the network to the privately held Mutual Industries, Inc., headed by John P. Fraim and Loren M. Berry , for $ 3.1 million (equivalent to $ 29.1 million in 2023); Fraim was vice president of Berry's Dayton, Ohio -based telephone directory publishing company. Upon Mutual Industries's acquisition of Mutual, it

994-516: A five-day-a-week afternoon show. Kate Smith returned in January 1958 for her final radio series, which ran until August. In June 1958, just a few months before the Scranton takeover, the network had launched a nightly 25-minute newscast, The World Today , hosted by Westbrook Van Voorhis , famous as the voice of The March of Time . Sports began to occupy an increasing portion of Mutual's schedule:

1136-464: A five-station Mutual network ( Boston - WNAC , New York City - WOR , Washington, D.C. - WOIC , Chicago - WGN , and Los Angeles - KHJ ). At that same time Mutual radio station KQV in Pittsburgh , which was engaged in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get a television license, was reportedly hoping for their station to be a Mutual television affiliate. The plans fell through, and Mutual became

1278-535: A football game broadcast with a news flash reporting the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . It was the first public announcement of the attack heard on the U.S. mainland. The first bombs had dropped 63 minutes earlier. In May 1945, Sigrid Schultz reported from one of the last Nazi concentration camps to be discovered, Ravensbrück . The following month, Meet the Press premiered with Martha Rountree as moderator. For

1420-621: A governing interest in Mutual shareholder, Western Ontario Broadcasting, owner of CKLW in Windsor, Ontario , which served the Detroit market. When the deal closed, two of Western Ontario Broadcasting's directors were U.S. citizens. RKO Teleradio Pictures also purchased Washington, D.C. station WGMS-AM - FM in April 1956, with WGMS joining Mutual. Closing the movie studio a year and a half later,

1562-439: A group led by Dr. Armand Hammer bought the network later in the month. Limited sponsorship packages were also introduced, in which an advertiser could back a show for an abbreviated period rather than an entire season, but there was no reversing the trend of television usurping radio. The radio networks were left with the bills for an increasing number of sustaining programs , which had no sponsors. The loss of mainstay advertisers

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1704-495: A group that involved Hal Roach Studios purchased Mutual from Hammer's group, the new executive team was charged with accepting money to use Mutual as a vehicle for foreign propaganda on behalf of Rafael Trujillo 's dictatorship in the Third Dominican Republic , while the network suffered significant financial losses and affiliate defections. Concurrently filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and selling twice in

1846-454: A horror anthology series whose "hunner-an'-thirteen-year-old" narrator invited listeners to "douse all [the] lights. Now draw up to the fire an' gaze into the embers ... gaaaaze into 'em deep! ... an' soon ye'll be across the seas, in th' jungle land of Africa ... hear that chantin' and them savage drums?" WGN contributed the popular comedy series Lum and Abner . Detroit's WXYZ provided The Lone Ranger , which had debuted in 1933 and

1988-500: A local New York station in 1932, "dedicated to helping the sufferers from an antiquated and outmoded domestic relations code." Anthony, whose real name was Lester Kroll, brought a wealth of relevant experience to his work—he had once been jailed for failing to make alimony payments. In July 1937 came the premiere of a seven-part adaptation of Les Misérables , produced, written, and directed by Orson Welles and featuring many of his Mercury Theatre performers—Mercury's first appearance on

2130-536: A long-standing business relationship; in either case, Mutual sold the broadcast rights to NBC in time for the following season's games at an enormous profit. Early in 1952, General Tire purchased General Teleradio from R.H. Macy and Company. With the deal, General Tire acquired the WOR radio and TV stations and the rights to the General Teleradio brand, under which the company merged its broadcasting interests as

2272-548: A month before NBC premiered the similarly themed Dimension X . The network picked up adventure series Challenge of the Yukon from ABC Radio, which originated at Mutual cofounder WXYZ in 1938 (but after the station left the network). Renamed Sergeant Preston of the Yukon , this show launched on Mutual on July 10, 1951. A partnership with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the end of 1951 had the film studio supply up to six hours of programming per week starting in 1952 with The MGM Theater of

2414-472: A network staple through September 1955. From May 1943 through May 1946, Mutual aired The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce , reprising their roles from the Universal film series. An earlier incarnation of the show had run briefly on the network in 1936; a less starry version would return to Mutual from September 1947 through June 1949. The Mysterious Traveler ,

2556-585: A new contract with Mutual despite previously indicating the station would drop the network, becoming the lone RKO Teleradio station to renew ties as WGMS, KFRC, KHJ and WHBQ joined WNAC in independence. At the same time, WOR started to identify as "WOR-AM- FM , owned by RKO General," eschewing on-air mentions of Mutual after listeners mistakenly thought WOR was also in bankruptcy; concurrently, Mutual changed their station cue to "the Network of Independent Stations". A three-part reorganization plan resolving all debts

2698-576: A new division (Bamberger had previously sold its TV station in the nation's capital, WOIC, to CBS and the Washington Post ). Most importantly, WOR's founding shares in Mutual, when added to the Yankee and Don Lee holdings, gave General Tire majority control of the network. General Tire head Thomas F. O'Neil , who had already taken over as president of the Don Lee stations, became president of Mutual in an executive shakeup. While Mutual did not have

2840-472: A proto– Twilight Zone anthology series, aired every week on Mutual from December 1943 until September 1952. In February 1946, Mutual introduced a quiz show, Twenty Questions , that would run for more than seven years. In October, the detective series Let George Do It , starring Bob Bailey, launched as a Mutual/Don Lee presentation; it would also run into the mid-1950s. For two years, starting in 1946 as well, Steve Allen got his first network exposure on

2982-533: A secret for very long." In April 1938, the network picked up The Green Hornet from former member WXYZ. Mutual gave the twice-a-week series its first national exposure until November 1939, when it switched to NBC Blue. (The series would return very briefly to Mutual in the fall of 1940). Mutual also provided the national launching pad for Kay Kyser and his Kollege of Musical Knowledge radio show. Kyser's enormous success at Mutual soon allowed his show to move to NBC and its much larger audience. By May 1939, Mutual

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3124-500: A series of regional and individual station acquisitions. Once General Tire sold the network in 1957 to a syndicate led by Dr. Armand Hammer , Mutual's ownership was largely disconnected from the stations it served, leading to a more conventional, top-down model of program production and distribution. Due to the multiple sales of the network that followed, Mutual was once described in Broadcasting magazine as "often traded". After

3266-438: A television network, it held rights to one of the most profitable shows in the medium: an early adaptation of Queen for a Day on General Teleradio/Don Lee's KHJ-TV boasted an audience triple that of the city's six other television stations combined. It was also the largest U.S. radio network in affiliate numbers, by far—it had around 560, almost three times as many as its most powerful competitors, CBS (194) and NBC (191). Still,

3408-600: A variety of networks. Radio networks rose rapidly with the growth of regular broadcasting of radio to home listeners in the 1920s. This growth took various paths in different places. In Britain the BBC was developed with public funding , in the form of a broadcast receiver license , and a broadcasting monopoly in its early decades. In contrast, in the United States various competing commercial broadcasting networks arose funded by advertising revenue. In that instance,

3550-429: A year and a half in the late 1940s, William Shirer came over from CBS to do current events commentary after his famous falling out with Edward Murrow . In 1948, Mutual's four-part series To Secure These Rights , dramatizing the findings of President Truman 's Committee on Civil Rights , outraged many politicians and the network's own affiliates in the segregated South . In the field of entertainment, Mutual built on

3692-540: Is switched by the controller. The broadcast type of radio network is a network system which distributes programming to multiple stations simultaneously, or slightly delayed, for the purpose of extending total coverage beyond the limits of a single broadcast signal. The resulting expanded audience for radio programming or information essentially applies the benefits of mass-production to the broadcasting enterprise. A radio network has two sales departments, one to package and sell programs to radio stations, and one to sell

3834-531: The Sears Radio Theater after CBS Radio dropped it, renaming it Mutual Radio Theater . While a number of well-regarded episodes were produced, the series ended on December 19, 1980, and was Mutual's final radio drama. The Mutual Southwest Network also closed at the end of 1980; in both cases, Mutual Radio Theater and Mutual Southwest suffered from a lack of advertising support. Radio network The two-way type of radio network shares many of

3976-786: The Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies . In September, WXYZ dropped out to join NBC Blue, though contractual obligations kept The Lone Ranger on Mutual, airing three times a week, through spring 1942. The hole in the Detroit market was immediately filled by CKLW in Windsor, Ontario , just across the river. In October, the network began a decades-long run as broadcaster of baseball's World Series, with airtime responsibilities shared between WGN's Bob Elson and Quin Ryan and WLW's Red Barber (NBC and CBS also carried

4118-686: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the sale of the Yankee Network—with WNAC, its three other owned-and-operated stations, its contracts with 17 additional affiliates, and its Mutual shares—to the Ohio-based General Tire and Rubber Company . By 1940, Mutual was already on par with the industry leaders in terms of affiliate roster size. Still, because Mutual affiliates were mostly in small markets or lesser stations in large ones,

4260-547: The Lindbergh kidnapping "trial of the century" in 1935, heard over Mutual, were highly regarded; Heatter soon had his own regularly scheduled newscast, which aired nationally five nights a week. In 1936, also via WOR, Mutual began broadcasting the reports of news commentator Raymond Gram Swing , who became one of the country's leading voices on foreign affairs. In November 1937, conservative commentator Fulton Lewis Jr. , heard five nights weekly from Mutual affiliate WOL , became

4402-681: The Mutual Black Network (MBN) and the Mutual Spanish Network (MSN; Mutual Cadena Hispánica, or MCH), on May 1, 1972. Targeting Black audiences, MBN supplied 100 five-minute-long news and sports reports weekly along with other programming, with MCH featuring similar fare aimed at Spanish-language listeners. By July 1972, Mutual had 550 affiliates, MBN had 55 and MCH had 21. While MCH lasted only six months, by 1974, MBN had grown to 98 affiliates. Another change in July 1974

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4544-559: The NBC Radio Network and licensed the use of the name NBC Radio Network News (later shortened to NBC Radio News) from General Electric , which was divesting all of the NBC radio properties of its former owner RCA . Like Mutual, NBC ceased operating as a radio network and merely became a brand name, even to the point of being merged into Mutual itself. NBC's other services, The Source and NBC Talknet , would eventually be retired in

4686-756: The Olympic Games , the NCAA basketball tournament (this and NFL coverage are co-produced with corporate sibling CBS TV), the Masters and U.S. Open golf, the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Frozen Four of college hockey , and the GRAMMY Awards . For many years the network also aired Notre Dame football and National Hockey League games. Westwood One has also handled sales and advertising for

4828-775: The Sports USA Radio Network since 2009. Notable sports announcers for Dial Global include: Scott Graham , Kevin Harlan , Brad Sham , Dave Sims , Kevin Kugler , John Tautges , John Sadak , Ian Eagle , Tom McCarthy , Chuck Cooperstein , Kevin Calabro , and Dave Ryan . Past personalities include Marv Albert , Howard David , Gary Cohen , and Harry Kalas . In 2005, Westwood One, Inc. and its traffic subsidiary, Metro Networks , sent several existing officers and directors of Westwood to Canada and Australia to unify

4970-513: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hal Roach Jr. took over as president, but the SEC labeled him "a Guterma puppet" due to how he assumed Guterma's shares and questioned his ability to run the network. A week after resigning, the SEC indicted Guterma on federal securities fraud charges, which led Roach to be removed as president of the film studio, though he retained his position as Mutual president. The SEC also ordered stock trading for

5112-511: The United Network . The network and its only offering, The Las Vegas Show , folded after only a month on the air. When ABC Radio "split" into four demographically targeted networks on January 1, 1968, Mutual unsuccessfully sued to block the move. Meanwhile, the network was undergoing some management instability, with frequent changes at the top. For example, Matthew J. Culligan was Mutual's president from October 1966 to June 1968. He

5254-498: The "Big Four" of the 1940s in American radio, continuing to operate it as a separate network into the 1990s. Thereafter, Mutual became a brand name for certain programming provided by Westwood One. CBS-run Westwood One retired Mutual in April, 1999 dropping it in favor of CNN Radio , to which Westwood One had syndication rights following its 1994 merger with Unistar. Two years after the Mutual purchase, in 1987, Westwood One acquired

5396-482: The 'exclusive affiliation' clauses of their agreements with these stations, and as a result, thousands of people in many sections of the country were unable to hear the broadcasts of the games." This was the first instance of "abuses" committed by the two major broadcast companies given in the ruling. Mutual also began building a reputation as a strong news service, rivaling the industry leaders in quality, if not budget. The broadcasts of WOR reporter Gabriel Heatter from

5538-488: The 1940s and early 1950s, moved to Mutual in October 1955. In November 1957, the final episodes of Counterspy and Gang Busters aired, ending the network's last two remaining half-hour original dramatic shows. Mutual had forsworn the genre and would not broadcast a new dramatic series until 1973 with the short-lived Rod Serling vehicle The Zero Hour . In 1955, the famous comedy team Bob and Ray came over from NBC for

5680-421: The 1940s, there was a brief exploration into the idea of launching a Mutual television network, serious enough to prompt talks with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a potential source of programming talent. Plans for the proposed Mutual television network advanced far enough that, at the annual meeting of Mutual stockholders in April 1950, network president Frank White made an official announcement of the planned creation of

5822-510: The 1970s, including Dr. Demento and Mary Turner's Off The Record . In 1981 Pattiz started recording live concerts for broadcast with a Chuck Berry performance that January. The company was a leader in live broadcasts and concert recordings for radio until May 2011. By 1982, he was distributing his radio shows via satellite through an arrangement with idb Communications in Culver City. Pattiz took Westwood One public in 1984 and with

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5964-990: The 1978 launch of the Mutual Southwest Network, a regional "mininetwork" that handled distribution for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network and featured Southwest Conference football games. In 1976, 49 percent of MBN ownership was sold to the Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation followed by the remaining 51 percent in 1979, at which point MBN was renamed the Sheridan Broadcasting Network and later merged into National Black Network to create American Urban Radio Networks . Fraim and Berry initially had control over Mutual Broadcasting Corp., but investor Benjamin D. Gilbert and his wife quietly bought out their stakes as well as those of

6106-782: The Air as its centerpiece, but the programs lasted for only one year. Another established drama, Phillips H. Lord 's Counterspy , moved to Mutual in 1953 after a prior run on ABC. The network's other new offerings in 1953 were a further sign of the times— transcription reruns of Coke Time with Eddie Fisher (utilizing soundtracks from Fisher's NBC-TV show) and an audio simulcast of CBS-TV's Perry Como Chesterfield Show . The Shadow ' s long run finally ended in December 1954, followed by Sergeant Preston in June 1955. Gang Busters , another Lord serial that ran on ABC, CBS, and NBC throughout

6248-559: The CBS TV show See It Now , hosted by Edward R. Murrow . In his radio interview, McCarthy dismissed Murrow as "the extreme left-wing, bleeding-heart element of television." In 1957, Mutual refused to air an episode of Clarence Manion 's Manion Forum featuring Herbert V. Kohler Sr. due to controversy over the Kohler strikes . Mutual began the 1950s by entering the realm of adult science fiction with 2000 Plus on March 15, 1950, almost

6390-806: The Colonial Network in New England, the Don Lee System on the Pacific Coast, and the group of stations owned by the Cleveland Plain Dealer , participated in responsibility for running expenses. A new contract effective February 1, 1940, provides for contributing membership by all the above group[s] plus station CKLW in Detroit-Windsor. These groups now agree to underwrite expenses and become stockholders in

6532-998: The Dial Global brand. The lone exception is the audio feed of CNN Headline News , which remains part of the CNN Radio branding under Westwood One. Westwood One syndicated several popular programs for a variety of music formats. Perhaps its most famous alumnus was Casey Kasem , who spent over nine years hosting a weekly radio countdown franchise for the network. Other shows included The Beatle Years with Bob Malik (originally hosted by Elliot Mintz and later J. J. Jackson ), Beatle Brunch with Joe Johnson, Country Countdown USA , Superstar Concert Series , "Absolutely Live," Country Gold (in most markets, also known as Country Gold Saturday Night , but also available on Sunday), Randy Jackson's Hit List with Randy Jackson and Kesha Monk, 106 and Park Weekend Countdown with Terrence and Rocsi, MTV TRL Weekend Countdown , Off

6674-399: The F. L. Jacobs Company suspended. Scranton was under pressure to sell Mutual. The March 9, 1959, issue of Broadcasting magazine stated Mutual had a deficit of $ 1.05 million (equivalent to $ 11 million in 2023) and was losing up to $ 100,000 a month. AT&T threatened to cut off Mutual's telephone service within 24 hours if all outstanding charges were not paid, which would sever

6816-512: The March 21, 1977, issue of Broadcasting magazine, publisher John P. McGoff disclosed he had been in talks to purchase Mutual. A bidding war followed between Amway , a multi-level marketing company known for selling home care products, and Columbus, Georgia -based insurer American Family Corp. , which dropped out after the asking price approached $ 20 million (equivalent to $ 101 million in 2023). On September 30, 1977, Amway bought

6958-608: The Mutual affiliate roster. WGAR dropped both their Mutual and NBC Blue affiliations on September 26, 1937, to take CBS exclusively; in turn, WJAY (co-owned with WHK by the United Broadcasting Company, part of The Plain Dealer business) joined Mutual and changed calls to WCLE. The Mutual affiliation in Cleveland moved again in the fall of 1942 from WCLE to WHK, temporarily displacing Blue programming from

7100-598: The Mutual/Don Lee morning show Smile Time , out of Los Angeles's KHJ . In February 1947, the religiously oriented Family Theater premiered; with frequent appearances by major Hollywood stars, the series aired on Mutual for ten and a half years. That March, Kate Smith , a major star on CBS since 1931, moved over to Mutual. During most of her initial run at the network, which lasted until September 1951, she had two distinct weekday shows, each 15 minutes long: Kate Smith Speaks , at noon, and Kate Smith Sings , later in

7242-560: The Press , monologues of NBC's late night programming, CNBC radio reports, and localized forecasts for The Weather Channel , which effectively united all of NBC's programming under one network. Westwood One provided operational, sales, and marketing support for the CBS Radio Network , whose properties were owned by the CBS Corporation. In turn, CBS managed production of Mutual and NBC Radio newscasts from 1998 until

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7384-750: The Quality Network. Five years later (in 1934), a similar or identical group of stations founded the Mutual Broadcasting System. Mutual's original participating stations were WOR in Newark, New Jersey , just outside New York (owned by the Bamberger Broadcasting Service , a division of R.H. Macy and Company ; in 1949, WOR-TV would begin broadcasting and Bamberger would be renamed General Teleradio, due to General Tire & Rubber 's increased investment in

7526-599: The Record with Mary Turner (and later Joe Benson ), VH1 Concerts and Specials , Out of Order with Jed the Fish , and the Country Six Pack of holiday music specials. The Dr. Demento Show was carried from 1978 to 1992. Many of these programs were not maintained in the Dial Global merger; Compass Media Networks picked up the rock-oriented programs, the country programs were split up among various networks, and

7668-702: The TV station), WGN in Chicago (owned by WGN Inc., a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune ), WXYZ in Detroit (owned by Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting), and WLW in Cincinnati (owned by the Crosley Radio Company). The network was organized on September 29, 1934, with the members contracting for telephone-line transmission facilities and agreeing to collectively enter into contracts with advertisers for their networked shows. WOR and WGN, based in

7810-501: The Westwood name in 1994 (later spinning off Transtar in 2006). After the sale of his Infinity Broadcasting to Westinghouse , then parent of CBS, Karmazin went on to become COO of CBS and under his control, CBS took over management of Westwood. CBS also had a significant ownership stake in Westwood, which then purchased Metro Networks in 1999 in a three-way merger including Copter Acquisition Corp. and Westwood. On August 30, 2010, Pattiz

7952-404: The affiliates, some of which saw it as an attempt by Mutual to make money at their expense; by the time of the next affiliates' conference in January 1954, O'Neil called the barter plan "dead". In 1955, General Tire expanded its media holdings by acquiring RKO Pictures from Howard Hughes , renaming General Teleradio as RKO Teleradio Pictures. The next year, a Canadian subsidiary of RKO purchased

8094-640: The agreement, which was filed as part of the companies' public disclosures with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The agreement took effect on March 3, 2008, the same day that Gores Radio Group invested $ 12.5 million as part of a multi-stage investment takeover of Westwood One. The second stage of the Gores investment happened only two weeks later with another $ 12.5 million, giving Gores Radio direct ownership of more than 14 million shares of Westwood One stock. Westwood One stock

8236-488: The air. September 26, 1937, proved a particularly momentous date: that evening, The Shadow came to Mutual. The show would become a mainstay of the network for more than a decade and a half and one of the most popular programs in radio history. For the first year of its Mutual run, Welles provided the voice of The Shadow and his newly created alter ego, Lamont Cranston. He played the part anonymously at first. But, as one chronicler put it, "nothing to do with Welles could remain

8378-508: The audience of those programs to advertisers. Most radio networks also produce much of their programming. Originally, radio networks owned some or all of the stations that broadcast the network's radio format programming. Presently however, there are many networks that do not own any stations and only produce and/or distribute programming. Similarly station ownership does not always indicate network affiliation. A company might own stations in several different markets and purchase programming from

8520-629: The broadcasting division was renamed RKO Teleradio in 1957, and again to RKO General in 1958. The "Mutual Dealer Plan", another attempt to revamp the network's operations containing elements of the barter-style "Cape Cod Plan", was unveiled to affiliates at an April 1956 conference to favorable reception. The plan, however, could not prevent two remaining minority shareholders in Mutual from leaving: United Broadcasting's WHK switched to NBC in July, while founding station WGN became an independent on August 31, 1956, with ABC/ Prairie Farmer -owned WLS becoming Mutual's Chicago affiliate. By this point, Mutual

8662-569: The controversy surrounding his remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team led to his firing in 2007. The program was then heard on Cumulus Media Networks until the show ended in June 2018. In 2009, the network added several short-form features based on television series syndicated by CBS Television Distribution : The Doctors' Orders , Ask Dr. Phil , Rach on the Radio , and The Insider Radio Minute . Westwood One attempted to secure

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8804-440: The country had already signed with them before Mutual's emergence (the exceptional, and soon departed, WLW aside), the cooperative network would be at a permanent disadvantage. On the programming front, 1936 saw Mutual launch the first network advice show, The Good Will Hour , hosted by John J. Anthony and sponsored by physical culture guru Bernarr Macfadden . The program was a new take on Ask Mister Anthony , which had aired on

8946-700: The country to Larry King and later, Jim Bohannon . In the 1970s, acting in much the same style as rival ABC Radio had splitting their network in 1968 , Mutual launched four sister radio networks: Mutual Black Network (MBN) (initially launched as "Mutual Reports Network" (MRN)), which still exists today as American Urban Radio Networks (AURN); Mutual Cadena Hispánica (MCH; or in English, "Mutual Spanish Network", MSN; abandoned in 1973); regional outlet Mutual Southwest Network (MSWN; retired in 1983); and Mutual Progressive Network (MPN; later re-branded "Mutual Lifestyle Radio" (MLR) in 1980, then retired in 1983). Of

9088-470: The country, while another story about Castro allies planning attacks against the Trujillo regime was read by Fulton Lewis Jr.; assorted "news releases" were also sent intended for newscasts but never broadcast. Outraged over the arrangement, Hurleigh went to the U.S. Justice Department , which also received a complaint from a Trujillo lawyer after Guterma failed to give the money back. By September, Guterma

9230-499: The early 1990s. In 1993, operations were shifted to radio station group owner Infinity Broadcasting , headed by Mel Karmazin , who also took over direct management of Westwood. With Infinity already owning and managing competing Unistar Radio Networks (formerly known as the RKO Radio Networks and later as United Stations Radio Networks, which merged with Transtar in the late 1980s), the two companies were combined under

9372-486: The early 2000s, Westwood One handled the distribution of Fox News Radio ; that has since moved to Premiere Radio Networks . One Fox program, The Radio Factor , hosted by Bill O'Reilly , continued to be distributed by Westwood One until his departure from the show in January 2009. The time slot was later filled by Fred Thompson and Douglas Urbanski . Imus in the Morning was carried on Westwood One from 1993 until

9514-429: The end of 1950, the executors of the estate of Thomas S. Lee (the son of Don Lee, who had died in 1934) liquidated the estate's broadcasting interests. The Don Lee Broadcasting System and its shares in Mutual were sold to General Tire for $ 12.3 million (equivalent to $ 156 million in 2023), which already had a sizable stake in Mutual via the Yankee Network. The sale prompted a challenge by Edwin W. Pauley , who led

9656-428: The end of every episode. While not directly from Mutual, it was made available to the network's over 600 stations, with 126 carrying it by July. The Anti-Defamation League alleged the Mutual connection came as the Gilberts personally contributed thousands of dollars to the Liberty Lobby since 1966. After refusing to transmit two specific episodes in November, Mutual cancelled the Liberty Lobby contract at year's end. In

9798-454: The end of the year and Mutual then hired a virtually unknown local talk show host at WIOD in Miami : Larry King . On January 30, 1978, the Larry King Show made its national debut on Mutual. Initially broadcast over 28 stations, by late 1979, King's increasingly popular all-night program was being carried by nearly 200 stations. With a nightly audience of around 2 million listeners, the Larry King Show continued to attract new affiliates to

9940-574: The exclusive broadcaster in 1968, which would remain a cornerstone for the rest of the network's existence. In the spring of 1960, the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) stepped in, purchasing Mutual for about $ 1.3 million and restoring much-needed stability to the operation. Despite the late 1950s Guterma scandal, Mutual still had 443 affiliates, easily the most of any network. By this time, as historian Jim Cox describes, both Mutual and ABC "had largely wiped their slates clean of most of their network programming—save news and sporting events and

10082-401: The fall of 1936, Mutual lost another of its founding members when WLW departed. The network, however, was in the midst of a major expansion: the first outside group of stations to sign on with Mutual was John Shepard 's Colonial Network with its Boston flagship station , WAAB , and thirteen affiliates around New England. There was good reason for this affiliation: Shepard had been involved with

10224-618: The fate of the pop programs is unknown. Westwood One was most notable for its coverage and location recording of live concerts and events for broadcast/distribution via LP and eventually satellite. They syndicated the summer solstice Grateful Dead concert on June 21, 1989, a service that currently conglomerated radio stations no longer do. Since the merger with Dial Global, the company no longer records live music and has shut down its mobile recording division. The company holds exclusive national radio rights for many sporting events including National Football League and college football games,

10366-571: The first national news personality to broadcast out of Washington, D.C.; he would remain with the network until his death almost three decades later. In 1938, Mutual started rebroadcasting news reports from the BBC and English-language newscasts from the European mainland. The network also began employing its own reporters in Europe as the continent headed toward crisis, including John Steele, Waverley Root , Arthur Mann, and Victor Lusinchi. Among these

10508-552: The first time in years that the network featured a regularly scheduled live music program. Jamboree USA also became the first music program on radio to be transmitted by satellite; the new technology now further enabled Mutual to offer additional music programming to affiliates, including anthologies and concerts. With their purchase of WCFL still pending, Amway acquired a second station for Mutual with New York City's WHN from Storer Broadcasting on February 26, 1979, for $ 14 million (equivalent to $ 58.8 million in 2023), at

10650-440: The first time, the network founded by radio stations directly owned a station of its own, and in one of the country's largest markets. Mutual also reached its greatest number of affiliates that year with 950, fewer than ABC—whose multipronged approach had proven very successful—but far in front of NBC and CBS. Outside of news and sports, one of the few primary network programs initiated by Mutual during this era rapidly became one of

10792-752: The founding of Mutual, and served on its board of directors. Cleveland's WGAR also became an affiliate, albeit a dual one, as they also held a primary NBC Blue hookup. WGAR was joined by five other Midwestern stations: KWK in St. Louis, Mo.; KSO in Des Moines, Iowa; WMT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; KOIL in Omaha, Neb.; and KFOR in Lincoln, Neb. The big prize came in December, when the Don Lee Network ,

10934-439: The four national networks of American radio's classic era, Mutual had for decades the largest number of affiliates but the least certain financial position (which prevented Mutual from expanding into television broadcasting after World War II, as NBC , CBS and ABC did). For the first 18 years of its existence, Mutual was owned and operated as a cooperative (a system similar to that of today's National Public Radio ), setting

11076-552: The hiring of radio veteran Gary Krantz in 2006; he remained with the company until March 2008. On May 4, 2007, the New York Post reported that Westwood One had retained investment bank UBS to seek potential buyers for the network. In October 2007, Westwood and CBS Radio signed a new contractual agreement by which Westwood would hire its own officers and directors, and CBS would use Westwood One programming and trademark licenses. Westwood also had use of CBS trademarks under

11218-457: The hour. The network gave an outlet to radio dramatist Wyllis Cooper and his highly regarded suspense anthology Quiet, Please , which ran on Mutual from June 1947 to September 1948. It also aired actor Alan Ladd 's similarly lauded drama about a crime-solving mystery novelist, Box 13 , which ran for precisely a year. Mayfair Productions, Ladd's own business, produced its 52 episodes, which began airing every Sunday on August 22, 1948. Toward

11360-515: The incomparable success of The Shadow . WGN's Chicago Theater of the Air , featuring hour-long opera and musical theater productions before a live audience, was broadcast for the first time in May 1940. By 1943, the weekly show was being recorded in front of houses 4,000 strong, gathered to see performances featuring a full orchestra and chorus. Chicago Theater of the Air would run on Mutual through March 1955. Mutual provided an early national outlet for

11502-563: The influential, iconoclastic satirist Henry Morgan , whose show Here's Morgan began its network run in October 1940. Though The Lone Ranger moved over to NBC Blue in May 1942, within a few months Mutual had another reliable, and no less famous, action hero. The Adventures of Superman , picked up from WOR, would run on the network from August 1942 to June 1949. In April 1943, Mutual launched what would turn into one of its longest-lasting shows. Debuting as The Return of Nick Carter and later retitled Nick Carter, Master Detective , it would be

11644-563: The late 1990s. Until the Dial Global merger, the NBC Radio brand was still occasionally used, including twice daily at the halfway point and conclusion of the early morning news magazine First Light (which has since revived the NBC branding throughout the program). In 2003, NBC News began contracting with Westwood One to produce a new radio news service, NBC News Radio, consisting of one-minute updates written by Westwood staffers and read by NBC News talent. Westwood One also distributed Meet

11786-507: The late-evening and overnight hours. The Larry King Show also won a Peabody Award for Mutual in 1982. Mutual made additional ventures beyond talk programming and newscasts. Along with the network's existing sports coverage, Mutual was the national radio broadcaster for Monday Night Football from 1970 through 1977. Mutual began nationally distributing Jamboree USA from WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia , on February 23, 1979, marking

11928-723: The leading regional web on the West Coast, left CBS to become a central participant in Mutual. Don Lee brought its four owned-and-operated stations — KHJ in Los Angeles, KFRC in San Francisco, KGB in San Diego, and KDB in Santa Barbara—along with six California affiliates and, via shortwave hookup, two more in Hawaii. Mutual now had a nationwide presence. During 1936, as well, an offer by Warner Bros. to purchase

12070-408: The market entirely. By the end of 1938, Mutual had 74 exclusive affiliates; though the two leading radio network companies discouraged dual hookups, Mutual shared another 25 affiliates with NBC and 5 with CBS. The total of 104 affiliates put Mutual not far behind the leaders. Because of the corporate strength behind NBC and CBS, however, and the fact that the lion's share of the most powerful stations in

12212-525: The money raised by the IPO, he purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System the following year and the NBC Radio Network in 1987. Other highlights in the late 1980s include the purchase of three radio stations, the trade paper Radio & Records , and the hiring of Casey Kasem from ABC. Although Pattiz long remained a major shareholder and board chairman, control and management shifted to others in

12354-626: The most successful in its history—the first nationwide, all-night call-in talk radio program, which launched on November 3, 1975, with Herb Jepko as host. Jepko's show, which originated from KSL in Salt Lake City in 1964 as Nitecap , was fed by Mutual for eight hours beginning at midnight ET , allowing for stations on the West Coast to carry it live. Mutual also signed up 12 high-powered AM stations to ensure coast-to-coast reception. Jepko so determinedly avoided controversial topics on

12496-1142: The name Westwood One and absorbed Cumulus Media Networks (previously ABC Radio and Citadel Media). The company was one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcast entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the USA . It is America's top provider of local traffic reports through its subsidiaries Metro Networks , Shadow Broadcast Services , SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com. Westwood One also offers weather services, originally using Accuweather before switching to The Weather Channel in 2009. Talk radio personalities distributed by Westwood One included at various times Don and Mike , Phil Valentine , Dennis Miller , Jim Bohannon , Billy Bush , Robert Wuhl , Drew Pinsky ( Loveline ), G. Gordon Liddy , Joe Scarborough , Kevin and Bean , Tom Leykis , Opie and Anthony , and Adam Carolla . The company syndicated these shows across AM and FM affiliates but did not provide

12638-453: The network apart from its corporate-owned competitors. Mutual's member stations shared their own original programming, transmission and promotion expenses, and advertising revenues. From December 30, 1936, when it debuted in the West, the Mutual Broadcasting System had affiliates from coast to coast. Its business structure would change after General Tire assumed majority ownership in 1952 through

12780-480: The network began regularly airing a Major League Baseball Game of the Day, every day except Sunday. This expansion into daily sports programming would run well into the 1960s. While baseball's World Series and All-Star Game would go to rival NBC in 1957, Mutual secured national radio rights to Notre Dame Fighting Irish football in 1954. The rights would switch between networks over the following decade before Mutual became

12922-764: The network during the early 1980s. King, like Jepko, generally steered clear of contentious topics and gave regular callers to the program pseudonyms or nicknames. Originally a five-and-a-half hour program, the last half hour was relaunched as America in The Morning , a morning news magazine hosted by WCFL alumnus Jim Bohannon , in September 1984. King continued with his Mutual call-in show until 1994, long after his move to television in 1985 as host of Larry King Live for CNN . King's success soon prompted NBC Radio and ABC Radio to launch NBC Talknet and ABC TalkRadio, respectively, both featuring call-in shows airing into

13064-470: The network from its affiliates. An attempt to sell the network to Max Factor collapsed after the cosmetics manufacturer could not find a way to create a tax advantage from the existing financial losses. When AT&T made another threat to disconnect phone service, network news director Robert F. Hurleigh engineered a last-minute deal with businessman Malcolm Smith, whose transaction to buy the network included $ 1 million of advertising time and payment of

13206-615: The network lagged way behind in advertising revenue—NBC took in eleven times as much as Mutual that year. In 1941, the FCC, calling for NBC to divest one of its two networks, observed that the company "has utilized the Blue to forestall competition with the Red ;.... Mutual is excluded from, or only lamely admitted to, many important markets." On January 10, 1942, Mutual filed a $ 10.275 million suit against NBC and its parent company, RCA , alleging

13348-571: The network was apparently made and rejected. In January 1937, ownership of WAAB was consolidated with that of another Boston station controlled by Shepard: WNAC was flagship of the Yankee Network , a circuit of New England radio stations whose membership partially overlapped with that of Colonial. Yankee flagship WNAC had been an affiliate of CBS Radio, changing affiliation to NBC Red later in 1937 when CBS purchased WEEI in that city. The Texas Network soon added twenty-three more stations to

13490-551: The network. After the purchase, Mutual began to develop what would become the first nationwide commercial broadcast satellite network, leading to the end of decades of reliance on telephone lines for the broadcast industry's transmission capacity. This proposal received FCC approval in late 1979. The biggest change to Mutual happened in 1978, when Amway purchased WCFL from the Chicago Federation of Labor for $ 12 million (equivalent to $ 56.1 million in 2023); for

13632-441: The network.... An operating board for the network is comprised of representatives from each of these groups, together with additional representation appointed by other affiliated stations. The new cooperative structure was also joined by the owners of WKRC in Cincinnati, which had replaced Mutual cofounder WLW in that market. The Mutual corporation now had 100 shares, apportioned as follows: In 1941, WOR's official city of license

13774-414: The networks operations. Throughout the 1990s, Mutual was gradually assimilated into Westwood One's operations. The Mutual name was finally retired in April, 1999. Attempts at establishing cooperatively owned radio networks had been made since the 1920s. In 1929, a group of four radio stations in the major markets of New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Detroit organized into a loose confederation known as

13916-461: The only one of the "Big Four" U.S. radio networks that didn't launch (and eventually lose its dominance to) a television network. While there was no Mutual TV network, this did not mean the group did not have an influence over commercial television's early development. Several Mutual radio affiliates launched their own television stations that would often be affiliated with the television networks of ABC, NBC , CBS or DuMont . The cooperative also held

14058-465: The other investors, becoming the group's principal owners. The Gilberts would attract unwanted attention for themselves over one particular program. In 1974, the Liberty Lobby , a think tank and lobby group that espoused far-right views and antisemitism , purchased airtime for a daily five-minute show, This Is Liberty Lobby , which also offered the organization's "America First" pamphlet at

14200-502: The outstanding AT&T phone bill, which totaled over $ 400,000. The deal, however, failed to stop KALL in Salt Lake City and its 41-station regional "Intermountain Network" from switching to ABC. The Don Lee Network folded on April 26, with all 20 affiliates switching from Mutual to ABC and ABC purchasing Don Lee's remaining programming. Yankee Network lead station WNAC severed ties with Mutual in August to become independent, but Mutual

14342-647: The program that some callers simply talked about the weather where they lived. Fellow broadcaster Hilly Rose said of Jepko, "he is the exact opposite of Joe Pyne and 99% of the successful talk show hosts in America. If (he) were any nicer, he would make Mary Poppins look like a witch." In May 1977, Mutual dropped Jepko's show, replacing it with the husband-and-wife team of Long John Nebel and Candy Jones from WMCA in New York City, whose program fared little better than Jepko's. Nebel and Jones left Mutual by

14484-515: The programs to satellite radio. Westwood One distributed the radio news operations of CNN and NBC as well as its corporate cousin, the CBS Radio Network . In 1988, Casey Kasem moved from ABC Radio Networks to Westwood One after a contract dispute. Pattiz created Casey's Top 40 , Casey's Countdown, and Casey's Hot 20 for him. Kasem stayed with the network for nine years, leaving in 1998 when AM/FM Radio Networks (now Premiere Radio Networks ) allowed him to bring back American Top 40 . In

14626-586: The radio industry started to feel effects of major advertisers abandoning radio for television, with commercial rates being cut among all four networks, Mutual included. O'Neil proposed a barter -style restructuring at a July 1953 affiliates' conference in Cape Cod, Massachusetts , called "The Cape Cod Plan": the network would provide five hours of sponsored programming daily and 14 hours of additional programming weekly that affiliates could sell commercial time for. The "Cape Cod Plan" eventually met with resistance from

14768-434: The range of coverage required by the jurisdiction or authority implementing the system: conventional wireless links in numerous frequency bands, fibre-optic links, or microwave links. In all of these cases the signals are typically backhauled to a central switch of some type where the radio message is processed and resent (repeated) to all transmitter sites where it is required to be heard. In contemporary two-way radio systems

14910-586: The retirement of the original NBC Radio top-of-the-hour newscasts in June 2004. The CBS Radio news and sports broadcasts (the latter specifically branded as "from Westwood One") were distributed from the CBS/Westwood One Master Control at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. Westwood One also provided alternate feeds of NFL football games to Sirius Satellite Radio . Westwood One expanded into digital media with

15052-945: The rights to The Savage Nation , but current syndicator Talk Radio Network refused to let host Michael Savage out of what apparently is a perpetual contract. By the time the dispute was settled in Savage's favor, Westwood One had already dissolved. Rick Dees moved from Citadel Media to Westwood One in 2011. Until 2006, Westwood One distributed a number of 24-hour radio formats via satellite to affiliate stations. These formats included: Adult Rock & Roll ( classic rock ), Adult Standards (formerly AM Only ), Bright AC ( hot adult contemporary ), CNN Headline News , Hot Country , Mainstream Country , SAM - Simply About Music ( variety hits ), Soft AC , The Oldies Channel , and Westwood One 70s . The 24-hour formats, originally acquired through Westwood One's purchase of Unistar in 1993, were spun off in 2006 and are currently distributed under

15194-477: The rights to a number of valuable radio properties that made the transition to the new medium possible, including two of the era's most popular variations on what would later become known as the tabloid talk show and "reality" programming : the crabby gabfest Leave It to the Girls and, in particular, Queen for a Day , which both started on Mutual radio in 1945. Referred to by some as a "misery show," Queen for

15336-537: The same corporation that owned or operated the network often manufactured and marketed the listener's radio. Major technical challenges to be overcome when distributing programs over long distances are maintaining signal quality and managing the number of switching/relay points in the signal chain . Early on, programs were sent to remote stations (either owned or affiliated) by various methods, including leased telephone lines, pre-recorded gramophone records and audio tape. The world's first all-radio, non-wireline network

15478-514: The same technologies and components as the broadcast-type radio network but is generally set up with fixed broadcast points ( transmitters ) with co-located receivers and mobile receivers/transmitters or transceivers . In this way both the fixed and mobile radio units can communicate with each other over broad geographic regions ranging in size from small single cities to entire states/provinces or countries. There are many ways in which multiple fixed transmit/receive sites can be interconnected to achieve

15620-520: The series that year; the Fall Classic would air on all three networks through 1938). Mutual broadcast its first Notre Dame football game that autumn as well, beginning another relationship that would last for decades. As an income-generating business, the Mutual network was a modest endeavor at the start: in the first eleven months of 1935, the cooperative garnered $ 1.1 million in advertising, compared to NBC's $ 28.3 million and CBS's $ 15.8 million. In

15762-473: The situation, featuring the commentary of Major George Fielding Eliot , military analyst for CBS during World War II. Six correspondents, more than NBC or ABC, were working for Mutual in Korea by August 1950. On occasion, Mutual's commentary programs made the news: On March 11, 1954, Fulton Lewis Jr. featured Senator Joseph McCarthy as his guest, two days after the senator's ethics had been called into question on

15904-551: The span of four months for purposes of raising enough money to remain operational, the network's reputation was severely damaged but soon rebounded under its succeeding owner, 3M Company . Sold to private interests in 1966 and again to Amway in 1977, Mutual purchased two radio stations in New York and Chicago in the 1980s, only to sell them after Amway's interest in broadcasting began to fade. Radio syndicator Westwood One acquired Mutual in 1985 and NBC Radio in 1987, consolidating

16046-449: The time the second-highest purchase price for a radio station. Supplanting WMCA as Mutual's New York outlet, the deal closed on March 3, 1980. Re-branded "Mutual/CFL", WCFL was relaunched in August 1979 as the flagship for Mutual Lifestyle Radio , a form of talk radio oriented towards light conversation. On a Country Road , a country music show hosted by WHN's Lee Arnold, was given national distribution. Also in March 1980, Mutual picked up

16188-644: The two largest markets and providing the bulk of the programming, were the acknowledged leaders of the group. On October 29, 1934, Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc. was incorporated, with Bamberger and WGN Inc. each holding 50 percent of the stock—five each of the ten total shares. The three national radio networks already in operation—the Columbia Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company 's Red and Blue —were corporately controlled; programming

16330-418: The wake of the Trujillo scandal and affiliate defections, Smith sold Mutual to Hurleigh for $ 1 on July 1, 1959, which was followed by a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Businessman Albert G. McCarthy took over operations, arranging to settle the network's over $ 3 million in debts (equivalent to $ 31.4 million in 2023) while seeking an owner interested in running it on an ongoing basis. WOR signed

16472-423: Was Sigrid Schultz , the first accomplished female foreign correspondent to appear on American news radio. According to scholar Cornelia B. Rose, at the beginning of 1940, Mutual's corporate structure expanded its inclusivity: Until January, 1940, six groups bore the expense of the network operation in varying degree: stations WGN and WOR owned all the stock of the corporation and guaranteed to make up any deficit;

16614-570: Was a national broadcaster for Major League Baseball (including the All-Star Game and World Series ), the National Football League , and Notre Dame Fighting Irish football . From the 1930s until the network's dissolution in 1999, Mutual ran a respected news service along with a variety of lauded news and commentary programs. In the 1970s, Mutual pioneered the nationwide late night call-in talk radio program, introducing

16756-418: Was a smash hit, and by the turn of the decade, TV stations all along the coast were broadcasting it to high ratings. In the 1950s, Mutual would stare down NBC for four years as the mighty network sought to take control of the show. Offscreen, Mutual remained an enterprising broadcaster. In 1940, a program featuring Cedric Foster joined Mutual's respected schedule of news and opinion shows. Foster's claim to fame

16898-505: Was accompanied by what historian Ronald Garay describes as the "mass desertion of network radio talent, management and technicians for television .... [and] these people were taking with them the programming that had popularized the radio networks." The network soon changed hands again: in September 1958, it was acquired by the Scranton Lace Company for $ 2 million (equivalent to $ 21.1 million in 2023). Scranton

17040-970: Was allowed to affiliate with the other Yankee stations individually. Mutual apparently refuses to believe that we have disaffiliated. We are sympathetic to their problem, but we have definitely affiliated with ABC Radio. Lynn Meyer, president of the Intermountain Network/ KALL , on their March 1959 disaffiliation from Mutual The troubles with Mutual worsened. While on a press junket to Ciudad Trujillo in May 1959, Hurleigh received confirmation that Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo secretly provided money to Guterma, Roach and Scranton Corp. vice president Garland Culpepper. Guterma accepted up to $ 750,000 from Trujillo, and in turn, Mutual newscasts were to have up to 425 minutes of puff pieces favorable to Trujillo's regime broadcast per month. One story read by Walter Winchell regarded plans by Hal Roach Studios to film future movies in

17182-516: Was already in demand. It is often claimed that Mutual was launched primarily as a vehicle for the Western serial, but Lum and Abner was no less popular at the time. What WLW brought was sheer power; billing itself as "The Nation's Station," in May 1934 it had begun night broadcasting at a massive 500,000 watts, ten times the clear-channel standard. On May 24, 1935, the network aired its inaugural live event—the first-ever night baseball game, between

17324-524: Was an American radio network that was based in New York City . At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio , and was later purchased by the private equity firm, The Gores Group . Due to purchases, mergers and other forms of consolidation in the 1980s and 1990s, at one time or another, it had ownership stakes in or syndication rights to some of the most famous brands in network radio, including CBS , NBC , Mutual , CNN , Fox, and Unistar. The company

17466-585: Was approved in bankruptcy court on December 23, 1959, allowing Mutual to emerge from Chapter 11; a network spokesperson commented, "this means we start out with a clean slate; we are now divorced from any previous managements." Before the Guterma fiasco, the network had maintained its reputation for running a strong and respected news organization. As the conflict on the Korean peninsula began to escalate in mid-1950, Mutual began airing two special nightly reports on

17608-531: Was as the first daytime commentator to be heard nationally on a daily basis. The network aired that year's NFL Championship Game on December 8, the first national broadcast of the annual event. Over the following half-decade, Mutual's war coverage held its own with that of the wealthier networks, featuring field correspondents such as Henry Shapiro and Piet Van T Veer and commentators such as Cecil Brown , formerly of CBS. At 2:26 p.m. Eastern time, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Mutual flagship station WOR interrupted

17750-495: Was broadcasting the Indianapolis 500 . That autumn, Mutual won exclusive broadcast rights to the World Series. As described in a 1943 Supreme Court ruling upholding the regulatory power of the Federal Communications Commission , Mutual "offered this program of outstanding national interest to stations throughout the country, including NBC and CBS affiliates in communities having no other stations. CBS and NBC immediately invoked

17892-582: Was changed to New York. Within two years, the Colonial Network's affiliate roster and shares in Mutual had been fully absorbed into the Yankee Network by John Shepard III ; WNAC was the sole flagship, WAAB having been moved to Worcester , in central Massachusetts, to avoid duopoly restrictions. With WBZ taking over the slot as the NBC Red affiliate in Boston, WNAC switched to Mutual. In January 1943,

18034-522: Was claimed to be the Rural Radio Network , a group of six upstate New York FM stations that began operation in June 1948. Terrestrial microwave relay, a technology later introduced to link stations, has been largely supplanted by coaxial cable , fiber , and satellite , which usually offer superior cost-benefit ratios. Many early radio networks evolved into Television networks . Westwood One (1976%E2%80%932011) Westwood One

18176-443: Was foundering. Even with the "Mutual Dealer Plan" and staff cutbacks, the network suffered a loss of $ 400,000 (equivalent to $ 4.34 million in 2023) in 1956. In early July 1957, advertisers were notified the network could end operations at the end of the month, one of three options General Tire was considering for Mutual. Another option—spinning off Mutual while retaining the stations that had given it control—was ultimately taken, as

18318-413: Was heard on more than 500 stations in the United States. But this growth did not reflect any ability on Mutual's part to attract leading stations from the corporate-controlled networks. Rather, the FCC had eased its technical standards for local stations, facilitating the establishment of new outlets in small markets. Between 1945 and 1952, the number of AM stations rose from around 940 to more than 2,350. It

18460-459: Was indicted for failing to register as a foreign agent , with Roach and Culpepper as defendants. Guterma, who pleaded no contest to the charge, was sentenced to federal prison for stock fraud, but it was never proven that he actually fulfilled his part of the deal and arranged for slanted coverage. Nonetheless, the incident, combined with the network's precarious financial position, led to a reported 130 stations ending their Mutual affiliations. In

18602-726: Was initially retained for most sports programming. However, starting with the 2011–12 NFL playoffs , Westwood One's sports programming was branded as "Westwood One on the Dial Global Radio Network." After the NFL Playoffs concluded, the Westwood One name was removed altogether in favor of the Dial Global Sports Network , and the sports website was relocated to www.dialglobalsports.com. On September 4, 2013, Dial Global announced that it

18744-529: Was more subtle—Mutual began using the distinctive two-toned "Mutualert" network cue tones at the beginning and end of newscasts and programs, between commercials and during network identification breaks. For the rest of its existence, Mutual would use these cue tones, dubbed "bee-doops" by listeners. The youth-oriented Mutual Progressive News was launched for Top 40 and country outlets and was also made available for non-commercial educational stations in markets without an existing Mutual affiliate. Little later oversaw

18886-745: Was one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcast entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the United States . The company was the top provider of local traffic reports in the U.S. through its subsidiaries, Metro Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services , SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com. Westwood One also offers weather services; originally using Accuweather , Westwood switched to The Weather Channel in 2009. Oaktree Capital Management , through its Triton Media Group division, merged with Westwood One in October 2011. Triton then folded Westwood One into its Dial Global subsidiary. The Westwood One name

19028-477: Was produced by the network (or by advertising agencies of program sponsors that purchased airtime on the network) and distributed to affiliates, most of which were independently owned. The Mutual Broadcasting System, on the other hand, operated as a true cooperative enterprise, with members creating and sharing programming. The majority of the early programming, from WOR and WGN, consisted of musical features and inexpensive dramatic serials. WOR had The Witch's Tale ,

19170-437: Was renamed to "Mutual Broadcasting Corporation". The following month, after the death of Mutual stalwart Fulton Lewis Jr., his son Fulton Lewis III took over his nightly 7 p.m. slot. Another Ohio businessman, Daniel H. Overmyer , sought a merger with Mutual in 1967 amid plans to start his own TV network. The offer was rebuffed, but three Mutual stockholders joined eleven other investors to buy Overmyer's hookup and rename it

19312-409: Was renaming itself Westwood One , citing greater brand recognition. The company was founded by Norman J. Pattiz in 1976. At the time, he was a former advertising sales executive with KCOP-TV , a Los Angeles TV station. He was listening to a local radio station doing a Motown weekend and decided to syndicate The Sound of Motown to radio. The show was a success. He added several more shows during

19454-573: Was replaced by Robert R. Pauley , who came over from the ABC radio division, where he had served as president for nearly seven years. But Pauley only lasted a year, and resigned after clashes with the board over the need for cost-cutting, and other decisions with which he disagreed. His replacement was Victor C. Diehm, owner of several Mutual-affiliated radio stations and active on the Mutual Affiliates Advisory Council. Diehm

19596-556: Was succeeded as chairman by Mark Stone, senior managing director of the Gores Group, which by then was the majority owner and controlled Westwood. A Westwood press release said Pattiz signed a new contract as a company consultant. Pattiz has now started "PodcastOne," providing a hub for listeners to find their favorite radio personalities. In 1985, Westwood One purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System , one of

19738-438: Was succeeded early in 1972 by C. Edward Little , a former executive and owner of Hollywood, Florida , Mutual affiliate WGMA . Little arrived in the position with a commitment to expand Mutual's news service and program offerings, conceding that Mutual had long been fourth among the legacy "big four" radio networks. Taking a page from ABC's move to split its radio network years earlier, Little launched two additional news services,

19880-518: Was these new, relatively weak stations that Mutual kept picking up. Though by now it had many more affiliates than any other U.S. radio network, for the most part they remained "less desirable in frequency, power, and coverage," as the Supreme Court had put it. For instance, in the postwar era, CBS and NBC covered all of North Carolina, each with only four stations. Mutual needed fourteen affiliates to deliver comparable statewide coverage. Late in

20022-739: Was traded on the New York Stock Exchange until November 21, 2008, when it was delisted for failing to maintain market capitalization requirements. Thereafter, shares of the company traded publicly on the Pink Sheets under the stock symbol WWON.PK. After further stock losses, the Gores Group bought the company outright in March 2009 and relisted it on NASDAQ later that year under the ticker symbol "DIAL." Westwood One announced its merger with Dial Global in August 2011, closing it on October 21, 2011. On September 4, 2013, Dial Global, which had been bought by Cumulus Media , assumed

20164-402: Was under the control of the F. L. Jacobs Company, whose chairman, Alexander Guterma , envisioned a media empire uniting Mutual with another purchase that year, Hal Roach Studios . Guterma's tenure as Mutual president was brief: he resigned on February 13, 1959, amid increasing financial shortfalls, overdue payments to affiliates, unpaid phone bills with AT&T , and an ongoing investigation by

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