1942: Radio Broadcasting

If any evidence were needed to show the intimate connection now existing between the American public and radio broadcasting, the trends evident in radio during 1942 would brilliantly illustrate this fact. Consciousness of a world at war had been increasingly brought home to listeners during the period before the United States was attacked and this was reflected in the tremendous increase in the volume of news carried on the networks. Similarly, since Dec. 7, 1941, when America herself became involved, an immense change has been undergone in practically every department of radio broadcasting.

News Broadcasts.

During the early stages of the Axis advance it was still possible to obtain remote pickups from a large number of countries directly or indirectly affected by the impact of the war, but as the war progressed fewer and fewer transmitters from which Americans were accustomed to gain news remained free. In their place we began to become familiar with voices speaking from Australia, from Cairo, from Iceland, and from the far-flung frontiers wherever American troops or their Allies were going into action. The main source of European news had of necessity in the earlier stages to be London, which remains of immense importance today, but it is supplemented by plentiful broadcasts from Moscow, Algiers, Cairo, and other points in or near the theatre of action. The domestic radio commentators remain of prime importance and the public is loyal to the same individuals to whom it has turned since news became an important feature on the air. But it has also welcomed many men whose voices it had been accustomed to hear when they were representing the American networks in foreign countries and who have now returned to the United States. Parallel with this has been the dispatch abroad of other figures familiar to listeners through their domestic broadcasts.

Broadcasts of Drama.

Interest in dramatic fare continued unabated, although the nature of the fare changed considerably. The ever popular mystery or detective programs, in many if not most cases, leaned heavily upon espionage or sabotage plots and used for material the evasion of wartime regulations and the maneuverings of those concerned with black markets. The daytime serials reflected perhaps somewhat the change in the composition of the listening public during the hours when they were broadcast, due no doubt to the absence from home in war plants of vast numbers of women and the presence at home of many men working on late shifts. Plotwise a great many of these programs introduced strong war themes, and in certain cases actually transferred the entire scene of dramatic action to France or some other place where actual war conditions could be made a part of the plot. Of unusual interest was an experiment in which both the CBS and the NBC participated, whereby for an extended number of weeks each week the author of a separate daytime serial, in addition to writing the regular scripts of the week, wrote five special scripts using the regular characters but plotting around a war theme.

The popularity of such programs as 'The Aldrich Family' and 'One Man's Family' continued unabated, but side by side with the public interest in these fine programs a new interest was shown in the work of some writers either new to or not regularly associated with the radio medium. The 'This Is War' series, carried by all four major networks, drew upon the talents of a number of well-known authors, and other series or special programs attracted unusual attention because of those who wrote them. Stephen Vincent Benet not only contributed a series under the title of 'Dear Adolph,' but several single scripts, outstanding among which was 'They Burned the Books.' Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote her first work specifically for radio, 'The Murder of Lidice,' which attracted nationwide attention when broadcast.

Mention should be made of the activities of the Writer's War Board, a group of patriotic dramatic writers, who have turned out a considerable body of scripts bearing upon the war effort and have made them available to local stations all over the country.

In the short-wave field, the major change that took place was the assumption during the year of control over short-wave transmitters by the United States Government. The program staffs of the networks operating the short-wave transmitters remained the same, but the government definitely assumed control. The volume of broadcasts sent by short-wave increased and the number of languages used remained as varied as ever.

The increase in hemisphere solidarity noted in previous years has continued. NBC founded the 'American University of the Air' and launched two special series under its auspices, 'Lands of the Free' and 'Music of the New World.' It continued 'Pan American Holiday' and several musical programs of an exchange nature between Brazil and the United States. 'Pan American Holiday' frankly set out to teach Spanish over the air by the device of teaching the words of Spanish songs. The enterprise was the idea of Vice-President Wallace, and it proved singularly successful.

The War Effort.

Networks and local stations alike devoted immense thought and pains to the presenting of programs that would further our path to victory. These were frankly service programs, such as 'The Army Hour' and the Navy Day broadcast of NBC, or dramatic, such as 'The Man Behind the Gun,' or talks of national importance or of special local interest, such as air raid instruction and enlistment in voluntary enterprises.

Record programs under the aegis of the Office of War Information were to be found extensively used, and the same organization worked closely with advertising agencies and networks and stations in a widespread use of allocation announcements and special programs.

Mention must be made of the bond-selling activities successfully conducted by radio.

One development of the year was the visiting of army camps and naval installations by the best comedians and their companies in order to sustain and build the morale of the men in the services. Similarly, radio programs have been broadcast from industrial plants and shipyards. An indication of the number of such broadcasts is given by the mere statement that Kay Kyser alone broadcast from twenty army camps in 1942.

An innovation of the year was the launching of the first regular weekly program ever devoted entirely to labor. NBC afforded time for a program called 'Labor for Victory' conducted on alternate weeks by the A.F. of L. and the C.I.O.

In war time the religious aspects of life take on new importance, and radio continued to afford ample time as before to long established programs devoted to the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths. In addition, NBC founded a new program under the title of 'We Believe' on which the Scriptures are read and the music of all three faiths is performed.

For the rest, it is sufficient to say that the established favorites have remained on the air; newcomers of importance have been few with the noteworthy exception of the Boston Symphony Orchestra on the Blue Network. The public has listened to the radio as never before, and radio has endeavored to serve the public to the utmost of its ability.