Starter of this subject: David Chamberlain
Last post in this subject: 3/27/2000
Messages in this subject: 6
| David Chamberlain | 3/27/2000 6 replies |
| Don't know if this qualifies as OTR but can anyone give me a rundown on the Monitor series (on NBC, I think). As I remember it was a magazine type show which would run all weekend on NBC affiliates. It was very informative and entertaining. Anyone else remember it? |
| Jim Hilliker | 3/28/2000 5 replies |
|
I don't remember it, as I was born in 1955. However, I recall reading somewhere that NBC Radio created the Monitor series to run on weekends so it would fit in with the radio listeners who were on the go,listening to radio in their cars, or listening to portable radios outdoors, or simply listening around the house. It was their idea of what radio should have done in those days to compete with TV on Saturday and Sundays.
I know it started sometime in the 1950s, but I don't know when it ended...I thought I recalled hearing it on KFI sometime in the mid-60s, but I'm not sure. Yes, it was a magazine format with various segments, I suppose 15-30 minutes. I remember hearing Johnny Carson's longtime announcer Ed McMahon once telling a story about when he was a staff announcer for NBC's Monitor. The website reelradio.com (www.airchecks.com) has recordings of a documentary called "WNBC-The First 66 Years"...In part 3, they have some short recordings of NBC's Monitor with Dave Garroway, Marilyn Monroe (likely a guest), Bob and Ray, (I had heard they were on Monitor for a few years); Jonathon Winters, Ernie Kovaks, Fibber McGee and Molly, and Burt Parks. I guess it was bits of comedy, interviews, and news and possibly some music, all divided up into various segments all weekend, but I'm not sure. Seems like there should be some more information out there on NBC Radio's history that would specify what the Monitor program was all about, what it consisted of and who created it, why, and how long it lasted. I know I'd like to know more about it. I hope some others can enlighten us with the full story about NBC Radio's Monitor. |
| Lou Genco | 3/28/2000 4 replies |
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Oh, how time flies when ya are having fun!
Monitor first appeared on NBC on June 12, 1955; and lasted until Jan 26, 1974. Anybody have any recordings of the beep - beep - boop -booo -beep electronic sounds that "announced" various things during the show? I believe these were precursors to tone dialing tones, but am unsure. Lou |
| Jim Hilliker | 3/29/2000 1 replies |
| Thanks for that information Lou...I didn't realize the program lasted that long. I know in the early-'70s KFI radio in Los Angeles played the NBC Radio newscast at the top of each hour, but I don't recall them carrying Monitor at that time; only their local music DJ shows and sports play-by-play. But they may have carried it in the late-'60s since I was usually listening to some rock and roll station back then! |
| Jim Hilliker | 3/29/2000 0 replies |
| I just went to listen to the aircheck recording from the WNBC history on reelradio.com...It was short with various "clips", but they did include the beep-boop- fast sounds Lous was referring to, I believe...they also said Monitor's "Communicators" included Dave Garroway, Frank Blair, Ed McMahon and Gene Rayburn, who recently died. I remember Blair was the longtime newscaster on NBC-TV's Today Show for many years. |
| Ted Hering | 3/29/2000 1 replies |
| Monitor was the brain-child of Pat Weaver. I might have the Monitor "theme" on a history of NBC LP. I remember hearing this weekend show. The program was mostly music (records), but with newsbreaks and short entertainment features. The comedy segments, with Fibber McGee and Molly, Bob and Ray, etc. were only something like 3 to 5 minutes long! It was actually a nice bridge that connected us to radio's "Golden Age." |
| Jim Hilliker | 3/30/2000 0 replies |
| Thanks for that information Ted. That makes the story a bit more clear...I knew Pat Weaver was president of NBC then, but I thought since he created or was responsible for getting such programs as The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Home and others for television in the 1950s, that he wasn't involved in the radio side...I know he started out in radio in the 1930s, so he understood what worked in both |