This Day in Network Radio

Read a good book on OTR lately? Share your comments about it here
Stewart
Site Admin
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:19 pm

This Day in Network Radio

Postby Stewart » Sun Nov 16, 2008 2:58 pm

This Day in Network Radio
A Daily Calendar of Births, Deaths, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History
By Jim Cox


This time noted Radio historian Jim Cox has produced a very different type of book. Departing from volumes dealing with specific radio series or genres, Jim has written a volume about events, programs, and people in network radio that is organized by the "when" relationship to those subjects. This Day in Network Radio is an impressive compilation of information on significant events, programs, and personalities during the Golden Age of Radio and beyond.

A daily calendar format is used to organize these events into a logical sequence. By the author's count, This Day in Network Radio includes 2,627 entries dealing with watershed moments (Sound Bites) in network radio history, information on program Debuts and Cancellations, and Birth and Death information on radio on-air and production personnel. The entries are written in an almost telegraphic style which maximizes factual content and eliminates unnecessary verbiage.

There are 83 Sound Bites or watershed events in network radio history. These Sound Bites include dates of occurrence, participants involved, and the impacts of the events on the aural medium.

The entries relating to programs are labeled Debuting and Cancelled. For the 363 Debuting programs there is information on the series title(s), initial broadcast date, airing network(s), genre, a brief summary of the program's premise, cast members, occurrences in other media (if any), anecdotes, and final air date. The much shorter Canceled entries for 345 programs list title, last airing date, network, and debut date.

A large portion of This Day in Network Radio is devoted to the Birth and Death of notable and lesser known musicians, singers, actors, emcees, newscasters, commentators, sportscasters, announcers, and advertising agency, network executives, and production personnel. There are 968 Birth entries which are biographical sketches that contain a wide-range of information including name, birth date and place, scope of work activities, network and/or station affiliations, and credits in radio and other media. Often included in these sketches is previously unpublished information. The 868 Death entries are much more compact and contain name, date and place of death and date of birth.

This Day in Network Radio is a book that has something for everyone who is interested in Radio's Golden Age. It should appeal not only to Old-Time Radio historians and researchers, but also to hobbyists who simply enjoy collecting the shows. While not the type of book that is usually read from cover to cover, it is a very convenient volume to use. The very comprehensive Index facilitates the finding of specific information. Readers will return to it again and again for the information relating to the events, programs, and people that are contained within it.


This Day in Network Radio
A Daily Calendar of Births, Deaths, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History
Jim Cox
bibliography, index
259pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2008
$49.95
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611
Jefferson, NC 28640
800-253-2187
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com

Return to “OTR Book Review BBS”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users