Origins

  The Blue network, predecessor of the ABC Radio network, traces its roots to the early 1920s, when two informal networks linked a few radio stations in the U.S. Northeast to carry broadcasts from New York. The American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) network was the stronger of the two, feeding sponsored programs and special events from the company's New York station, WEAF (later WNBC, now WFAN). Starting in 1923, the second network fed programs from New York station WJZ (now WABC) to other Northeastern stations of the "Radio Group" operated by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), General Electric, and Westinghouse Electric.

     In 1926 a patent agreement reached between the Radio Group and AT&T heralded the beginning of serious network broadcasting in the United States. The agreement provided that the Radio Group would operate radio stations and networks, and AT&T would provide telephone lines to connect stations for network broadcasting. RCA established the National Broadcasting Company, a new corporation, in 1926 to operate local stations and radio networks. In turn, NBC bought WEAF and the telephone company's network from AT&T for $i million to complete the settlement. NBC then announced that it would provide the best programs available for broadcasting in the United States and that it would provide these programs to other stations throughout the country. NBC was launched with a gala inaugural broadcast from New York on 15 November 1926.

     At the time of its establishment, NBC had two stations in both New York (WEAF and WJZ) and Washington, D.C. (WRC and WMAL) as well as two affiliates in several other cities. Instead of duplicating the same program on both stations in the same community, NBC devised a plan starting in early 1927 for two semi-independent networks that would carry separate programs most of the time. These two networks, known as the NBC Red and NBC Blue networks, were originated by NBC's two New York flagship stations, WEAF, the former AT&T station, and RCA's station WJZ. On 23 December 1928, NBC linked together its eastern and Pacific coastal stations, known as the "Orange" network, establishing the first transcontinental network service.

     As 1927 began, a number of lavish sponsored programs were on the air. Concerts, classical or semi-classical, were presented by several orchestras. Live radio drama was attempted as early as 1928 by the Eveready Hour. Remote pickups of dance bands from New York's hotel ballrooms continued to be a prominent feature of both the Red and Blue networks during late night.

     When NBC began in 1927, there were ro stations on each network. At the end of six months of operation, NBC's Red network had a chain of r 5 stations, including WEAF in the East, and NBC Blue had 1o stations including WJZ. Eight additional stations were affiliated with both networks. In January 1928, one year after the network began regular daily service, NBC had 48 affiliates. Ten years later, in 1938, there were 154 NBC affiliates, including 23 on the Red network and 24 on the Blue, with the remainder choosing programs from both. However, NBC Red had considerably more of the high-power clear channel stations, making it the stronger competitor.

Mode of Operation

     From the start, the Red network outstripped the Blue network in terms of popular programming. The NBC Red network enjoyed the heritage of the AT&T chain, whose pre-merger advertisers paid performing talent well, whereas the Radio Group's WJZ had largely used free talent. With the Red network's lineup of powerful stations and strong popular programming, many sponsors insisted on placing their programs on NBC Red. Furthermore, to placate the government during the rapid growth of commercialism on radio, NBC deliberately programmed NBC Blue as a complementary service to the Red network, providing extensive news, public service, and cultural programming. Although NBC Blue had some popular sponsored shows, its schedules consisted largely of sustaining (non-sponsored) public-affairs talk programs, concert music, classic drama, and late-night dance bands. New programs often made their debut on NBC Blue and were moved to the Red network when they became popular. Because the Red network stations carried about three-fourths of NBC's commercial programs, industry observers commented that NBC, from 19 27 until 1943, used the Blue net­ work more as a foil than as an all-out competitor with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).

     Despite its secondary role, the NBC Blue network launched what was to become radio's first sensationally popular serial drama. In 1929 NBC Blue began carrying the nightly Amos 'n' Andy comedy show, which depicted the activities of a group of affable black characters living in Harlem. Amos 'n' Andy soon dominated all radio listening in the early evening hour of 7:00 Eastern time. The Cooperative Analysis of Broadcasting reported that more than half of all radio homes in the nation regularly tuned to this program during the 1930-31 season.

     During the 1930s, NBC Blue also carried additional five­ and six-day-a-week serialized dramas, including Little Orphan Annie, Lum 'n' Abner, Vic and Sade, Clara Lu and Em, and Betty and Bob. Several news commentators, including Lowell Thomas, also were heard five nights a week on the network. Other regular NBC Blue network programs included concerts by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Sherlock Holmes and other mystery dramas, and the popular Quiz Kids program featuring gifted youngsters. NBC Blue served rural audiences with its· National Farm and Home Hour, offered adaptations of classic drama on Radio Guild, and provided the Walter Damrosch Music Appreciation Hour for students.

     NBC's main competitor during the 1930s was CBS, which was founded in 1927. NBC and CBS together controlled almost all of the most powerful clear channel and regional stations-so much so that a third rival, the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS), found it extremely difficult to obtain competitive station affiliations after its founding in 1934. Mutual's complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) resulted in an investigation of radio network practices beginning in 1938. The FCC concluded that the extent of control exercised by NBC and CBS over the radio network industry was not in the public interest; in 1941 the Commission issued a new set of "Chain Broadcasting Regulations" that made it illegal for one company to operate more than one national radio network.

Separation from the National Broadcasting Company and Network Sale

     In January 1942, NBC officially split the operation of the two networks, making the Blue network a separate subsidiary of RCA. After bitter litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC's action, forcing NBC to sell one of its networks. In October 1943, the FCC approved the $8 million purchase of the Blue network by Edward J. Noble, whose fortune was derived from Life Savers candy. The new company was named the Blue Network, Incorporated. One year later, the network was renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

     In the 1940s, the Blue Network/ABC became a more aggressive competitor of NBC and CBS but continued the public service traditions of NBC Blue. ABC hired conductor Paul Whiteman as its musical director and substituted the Boston Symphony for the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the Blue Theatre Players for the Radio Guild. The Blue network began carrying the Saturday matinee performances of the Metropolitan Opera early in the 1940s. It also carried a Sunday night blues/jazz show called the Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. Both the Opera and Basin Street were hosted by famous opera announcer Milton J. Cross. The Blue network was also known for its stable of mystery programs, including Sherlock Holmes, Gangbusters, and Counterspy, as well as for its series of children's adventure shows in the late afternoons, including Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. During the daytime hours, the Blue network also counter-programmed the NBC and CBS soap operas with variety shows, the most famous of which was Don McNeal's Breakfast Club, a long­-running morning show originating from Chicago.

     During the war years of the 1940s, the Blue network was heavily engaged in news broadcasting. However, lacking the resources to maintain a worldwide news operation, the Blue network instead hired a number of commentators who presented a spectrum of views on current events. In this unique arrangement, the network's newsmen ranged from ultraconservative to ultraliberal. However, none was more controversial, nor more sensationally popular than columnist-commentator Walter Winchell, who attracted a huge audience for his Sunday night news and gossip programs. Serious public-affairs programming included the weekly America's Town Meeting of the Air, which featured speakers both for and against issues of the day. In another business innovation, the Blue network (and Mutual) offered some of its news programs to local advertisers in an effort to broaden the network's sponsorship and revenue base.

     The separation of the Blue network from NBC in 1943 introduced a new and more competitive era for the radio networks. NBC and CBS continued to be the strongest rivals, but the Blue network, no longer subsidized by NBC, had to struggle (with Mutual) for third place in the network industry. Both had growing strength in programming but limited resources for competing in the radio and the soon-to-come television network field. Eventually, in 1953, ABC merged with Paramount Theatres and became a much stronger organization in preparation for the coming of television.