The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a former American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945.
Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the independent Blue Network was born of a divestiture in 1942, arising from antitrust litigation. In 1945, the Blue Network formally became the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).
Early history The Blue Network dates to 1923, when the Radio Corporation of America acquired WJZ in Newark, New Jersey, from Westinghouse, which had established the station in 1921.In a publication dated June 1943, the Blue Network itself traced its origins back to the founding of WJZ, as that eventually became the key station of the network. "The Blue Network Today", Blue Network Company, Inc. (New York, 1943), p. 1 WJZ moved to New York City in May of that year. When RCA commenced operations of WRC in Washington, D.C., on August 1, 1923, the root of a network was born, though it did not operate under the name by which it would later become known. Radio historian Elizabeth McLeod said it was not until 1924 that the "Radio Group" formally began network operations.
The core stations of the "Radio Group" were RCA's stations WJZ and WRC, along with the Westinghouse station WBZ, then in Springfield, Massachusetts, and WGY, the General Electric station in Schenectady, New York.
RCA's principal rival before 1926 was the radio broadcasting department of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. In 1921, AT&T began using this department as a test-bed for equipment being designed and manufactured by its Western Electric subsidiary.
The RCA stations operated at a significant disadvantage to their rival chain. AT&T used its high-quality transmission lines, and declined to lease them out to competing entities, forcing RCA to use the telegraph lines of Western Union, which were not as well calibrated to voice transmission as the AT&T lines.
Nevertheless, the WJZ network sought to compete toe-to-toe with the AT&T network, which was built around a different New York station, WEAF. For example, both stations sent announcer teams to cover the 1924 Democratic National Convention, which was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City.For a colourful description of the radio coverage of this convention by WEAF and WJZ, as well as a reference to the Western Union lines, see Promotional material produced in 1943 claimed certain "firsts" in broadcasting by WJZ, such as the first educational music program in April 1922, the first World Series broadcasts in 1922, and the first complete opera broadcast, The Flying Dutchman, from the Manhattan Opera House."The Blue Network Today", p. 2; it is noteworthy that RCA, then still owner of the Blue Network, gives the credit to itself, and not to Westinghouse, the actual owner at that time.
Creation RCA (as well as its consortium partners General Electric and Westinghouse)GE and Westinghouse, aside from owning radio stations that were in the "Radio Group" such as KYW and WGY, also owned a controlling interest in RCA. This controlling interest was sold in 1932, in the wake of action by the antitrust division of the Department of Justice. Time magazine, November 28, 1932 Big Pool Punned received a break in 1926, when AT&T made a corporate decision to exit the broadcasting business and focus on its telecommunications business.
The first step by AT&T was to create the Broadcasting Company of America on May 15, 1926, to hold its broadcasting assets, which included WEAF and WCAP in Washington. As reported in the press, this move was due to the growth in the radio broadcasting activities of AT&T and the special issues related thereto,The Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 15, 1926, 3:2, at Newspaper Archive though it would appear that subsequent activities in disposing of the assets of BCA may have also played a role in the decision. AT&T did in fact subsequently sell WEAF to RCA for $1 million in July 1926,New York Times, July 22, 1926, 1:2 a price that newspaper reports indicated was a substantial premium over what other stations were commanding in the marketplace,Oakland Tribune, September 13, 1926, 12:6 and represented a recognition of the status of WEAF in broadcasting, as well as its access to AT&T's lines. Indeed, the negotiations for the sale may have taken place very shortly after the creation of BCA, as Folder 129 in the NBC History Files at the Library of Congress contains a contract of sale for WEAF dated July 1, 1926.See , hereinafter referred to by folder number. The Oakland Tribune stated that 4/5ths of the purchase price of WEAF could be attributed to goodwill and the line access.Oakland Tribune, September 13, 1926, 12:6 Newspaper Archive On July 28, 1926, the Washington Post reported in a front-page story that RCA had acquired WCAP. The Oakland Tribune reported the same dayOakland Tribune, July 28, 1926, 12:6 that WCAP had departed the field, and WRC would be operating on the frequency they had shared, which was 640 AM.
As part of the reorganization of the broadcasting assets in the wake of the acquisitions, on September 13, 1926, the formation of the National Broadcasting Company was announced via newspaper advertisements, and on November 15, 1926, NBC's first broadcast was made. This first broadcast on November 15, 1926, marked NBC's de facto formation of the NBC Red Network from the WEAF network assets, using WEAF as the "key station"; this network in eventual popular image tended to broadcast the most popular entertainment programming. RCA merged its former radio operations into NBC, and on January 1, 1927, WJZ became the "key station" of the Blue Network when its network switch operations began. The network, again in eventual popular image, tended to place its focus more on news and public affairs programming, as well as the "sustaining", or non-sponsored shows.
The Decatur Review (Illinois) for Sunday, December 12, 1926, reported the following in an article describing a broadcast to be sponsored by the Victor Talking Machine Company and aired the following New Year's Day, January 1, 1927, which is a description of this first Blue Network broadcast—note that it makes it clear that January 1, 1927, marked the debut of the Blue Network:
Allegedly, the color designations came from the way the networks were represented on maps, with red lines (or pushpins) denoting the WEAF network circuits, and blue the WJZ circuits.,
Operations, 1927–1941
Cooperation with the Red Network The Red and Blue Networks shared a common pool of engineers and facilities, and would on occasion, broadcast the same events. There are two early examples, from the biggest news events of 1927. On May 20, 1927, both of the NBC networks covered the return of Charles Lindbergh to America from his trans-Atlantic flight, star announcer Graham McNamee doing the honors. Three months later, a combined hookup of 67 stations on the two networks presented the second Dempsey–Tunney fight, broadcast by McNamee and NBC colleague Phillips Carlin. Radio historian Elizabeth McLeod has published a discussion of surviving NBC broadcast material from this era.
A slightly later example of cooperation came on the evening of Sunday, December 1, 1929, when the famed "Laird of the Music Halls", Sir Harry Lauder, appeared on a coast-to-coast hookup that originated from KFI in Los Angeles (later an NBC Red station, but at this time part of NBC's West Coast "Orange Network"), but was distributed by WJZ, which, as noted, was the key station of the Blue Network; advertisements suggest that certain NBC Red stations, as well as stations in the Orange Network, supplemented the network. A description of this broadcast is contained in a 1930 pamphlet put out by the Enna Jettick Shoe Company;"Favorite Songs, Published by Enna Jettick Shoes" (New York, 1930 (?)), in the collection of E.O. Costello Enna Jettick sponsored the first of Lauder's performances that night on its "Enna Jettick Melodies" show, which was followed later by another performance during the time ordinarily used by The Collier Hour.Lima (Ohio) Sunday News, December 1, 1929, 2:7–8, available at Newspaper Archive.
At least as late as January 1939, in spite of the fact that by this time NBC was seeking to differentiate the images of its NBC Red and NBC Blue networks (see below), it would still arrange for special, joint broadcasts, such as a special two-hour presentation of "The Magic Key of RCA" musical program (normally an NBC Blue program, sponsored by RCA's Victor records division) entitled "Salute to 1939."Time, January 2, 1939 Programs Previewed; another slightly earlier example would be the March 5, 1938, joint Red–Blue broadcast of the season's last concert of the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini.
Blue Network function through the mid-1930s Ironically, even though the Blue Network generally was not given the more popular programs, it was the network that broadcast Amos 'n Andy at the height of its popularity in the early 1930s, when on average over half of the nation's radio audience would tune in to the show.A listing of the top-rated shows on NBC Blue can be found at , showing that Amos 'n Andy's rating of 53.4 in 1930–31 was far and away the best performance by an NBC Blue show; in fact, four of the top ten performing shows were Amos 'n Andy seasons. During the 1932–1933 season, Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso) sponsored an unusual program, the Five-Star Theater, which each weeknight presented a show in a different format. The marquee show in this cycle was Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel, which starred Groucho Marx and Chico Marx. Considering the show's relatively early (7:30 p.m. ET) time slot, it did rather well in the ratings,In fact, as demonstrated by , it was the 19th best performance by *any* NBC Blue program during the period it was owned by NBC. but it could not compete with the much stronger ratings produced by Esso's arch-rival Texaco, which sponsored Ed Wynn on NBC Red, and the show ended after one year.The surviving scripts for this show, in addition to a discussion of the show's history and an interview with one of its chief writers, can be found in the book Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel: The Marx Brothers' Lost Radio Show, edited by Michael Barson (Pantheon Books, New York 1988).
More commonly, the Blue Network would operate as a quasi-"farm team" for the Red Network, in terms of entertainment programs. Bob Hope (in 1935 and again in 1937), Jack Benny (in 1932), Fibber McGee and Molly (in 1935), and Information, Please! (in 1938) are all examples of shows that debuted on the Blue Network before eventually transitioning over to larger audiences on the Red Network.For the Hope, Benny and Information Please programs, consult , which show when these shows originated on NBC Blue; information confirming this, and adding Fibber McGee, came from Same Time, Same Station by Ron Lackmann (Facts on File, 1996).
On occasion, shows would make brief stops at NBC Blue before moving elsewhere, such as the Lux Radio Theatre (1934–35) and Will Rogers' program (1933), both of which would move to CBS.