Farewell, CBS Radio

Back again for another go is our old friend Bill Griffiths, with another of his wonderful guest essays. This time out, he's looking back on the end of an era: the demise of CBS Radio News. Here's Bill! by Bill Griffiths This guest essay will divert a bit from the usual discussions of classic television and TV Guide. The National Broadcasting Company began radio operations on November 15, 1926. A secondary NBC service known as the Blue Network was launched January 1, 1927. In the early 1940’s, the Federal Communications Commission forced NBC to divest itself of one of its networks. This ultimately resulted in the 1943 sale of Blue to Edward J. Noble, chairman of the Live Savers Candy Company. Noble renamed the Blue Network to the American Broadcasting Company in 1945. On October 29, 1934 the Mutual Broadcasting System was incorporated. This was a cooperative service with affiliated stations producing and sharing programming. However, the network that would become NBC’s most significant…