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  • GOLD TIME RADIO
  • NEW YEARS EVE (Audio)
  • JANUARY IN THE GOLDEN AGE
  • THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (Audio)
  • DECEMBER IN THE GOLDEN AGE
  • BOSTON BLACKIE (Audio)
  • THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN - (Audio)
  • THE CAVALCADE OF AMERICA (Audio)
  • THE GREEN HORNET - (Audio)
  • THE ALL TME TOP 100
  • ABOUT A SONG Audio & Video
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  • THE ALDRICH FAMILY (Audio)
  • THE AMERICAN RADIO WARBLERS (Audio)
  • AMOS & ANDY: TWICE IS NICER
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  • ARTHUR GODFREY (Audio)
  • BABY SNOOKS (Audio)
  • BELIEVE IT OR NOT (Audio)
  • BENNY'S DOUBLE PLAYS
  • BERGEN, McCARTHY AND ADAM & EVE - (Audio)
  • BIG BAND REMOTES (Audio)
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  • BILL STERN (Audio)
  • BLOONN...DEE! (Audio)
  • BLUE'S BLUE PLATE SPECIAL
  • BOB BURNS - (Audio)
  • BOGART & BACALL'S BOLD VENTURE (Audio)
  • BUSTED IN RANK
  • "BY TRANSCRIPTION..." (Audio)
  • CAN YOU TOP THIS? (Audio)
  • CBS PACKAGES UNWRAPPED (Audio)
  • CBS RATES: GO FIGURE!
  • COMMAND PERFORMANCE (Audio)
  • CROONERS & CHIRPS
  • THE CURSE OF DASHIELL HAMMETT (Audio)
  • D-DAY ON RADIO (Audio)
  • DICK POWELL (Audio)
  • DR. CHRISTIAN (Audio)
  • DR DuMONT'S PREDICTIONS
  • DR. I.Q. (Audio)
  • DUFFY AIN'T HERE (Audio)
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  • EASY ACES (Audio)
  • ELGIN'S THANKSGIVING SHOWS (Audio)
  • FATHER COUGHLIN (Audio)
  • FBI vs. FBI (Audio)
  • THE FEUD - ROUND 1 (Audio)
  • THE FEUD - R0UND 2 (Audio)
  • FIBBER McGEE MINUS MOLLY (Audio)
  • A FIFTEEN MINUTE QUIZ
  • A FIFTEEN MINUTE QUIZ, JR.
  • FIRST SEASON PHENOMS
  • FRANK MORGAN (Audio)
  • FRANK MUNN'S GOLDEN VOICE (Audio)
  • FRED ZIV - KING OF SYNDICATION (Audio)
  • FRIDAY'S ALL TIME TOP TEN
  • THE GOLD IN THE GOLDEN AGE
  • GOOD NEWS (Audio)
  • GOODNIGHT, MR. DURANTE... (Audio)
  • THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE(S) (Audip)
  • GREAT GREETINGS
  • GREAT GREETINGS AGAIN
  • GUNSMOKE (Audio0
  • GUS HAENSCHEN (Audio)
  • GUY LOMBARDO (Audio)
  • HADACOL
  • HOLLYWOOD CALLING (Audio)
  • HOOPER: NO EASY TARGET
  • HOPE FROM HOME (Audio)
  • THE HOUR OF CHARM (Audio)
  • HUMMERT'S MUSICAL MYSTERY
  • H.V. KALTENBORN (Audio)
  • I LOVE A MYSTERY (Audio)
  • I LOVE A SEQUEL (Audio)
  • IN THE MILLER MOOD (Audio)
  • INFORMATION PLEASE (Audio)
  • INNER SANCTUM (Audio)
  • IT PAYS TO BE IGNORANT (Audio)
  • JACK WEBB'S DRAGNET (Audio)
  • A JOHN GUEDEL PRODUCTION...
  • JOHN NESBITT'S PASSING PARADE (Audio)
  • JUBILEE (Audio)
  • JUDY CANOVA (Audio)
  • KARL SWENSON (Audio)
  • KATE'S GREAT SONG (Audio)
  • KAY KYSER (Audio & Video)
  • THE KING OF SWING (Audio)
  • THE LATE SHIFT
  • LET'S PRETEND (Audio)
  • LIFE WITH LUIGI (Audio)
  • LIGHTS OUT! (Audio)
  • THE LONE RANGER (Audio)
  • LUCKY GETS BENNY (Audio)
  • THE LUCKY STRIKE SWEEPSTAKES (Audio)
  • LUX...PRESENTS HOLLYWOOD! (Audio)
  • THE MAGIC KEY (Audio)
  • MAJOR BOWES' ORIGINAL MONEY MACHINE
  • THE MARCH OF CHANGE (Audio)
  • THE MARCH OF TIME (Audio)
  • MARRIED SLEUTHS (Audio)
  • MBS = MUTUAL'S BARGAIN SALES
  • MEL BLANC (Audio)
  • MEMORIAL DAYS
  • MEREDITH WILLSON (Audio)
  • MR ALLEN MEETS MR BENNY (Audio & Video)
  • MR DISTRICT ATTORNEY (Audio)
  • MR. PRESIDENT (Audio)
  • MONDAY'S ALL TIME TOP TEN
  • MONEY WELL SPENT
  • THE MONTHLIES
  • MONTY WOOLLEY (Audio)
  • MULTIPLE RUNS ALL TIME TOP TEN
  • MUTUAL LED THE WAY
  • MY FRIEND IRMA (Audio)
  • NBC's CHINESE MENU
  • NETS TO ORDER
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  • THE NETWORK RACE
  • A NETWORK RADIO QUIZ
  • NICK CARTER (Audio)
  • ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH - (Audio)
  • THE ONE, THE ONLY...GROUCHO! (Audio)
  • THE ORIGINAL ABC NETWORK
  • OUR MISS ARDEN (Audio)
  • OZZIE & HARRIET (Audio)
  • PEOPLE ARE FUNNY (Audio)
  • PETRILLO!
  • THE PRESS RADIO BUREAU (Audio)
  • "PROFESSOR" JERRY COLONNA (Audio)
  • THE QUIZ KIDS (Audio)
  • RADIO GOES TO THE MOVIES
  • THE RADIO HALL OF FAME (Audio)
  • RADIO NETS' GROSSES
  • RADIO'S RULERS: CROSSLEY, HOOPER & NIELSEN
  • THE RAILROAD HOUR (Audio)
  • RANKINGS OVER RATINGS
  • R.I.P., PBS
  • SATURDAY'S ALL TIME TOP TEN
  • SEPTEMBER IN THE GOLDEN AGE
  • SERIALS, CEREALS & PREMIUMS (Audio)
  • THE SHADOW NOS. (Audio)
  • SHERLOCK HOLMES (Audio)
  • SHORTY BELL (Audio)
  • SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EARS
  • SOFT SOAP & HARD SELL (Audio)
  • SPIKE JONES (Audio)
  • SPONSOR SWEEPSTAKES
  • SPOTLIGHT BANDS (Audio)
  • STARTING POINTS QUIZ
  • STOP THE MUSIC! (Audio)
  • SUNDAY AT SEVEN (Audio)
  • SUNDAY'S ALL TIME T0P TEN
  • SUS...PENSE! (Audio)
  • TALLULAH'S BIG SHOW (Audio)
  • THREE ERAS OF THE GOLDEN AGE
  • THREE LETTER CALLS
  • THURSDAY'S ALL TIME TOP TEN
  • TOP 40 RADIO'S ROOTS (Audio)
  • TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES (Audio)
  • TUESDAY'S ALL TIME TOP TEN
  • TWENTY QUESTIONS (Audio)
  • THE TWO STOOGES (Audio)
  • UNFILTERED CIGARETTE CLAIMS
  • V-E DAY (Very Early)
  • VIC & SADE (Audio)
  • V-J DAY (Audio)
  • WALTER WINCHELL (Audio)
  • THE WALTZ KING (Audio)
  • WAR OF THE WORLDS (Audio)
  • WAS AMERICAN IDLE?
  • W.C. FIELDS (Audio)
  • WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS (Audio)
  • WEDNESDAY'S ALL TIME TOP TEN
  • THE WHISTLER (Audio)
  • WORDS AT WAR (Audio)
  • YOU ARE THERE (Audio)
  • YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE (Audio)
  • THE 1932-33 SEASON
  • THE 1933-34 SEASON
  • THE 1934-35 SEASON
  • THE 1935-36 SEASON
  • THE 1936-37 SEASON
  • THE 1937-38 SEASON
  • THE 1938-39 SEASON
  • THE 1939-40 SEASON
  • THE 1940-41 SEASON
  • THE 1941-42 SEASON
  • THE 1942-43 SEASON
  • THE 1943-44 SEASON
  • THE 1944-45 SEASON
  • THE 1945-46 SEASON
  • THE 1946-47 SEASON
  • THE 1947-48 SEASON
  • THE 1948-49 SEASON
  • THE 1949-50 SEASON
  • THE 1950-51 SEASON
  • THE 1951-52 SEASON
  • THE 1952-53 SEASON
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Fibber McGee & Molly, Phil Harris & Alice Faye and Penny Singleton & Arthur Lake in Blondie all heard differently on the West Coast.

THE LATE SHIFT 

Fibber McGee & Molly heard at dinnertime? Phil Harris & Alice Faye getting laughs in the afternoon? Blondie broadcast an hour later than usual? What’s this all about?

Welcome to Network Radio on the West Coast.

All broadcast times listed in Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 are Eastern - and if you live in the Central time zone, you‘re accustomed to simply subtracting an hour. It’s been that way since the birth of Network Radio and remains to this day in all radio and television.

But it was different - much different - in the Pacific time zone before network rules and recording techniques allowed an entire day’s program fare to be recorded and time-shifted which aligned East and West Coast program schedules. 

The combination of live network broadcasts and time-shifted feeds to the West Coast during the 1930's and '40's produced program schedules that would confuse any visiting listener from the East or Midwest.

The Nielsen Company ratings from 1947-48 display both the East and West Coast feeds of all network programs. Combined with the Los Angeles Times radio program logs from the season, (see www.JJonz.us/RadioLogs/
), the picture becomes clearer.

For example, Fred Allen wasn’t heard on NBC’s Pacific Network stations at his familiar time of 8:30 on Sunday. Instead, Allen’s show was broadcast at 5:30 on Sunday afternoon. His 8:30 timeslot was taken on NBC‘s western leg by the long running
Standard Oil Symphony Hour.

Lux Radio Theater
wasn’t on CBS West in its long held timeslot of 9:00 to 10:00 on Monday. It was broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:00.  At 9:00 listeners heard the second CBS feeds of the half hour Inner Sanctum followed by the multiple run 15 minute programs, Bob Crosby’s Club 15 and Edward R. Murrow news and comment.

Here’s the networks’ formula that kept their engineers in New York working the late shift well past midnight.

As a general rule - with the exception of Sunday - programs broadcast before 9:00 p.m. on the East Coast were fed a second time to West Coast affiliates after 11:00 p.m. New York time. And programs broadcast after 9:00 p.m. on the East Coast were carried live by network affiliates in Pacific time zone.

Below are the Top 50 programs of the 1947-48 season. Listeners from coast to coast heard 24 of the 50 programs simultaneously. These programs included 13 of the season’s Top 20.

Meanwhile, 26 of the Top 50 programs were time-shifted with second feeds to the West Coast.

Of these 26, only eleven - in bold - were heard on both coasts at identical clock times. The remaining 15 were scheduled at different times than in the East and two of them, The Big Story and The FBI In Peace & War, were broadcast on different nights. Lastly, The Lone Ranger was not fed to the West Coast for Friday night broadcast.


Program                                  Net            Eastern Feed           Western Feed          West Coast 
                                                                   & Bdcst Time         (Eastern Time)           Bdcst Time


Lux Radio Theater                     CBS         Mon, 9:00-10:00               None                 Mon, 6:00-7:00

Fibber McGee & Molly               NBC         Tue, 9:30-10:00                None                 Tue, 6:30-7:00

Amos & Andy                            NBC         Tue, 9:00-9:30                  None                   Tue, 6:00-6:30

Edgar Bergen & C McCarthy     NBC          Sun, 8:00-8:30                 None                   Sun, 5:00-5:30

Bob Hope Show                        NBC          Tue, 10:00-10:30              None                   Tue, 7:00-7:30

Fred Allen Show                       NBC            Sun, 8:30-9:00                None                   Sun, 5:30-6:00

Truth Or Consequences         NBC             Sat, 8:30-9:00        Sat, 11:30-12:00        Sat, 8:30-9:00


My Friend Irma                         CBS             Mon,10:00-10:30           None                   Mon, 7:00-7:30

Phil Harris & Alice Faye             NBC           Sun,7:30-8:00                None                 Sun, 4:30-5:00

Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts  CBS          Mon, 8:30-8:55        Mon, 11:30-11:55     Mon, 8:30-8:55

Jack Benny Program                 NBC              Sun, 7:00-7:30             None                  Sun, 4:00-4:30 *

Mr District Attorney
                 NBC            Wed, 9:30-10:00     Thu, 12:30-1:00 am  Wed, 9:30-10:00
 
Red Skelton Show                      NBC              Tue, 10:30-11:00         None                   Tue, 7:30-8:00

The Life of Riley                       NBC              Sat, 8:00-8:30        Sat, 11:00-11:30       Sat, 8:00-8:30

Duffy’s Tavern                           NBC               Wed, 9:00-9:30             None                   Wed, 6:00-6:30

Your Hit Parade                       NBC                Sat,  9:00-9:30     Sat, 12:00-12:30 am     Sat, 9:00-9:30

Big Town                                   CBS                 Tue, 8:00-8:30      Wed, 12:00-12:30 am  Tue, 9:00-9:30

The Great Gildersleeve            NBC              Wed, 8:30-9:00      Wed, 11:30-12:00      Wed, 8:30-9:00

A Date With Judy                     NBC                   Tue, 8:30-9:00            None                     Tue, 5:30-6:00

Kraft Music Hall                         NBC                  Thu, 9:00-9:30            None                     Thu, 6:00-6:30

Screen Guild Players                 CBS                  Mon,  10:30-11:00       None                     Mon, 7:30-8:00

Inner Sanctum                          CBS                   Mon, 8:00-8:30      Tue,12:00-12:30 am    Mon, 9:00-9:30

The Aldrich Family                    NBC                   Thu, 8:00-8:30        Thu, 11:30-12:00 am   Thu, 8:30-9:00

Blondie                                     CBS                   Sun, 7:30-8:00        Sun, 11:30-12:00 am  Sun, 8:30-9:00

Burns & Allen                           NBC                    Thu, 8:30-9:00         Fri, 12:00-12:30 am    Thu, 9:00-9:30

This Is Your FBI                       ABC                    Fri, 8:30-9:00          Fri, 11:30-12:00          Fri, 8:30-9:00

Adventures of Sam Spade         CBS                    Sun, 8:00-8:30        Mon, 12:00-12:30 am   Sun, 9:00-9:30

Fanny Brice as Baby Snooks     CBS                    Fri, 8:00-8:30         Sat, 12:00-12:30 am      Fri, 9:00-9:30

Judy Canova Show                     NBC                    Sat, 9:30-10:00            None                       Sat, 6:30-7:00

Walter Winchell News/Cmmnt     ABC                    Sun, 9:00-9:15              None                       Sun, 6:00-6:15

Manhattan Merry Go Round         NBC                   Sun, 9:00-9:30             None                       Sun, 6:00-6:30

Mr & Mrs North                         CBS                   Tue, 8:30-8:55         Tue, 11:30-11:55          Tue, 8:30-8:55

Mr Keen Tracer Lost Persons  CBS                   Thu, 8:30-8:55         Thu, 11:30-11:55          Thu, 8:30-8:55

People Are Funny                      NBC                      Fri, 9:00-9:30               None                         Fri, 6:00-6:30

The Lone Ranger                       ABC                     MWF, 7:30-8:00       M,W, 10:00-10:30          M,W, 7:00-7:30

The Big Story                            NBC                     Wed, 10:00-10:30     Tue, 12:30-1:00 am        Mon, 9:30-10:00

Break The Bank                       ABC                      Fri, 9:00-9:30           Sat, 12:00-12:30 am      Fri, 9:00-9:30
  
A Day In The Life of Dennis Day NBC                     Wed, 8:00-8:30         Thu, 12:00-12:30 am     Wed, 9:00-9:30

Waltz Time                                NBC                         Fri,9:30-10:00               None                         Fri, 6:30-7:00

Take It Or Leave It                     NBC                       Sun, 10:00-10:30           None                        Sun, 7:00-8:00

Kay Kyser College Mus Knowdg NBC                       Sat,10:00-10:30             None                        Sat, 7:00-7:30

The Fat Man                            ABC                        Fri, 8:00-8:30           Fri, 11:00-11:30              Fri, 8:00-8:30

The FBI In Peace & War           CBS                        Thu,8:00-8:30           Fri, 12:00-12:30 am        Fri, 6:30-7:00

Casey, Crime Photographer      CBS                         Thu, 9:30-10:00             None                        Thu, 6:30-7:00

Meet Corliss Archer                  CBS                        Sun, 9:00-9:30         Mon,12:30-1:00 am         Sun, 9:30-10:00

Milton Berle Show                     NBC                        Tue, 8:00-8:30          Tue, 11:30-12:00             Tue, 8:30-9:00

Dick Haymes Show                 CBS                           Thu, 9:00-9:30                None                         Thu, 6:00-6:30

Theater Guild On The Air         ABC                          Sun,  9:30-10:30             None                        Sun, 6:30-7:30

The Man Called X                    CBS                         Sun, 8:30-8:55          Sun, 11:00-11:25             Sun, 8:00-8:25

Suspense                                CBS                         Thu, 8:00-8:30          Fri, 12:00-12:30 am         Thu, 9:00-9:30

It’s well known that NBC and CBS banned the recording of programs during the 1930's and '40's which led to many colorful stories about programs having been performed twice, once for the East Coast and a second time - three hours later - for the West Coast.

The Blue Network, later ABC, relaxed the ban in 1939 and Mutual never observed it. The two networks also spent considerable sums recording and feeding their programs for delayed broadcast in the summer of 1946 to avoid the widespread confusion resulting from Daylight Saving Time which was then a state and local option.

NBC finally dropped its ban against transcribed programs in the fall of 1948 which eliminated the need for two live broadcasts of shows - but performers were still paid an additional fee when a second broadcast on the West Coast was required.  CBS followed suite shortly thereafter.


* Jack Benny was heard twice every Sunday in Los Angeles for 17 years.  (See Benny's Double Plays on this site.)  


                             Copyright © 2015 Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL    Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com 


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