Editing Mutual Broadcasting System (section)

=== 1960s–1970s: Narrowed focus ===
==== From 3M to Amway ====
In the spring of 1960, the [[3M|Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company]] (3M) stepped in, purchasing Mutual for about $1.3 million and restoring much-needed stability to the operation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mutual Network to Be Sold Again; Minnesota Mining Expected to Close Deal This Week|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 18, 1960|page=59|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/18/archives/mutual-network-to-be-sold-again-minnesota-mining-expected-to-close.html|access-date=July 13, 2023|archive-date=July 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713211715/https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/18/archives/mutual-network-to-be-sold-again-minnesota-mining-expected-to-close.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=April 19, 1960|page=1|title=Mutual Network Is Bought By 3M}}</ref> Despite the late 1950s Guterma scandal, Mutual still had 443 affiliates, easily the most of any network. By this time, as historian Jim Cox describes, both Mutual and ABC "had largely wiped their slates clean of most of their network programming—save news and sporting events and a few long-running features".<ref>{{harvp|Cox|2002|p=128}}.</ref> This would characterize Mutual's essential approach for the next three and a half decades, through a further series of ownership changes.

In July 1966, 3M sold the network to the privately held Mutual Industries, Inc., headed by John P. Fraim and [[Loren M. Berry]], for $3.1&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|3100000|1966}}|}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}); Fraim was vice president of Berry's [[Dayton, Ohio]]-based [[telephone directory]] publishing company.{{r|Broad19770815p202}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 10, 1966 |title=Mutual Network Changes Owners; 3M Company Sells System to Newly Formed Group |page=68 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/07/10/archives/mutual-network-changes-owners-3m-company-sells-system-to-newly.html |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=March 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315025435/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/07/10/archives/mutual-network-changes-owners-3m-company-sells-system-to-newly.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Upon Mutual Industries's acquisition of Mutual, it was renamed to "Mutual Broadcasting Corporation".<ref>{{cite news|title=New Company Buys Mutual Broadcasting|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1697&dat=19660706&id=qlQ0AAAAIBAJ&pg=5626,925907|access-date=October 28, 2014|work=Park City Daily News|date=July 6, 1966|archive-date=February 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203231009/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1697&dat=19660706&id=qlQ0AAAAIBAJ&pg=5626,925907|url-status=live}}</ref> The following month, after the death of Mutual stalwart Fulton Lewis Jr., his son [[Fulton Lewis III]] took over his nightly 7&nbsp;p.m. slot.<ref>{{harvp|Bliss|1991|pp=62–63}}.</ref> Another Ohio businessman, [[Daniel H. Overmyer]], sought a merger with Mutual in 1967 amid plans to start his own TV network. The offer was rebuffed, but three Mutual stockholders joined eleven other investors to buy Overmyer's hookup and rename it the [[Overmyer Network|United Network]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=March 13, 1967 |title=New Blood in New Network |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-03-13-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=72 |issue=11 |pages=23–26 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131025005/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-03-13-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The network and its only offering, ''[[The Las Vegas Show]]'', folded after only a month on the air.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=June 5, 1967 |title=United Network forced to quit |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-06-05-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=72 |issue=23 |pages=34, 36, 41 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131032540/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-06-05-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

When [[Cumulus Media Networks|ABC Radio]]{{Efn|name=ABCAudio}} "split" into four demographically targeted networks on January 1, 1968, Mutual unsuccessfully sued to block the move. Meanwhile, the network was undergoing some management instability, with frequent changes at the top. For example, Matthew J. Culligan was Mutual's president from October 1966 to June 1968. He was replaced by [[Robert Pauley|Robert R. Pauley]], who came over from the ABC radio division, where he had served as president for nearly seven years.<ref>"Robert Pauley Heads Radio Network." (Washington DC) Evening Star, June 27, 1968, p. 2</ref> But Pauley only lasted a year, and resigned after clashes with the board over the need for cost-cutting, and other decisions with which he disagreed. His replacement was Victor C. Diehm, owner of several Mutual-affiliated radio stations and active on the Mutual Affiliates Advisory Council.<ref>"Victor Diehm New Prexy of MBS As Radio Web Regroups, Cuts Costs." Variety, October 22, 1969, p.46.</ref>[[File:Mutual Black Network 1974 Commercial Poster.jpg|thumb|alt=Photographs of a thoughtful man and woman, accompanied by extensive copy, including the slogan "The Voice of Black America".|Advertisement for the [[Mutual Black Network]], featuring Dr. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and poet [[Nikki Giovanni]]]]Diehm was succeeded early in 1972 by [[Twenty-One (game show)#Aftermath|C. Edward Little]], a former executive and owner of [[Hollywood, Florida]], Mutual affiliate [[WLQY|WGMA]]. Little arrived in the position with a commitment to expand Mutual's news service and program offerings, conceding that Mutual had long been fourth among the legacy "big four" radio networks.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 24, 1972 |title=Week's Profile: C. Edward Little: out to boost MBS's batting average |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1972/1972-02-21-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=82 |issue=8 |page=63 |access-date=February 15, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030021/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1972/1972-02-21-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Taking a page from ABC's move to split its radio network years earlier, Little launched two additional news services, the [[Mutual Black Network]] (MBN) and the [[Mutual Spanish Network]] (MSN; Mutual Cadena Hispánica, or MCH), on May 1, 1972.<ref name="Broad19720221p63">{{Cite magazine |date=February 21, 1972 |title=MBS to add news services |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1972/1972-02-21-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=82 |issue=8 |page=30 |access-date=February 15, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030021/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1972/1972-02-21-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Targeting Black audiences, MBN supplied 100 five-minute-long news and sports reports weekly along with other programming,<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 24, 1972 |title=Broadcast Journalism: Eight affiliate with black networks |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1972/1972-04-24-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=82 |issue=17 |page=44 |access-date=February 15, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131032323/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1972/1972-04-24-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> with MCH featuring similar fare aimed at Spanish-language listeners.<ref name="Broad19720221p63" /> By July 1972, Mutual had 550 affiliates, MBN had 55 and MCH had 21.<ref name="Broad19840910p43" /> While MCH lasted only six months, by 1974, MBN had grown to 98 affiliates.<ref>{{Harvp|Thompson|1993|p=192 n. 85}}.</ref>

Another change in July 1974 was more subtle—Mutual introduced the distinctive two-toned "Mutualert" network cue tones heard at the beginning and end of newscasts and programs, between commercials and during network identification breaks.{{r|MRTS-72-77}} For the rest of its existence, Mutual would use these cue tones, dubbed "bee-doops" by listeners.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Banel |first=Feliks |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Remembering the night Larry King broadcast live from the Space Needle |url=https://mynorthwest.com/2510858/remembering-the-night-larry-king-broadcasted-live-from-the-space-needle/ |access-date=February 16, 2023 |website=KIRO-FM / MyNorthwest.com |language=en |archive-date=January 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121044524/https://mynorthwest.com/2510858/remembering-the-night-larry-king-broadcasted-live-from-the-space-needle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The youth-oriented Mutual Progressive News<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 25, 1976 |title=Networks will 'go like hell' election night |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1976/1976-10-25-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=91 |issue=17 |pages=54–56 |access-date=February 15, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131024714/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1976/1976-10-25-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> was launched for Top 40 and country outlets and was also made available for [[non-commercial educational station]]s in markets without an existing Mutual affiliate.{{r|MRTS-72-77}} Little later oversaw the 1978 launch of the Mutual Southwest Network, a regional "mininetwork" that handled distribution for the [[Dallas Cowboys Radio Network]] and featured [[Southwest Conference]] football games.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=February 8, 1978 |title=Big M in Big D: Mutual sets up 'mininetwork' to distribute Dallas Cowboys games, other sports and news programing from Texas offices |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-02-06-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=94 |issue=6 |page=62 |access-date=February 15, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=November 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108151427/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-02-06-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1976, 49&nbsp;percent of MBN ownership was sold to the Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation<ref>{{cite magazine |date=March 22, 1976 |title=Sheridan acquires 49% share of MBN |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1976/1976-03-22-BC.pdf |website=Broadcasting |volume=90 |issue=12 |pages=85, 88 |access-date=July 1, 2020 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308034419/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1976/1976-03-22-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> followed by the remaining 51&nbsp;percent in 1979, at which point MBN was renamed the Sheridan Broadcasting Network<ref name="Broad19840910p43" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=September 10, 1979 |title=In Brief |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-09-10.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=97 |issue=11 |pages=32–33 |access-date=July 1, 2020 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=October 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031140045/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-09-10.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and later merged into [[National Black Network]] to create [[American Urban Radio Networks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aurn.com/affiliates/aurnleadership.php |title=Company Profile—Leadership |access-date=March 1, 2010 |publisher=American Urban Radio Networks  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914195358/http://www.aurn.com/affiliates/aurnleadership.php |archive-date=September 14, 2011 }}</ref>

Fraim and Berry initially had control over Mutual Broadcasting Corp., but investor Benjamin D. Gilbert and his wife quietly bought out their stakes as well as those of the other investors, becoming the group's principal owners.{{r|Broad19770815p202}} The Gilberts would attract unwanted attention for themselves over one particular program. In 1974, the [[Liberty Lobby]], a [[think tank]] and [[Lobbying in the United States|lobby group]] that espoused [[Far-right politics|far-right]] views and [[Antisemitism in the United States|antisemitism]], purchased airtime for a daily five-minute show, ''This Is Liberty Lobby'', which also offered the organization's "America First" pamphlet at the end of every episode. While not directly from Mutual, it was made available to the network's over 600 stations, with 126 carrying it by July. The [[Anti-Defamation League]] alleged the Mutual connection came as the Gilberts personally contributed thousands of dollars to the Liberty Lobby since 1966.<ref name="StLoui19740717p19">{{Cite news |date=July 17, 1974 |title=ADL Finds Wide Distribution Of Anti-Semitic Radio Show |page=19 |newspaper=St. Louis Jewish Light |location=St. Louis, Missouri |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17795343/liberty-lobby-1974-07-17-p19/ |access-date=February 12, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414172010/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17795343/liberty_lobby_19740717_p19/ |archive-date=April 14, 2019 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> After refusing to transmit two specific episodes in November, Mutual cancelled the Liberty Lobby contract at year's end.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McLean |first=Robert A. |date=December 14, 1974 |title=Dial-Log: MBS to drop controversial radio show |page=19 |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118813822/dial-log-mbs-to-drop-controversial/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217043653/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118813822/dial-log-mbs-to-drop-controversial/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{r|MRTS-72-77}}

In the March 21, 1977, issue of ''Broadcasting'' magazine, publisher [[John P. McGoff]] disclosed he had been in talks to purchase Mutual.<ref name="Broad19770321p30">{{Cite magazine |date=March 21, 1977 |title=In Brief |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1977/BC-1977-03-21.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=92 |issue=12 |page=30 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030407/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1977/BC-1977-03-21.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Bid price|bidding war]] followed between [[Amway]], a [[multi-level marketing]] company known for selling [[home care]] products, and [[Columbus, Georgia]]-based insurer [[American Family Insurance|American Family Corp.]], which dropped out after the [[asking price]] approached $20&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|20000000|1977}}|}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{r|Broad19770815p202}} On September 30, 1977, Amway bought the network.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nysdta.org/STC/58244.pdf|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071025060344/http://www.nysdta.org/STC/58244.pdf|archive-date=October 25, 2007|title=In the Matter of the Petition of Mutual Broadcasting System Inc. for Redetermination of a Deficiency (New York State Tax Commission ruling)|date=August 27, 1987|access-date=March 1, 2010|publisher=New York State Division of Tax Appeals}}</ref> After the purchase, Mutual began to develop what would become the first nationwide commercial [[Communications satellite|broadcast satellite]] network, leading to the end of decades of reliance on telephone lines for the broadcast industry's transmission capacity.<ref>"Mutual Radio Applies to F.C.C. to Be First All-Satellite Network," ''New York Times'', November 22, 1977; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, ''Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1986'', p. 198.</ref> This proposal received FCC approval in late 1979.{{r|Billb19791103p3}} The biggest change to Mutual happened in 1978, when Amway purchased [[WCFL (AM)|WCFL]] from the [[Chicago Federation of Labor]] for $12&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|12000000|1978}}|}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}); for the first time, the network founded by radio stations directly owned a station of its own, and in one of the country's largest markets.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 17, 1978 |title=Mutual blows into the Windy City |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-04-17-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=94 |issue=16 |page=52 |access-date=August 10, 2019 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=November 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108151414/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-04-17-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 14, 1978 |title=Mutual Purchases WCFL For $12 Million |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1970s/1978/RR-1978-04-14.pdf |magazine=Radio & Records |issue=227 |page=1 |access-date=August 10, 2019 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131021931/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1970s/1978/RR-1978-04-14.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Mutual also reached its greatest number of affiliates that year with 950, fewer than ABC—whose multipronged approach had proven very successful—but far in front of NBC and CBS.{{r|Cox-2002}}

==== Rise of the call-in talk show ====
[[File:Larry King.jpg|thumb|201x201px|Larry King]]
Outside of news and sports, one of the few primary network programs initiated by Mutual during this era rapidly became one of the most successful in its history—the first nationwide, all-night call-in [[talk radio]] program, which launched on November 3, 1975, with [[Herb Jepko]] as host.<ref>{{harvp|Cox|2002|p=84}}.</ref><ref name="MRTS-72-77">{{Cite web |last=Johannessen |first=Kenneth I. |date=2009 |title=1972 - 1977: Coming to Life |url=http://www.mutualradiotributesite.org/mrts_history10_coming_2_life.html |access-date=February 12, 2023 |website=Mutual Radio Tribute Site |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212212058/http://www.mutualradiotributesite.org/mrts_history10_coming_2_life.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Jepko's show, which originated from [[KSL (AM)|KSL]] in [[Salt Lake City]] in 1964 as ''Nitecap'', was fed by Mutual for eight hours beginning at midnight [[Eastern Time Zone|ET]], allowing for stations on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] to carry it live. Mutual also signed up 12 high-powered AM stations to ensure coast-to-coast reception.<ref>{{harvp|Rose|1978|pp=47–48}}.</ref> Jepko so determinedly avoided controversial topics on the program that some callers simply talked about the weather where they lived. Fellow broadcaster [[Hilly Rose]] said of Jepko, "he is the exact opposite of [[Joe Pyne]] and 99% of the successful talk show hosts in America. If (he) were any nicer, he would make [[Mary Poppins (book series)|Mary Poppins]] look like a witch."<ref>{{harvp|Rose|1978|p=47}}.</ref>

In May 1977, Mutual dropped Jepko's show, replacing it with the husband-and-wife team of [[Long John Nebel]] and [[Candy Jones]] from [[WMCA (AM)|WMCA]] in New York City, whose program fared little better than Jepko's.<ref>{{harvp|Rose|1978|p=40}}.</ref>{{r|MRTS-72-77}} Nebel and Jones left Mutual by the end of the year and Mutual then hired a virtually unknown local talk show host at [[WIOD]] in [[Miami]]: [[Larry King]]. On January 30, 1978, the ''[[Larry King Show]]'' made its national debut on Mutual.<ref name="tb81">{{cite news |last=Davies |first=Tom |date=January 4, 1981 |title=The Radio 'King': From Midnight to Dawn |pages=C1, C3 |work=Toledo Blade |location=Toledo, Ohio |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19810104&id=7DBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=3792,4986335 |access-date=November 28, 2014 |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203235454/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19810104&id=7DBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=3792,4986335 |url-status=live }}</ref> Initially broadcast over 28 stations, by late 1979, King's increasingly popular all-night program was being carried by nearly 200 stations.{{r|NYT19820502p33sec2}} With a nightly audience of around 2 million listeners,<ref name="LATKingObit">{{cite web |last=McLellan |first=Dennis |date=January 23, 2021 |title=Larry King, TV broadcaster and talk-show host, dies at 87 |url=https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2021-01-23/larry-king-dead-at-87 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=January 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129051714/https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2021-01-23/larry-king-dead-at-87 |url-status=live }}</ref> the ''Larry King Show'' continued to attract new affiliates to the network during the early 1980s.<ref name="NYT19820502p33sec2">{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{Cite news |last=Goldman |first=Kevin |date=May 2, 1982 |title=Radio's Latest Boom: Late-Night Talk Shows |page=33-Section 2 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/02/arts/radio-s-latest-boom-late-night-talk-shows.html?sec=&pagewanted=1 |url-status=live |access-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210033718/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/02/arts/radio-s-latest-boom-late-night-talk-shows.html?sec=&pagewanted=1 |archive-date=February 10, 2023}}|{{Cite news |last=Flamberg |first=Daniel |date=June 20, 1982 |title=TV Mailbag—About Radio Talk Shows |page=33-Section 2 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/20/arts/l-tv-mailbag-about-radio-talk-shows-223943.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes+Topics%2FSubjects%2FR%2FRadio |url-status=live |access-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210033718/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/20/arts/l-tv-mailbag-about-radio-talk-shows-223943.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes+Topics%2FSubjects%2FR%2FRadio |archive-date=February 10, 2023}}}}</ref><ref name="c82">{{cite web|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1982/11/22/midnight-snoozer-pbibt-wasnt-very-long/ |title=Midnight Snoozer |publisher=[[Harvard Crimson]] |date=November 22, 1982 |first=Thomas J. |last=Meyer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630072829/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1982/11/22/midnight-snoozer-pbibt-wasnt-very-long/ |archive-date=June 30, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> King, like Jepko, generally steered clear of contentious topics and gave regular callers to the program pseudonyms or nicknames.{{r|c82}}

Originally a five-and-a-half hour program, the last half hour was relaunched as ''[[America in The Morning]]'', a morning news magazine hosted by WCFL alumnus [[Jim Bohannon]], in September 1984.<ref name="Broad19840910p58">{{Cite magazine |date=September 10, 1984 |title=Mutual: 50 and counting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1984/BC-1984-09-10.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=107 |issue=11 |pages=58, 61, 64 |access-date=February 15, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131024228/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1984/BC-1984-09-10.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="RadOnAITM">{{Cite web |date=September 12, 2019 |title=WWO News ''America In The Morning'' Celebrates 35th Year |url=https://news.radio-online.com/articles/n37462/WWO-News-America-In-The-Morning-Celebrates-35th-Year |access-date=November 3, 2019 |website=Radio Online |language=en-US |archive-date=November 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103073004/https://news.radio-online.com/articles/n37462/WWO-News-America-In-The-Morning-Celebrates-35th-Year |url-status=live }}</ref> King continued with his Mutual call-in show until 1994, long after his move to television in 1985 as host of ''[[Larry King Live]]'' for [[CNN]].{{r|LATKingObit}}<ref name="LAT19940624">{{cite web |date=June 24, 1994 |title=Today's Talk-Radio Topic: The Future of Talk Radio |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-24-ca-8138-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018022909/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-06-24/entertainment/ca-8138_1_talk-radio |archive-date=October 18, 2015 |access-date=November 2, 2015 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> King's success soon prompted NBC Radio and ABC Radio to launch [[NBC Talknet]] and ABC TalkRadio, respectively, both featuring call-in shows airing into the late-evening and overnight hours.{{r|NYT19820502p33sec2}} The ''Larry King Show'' also won a [[Peabody Awards|Peabody Award]] for Mutual in 1982.<ref name="LATKingObit" />

Mutual made additional ventures beyond talk programming and newscasts. Along with the network's existing sports coverage, Mutual was the national radio broadcaster for ''[[Monday Night Football#MNF on radio|Monday Night Football]]'' from 1970 through 1977.<ref>{{harvp|Cox|2002|p=83}}.</ref> Mutual began nationally distributing ''[[Wheeling Jamboree|Jamboree USA]]'' from [[WWVA (AM)|WWVA]] in [[Wheeling, West Virginia]], on February 23, 1979, marking the first time in years that the network featured a regularly scheduled live music program.<ref name="Broad19790305p129">{{Cite magazine |date=March 5, 1979 |title=Program Briefs: Mutual jamboree. |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-03-05.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=96 |issue=10 |page=129 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030905/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-03-05.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Jamboree USA'' also became the first music program on radio to be transmitted by satellite;<ref name="Billb19791103p3">{{Cite magazine |date=November 3, 1979 |title=Mutual gains FCC OK for satellites |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1979/Billboard%201979-11-03.pdf |magazine=Billboard |volume=91 |issue=44 |pages=3, 28 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307133247/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1979/Billboard%201979-11-03.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> the new technology now further enabled Mutual to offer additional music programming to affiliates, including [[Anthology|anthologies]] and concerts.<ref name="Billb19800628p4">{{Cite magazine |last=Callahan |first=Jean |date=June 28, 1980 |title=New Mutual Web P.D. Will Increase Music Broadcasts: Morgan In Move After Natl Survey |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-06-28.pdf |magazine=Billboard |volume=92 |issue=26 |pages=4, 23 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131074223/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-06-28.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>