Editing Mutual Broadcasting System (section)

===1934–1935: The launch of Mutual===
Attempts at establishing cooperatively owned radio networks had been made since the 1920s. In 1929, a group of four radio stations in the major markets of New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Detroit organized into a loose confederation known as the Quality Network. Five years later (in 1934), a similar or identical group of stations founded the Mutual Broadcasting System.{{efn|All available sources concur that Mutual cofounders WOR–Newark, N.J./New York, WXYZ–Detroit, and WLW–Cincinnati were also founding members of the Quality Network. Sources differ on whether WGN–Chicago, Mutual's fourth original member, or another Chicago station, [[WLS (AM)|WLS]], represented the city in the Quality Network. In addition, there is no consensus on the fundamental matter of the degree of connection involved: some sources claim the Quality Network had ceased to exist by the end of 1929; others that it carried on and simply changed its name and formalized its structure in 1934. As scholar James Schwoch (1994) puts it, "The origins of the Mutual Broadcasting System are somewhat murky and open to dispute." Indeed, a claim Schwoch makes just two sentences later—that "the permanent establishment of the Mutual network is bound up in the popularity of a single radio program, 'The Lone Ranger'"—is disputed by several scholars.{{efn|name=ShowPop}}}} Mutual's original participating stations were [[WOR (AM)|WOR]] in [[Newark, New Jersey]], just outside New York (owned by the [[Bamberger's#1929-1959|Bamberger Broadcasting Service]], a division of [[Macy's|R.H. Macy and Company]]; in 1949, [[WWOR-TV|WOR-TV]] would begin broadcasting and Bamberger would be renamed General Teleradio, due to [[General Tire|General Tire & Rubber]]'s increased investment in the TV station<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lisicky |first1=Michael J. |title=Bamberger's: New Jersey's Greatest Store |date=2016 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4396-5836-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FVmDQAAQBAJ&q=macy%27s+general+teleradio&pg=PT56 |language=en |access-date=November 18, 2020 |archive-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210033717/https://books.google.com/books?id=9FVmDQAAQBAJ&q=macy%27s+general+teleradio&pg=PT56 |url-status=live }}</ref>), [[WGN (AM)|WGN]] in Chicago (owned by WGN Inc., a subsidiary of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''), [[WXYT (AM)|WXYZ]] in Detroit (owned by Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting), and [[WLW]] in Cincinnati (owned by the Crosley Radio Company). The network was organized on September 29, 1934, with the members contracting for telephone-line transmission facilities and agreeing to collectively enter into contracts with advertisers for their networked shows. WOR and WGN, based in the two largest markets and providing the bulk of the programming, were the acknowledged leaders of the group. On October 29, 1934, Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc. was incorporated, with Bamberger and WGN Inc. each holding 50&nbsp;percent of the stock—five each of the ten total shares.<ref>{{harvp|Robinson|1979|p=28}}.</ref><ref>{{harvp|Cox|2015|p=177}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=McLeod, Elizabeth |date=1999–2002 |title=Some History of the Mutual Broadcasting System |url=http://jeff560.tripod.com/mutual.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513063918/http://jeff560.tripod.com/mutual.html |archive-date=May 13, 2008 |access-date=March 1, 2010 |publisher=History of American Broadcasting (Jeff Miller)}} Extensive discussion of the network's history and organization by radio historian. Note that the page's introductory content (not written by McLeod) gives September 15, 1934, as the network's organizational date, apparently based on a 1999 newspaper article reproduced at the bottom of the page. All authoritative sources, including McLeod, give September 29. (The newspaper article also incorrectly states that the network featured commentator [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]]; it never did. His shows appeared on NBC and NBC Blue/ABC. See, e.g., {{harvp|Nimmo|Newsome|1997|p=271}}. The article also incorrectly suggests that when ''The Lone Ranger'' "rode into the radio sunset in 1954," it directly affected the network. The show hadn't been on Mutual since 1942.)</ref>
[[File:LumAbnerHorlicks.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Illustration of two men in profile before a wall of shelves filled with identically labeled cans. The man on the left is taller and has a mustache. The shorter man on the right is goateed and wears glasses and a cap; he is pulling down a can.|[[Lum and Abner]], the latter of whom is seen in this advertisement, are reaching for a can of [[Horlicks|Horlick's]]. The malted milk maker sponsored the show during its entire run on Mutual. It left Mutual for [[NBC Blue]] after August 1935.]]
The three national radio networks already in operation—the [[CBS|Columbia Broadcasting System]] and the [[NBC|National Broadcasting Company]]'s [[NBC Radio Network|Red]] and [[Blue Network|Blue]]—were corporately controlled; programming was produced by the network (or by advertising agencies of program sponsors that purchased airtime on the network) and distributed to affiliates, most of which were independently owned. The Mutual Broadcasting System, on the other hand, operated as a true cooperative enterprise, with members creating and sharing programming. The majority of the early programming, from WOR and WGN, consisted of musical features and inexpensive dramatic serials. WOR had ''[[The Witch's Tale]]'', a horror anthology series whose "hunner-an'-thirteen-year-old" narrator invited listeners to "douse all [the] lights. Now draw up to the fire an' gaze into the embers&nbsp;...''gaaaaze into 'em deep!''... an' soon ye'll be across the seas, in th' jungle land of Africa&nbsp;... hear that chantin' and them savage drums?"<ref>{{harvp|Dunning|1998|p=724}}.</ref> WGN contributed the popular comedy series ''[[Lum and Abner]]''. Detroit's WXYZ provided ''[[The Lone Ranger]]'', which had debuted in 1933 and was already in demand. It is often claimed that Mutual was launched primarily as a vehicle for the Western serial, but ''Lum and Abner'' was no less popular at the time.{{efn|name=ShowPop|The following sources argue that Mutual was primarily a vehicle for ''The Lone Ranger''.<ref>{{harvp|Olson|2000|p=173}}.</ref><ref>{{harvp|Head|1976|p=142}}.</ref>{{r|Schwoch}} These sources, however, counterargue that Mutual was built on the popularity of ''Lum and Abner''.<ref>{{harvp|Hilmes|1997|pp=107–108}}.</ref><ref>{{harvp|Hollis|2001|p=41}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=McLeod, Elizabeth|url=http://jeff560.tripod.com/mutual.html|title=Some History of the Mutual Broadcasting System/Correspondence: 'Mon, 12 APR 99'|date=April 12, 1999|access-date=March 1, 2010|publisher=History of American Broadcasting (Jeff Miller)|archive-date=May 13, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513063918/http://jeff560.tripod.com/mutual.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}} What WLW brought was sheer power; billing itself as "The Nation's Station," in May 1934 it had begun night broadcasting at a massive 500,000 watts, ten times the [[clear-channel station|clear-channel]] standard.<ref>{{harvp|Whitaker|2002|pp=537–538}}</ref>

On May 24, 1935, the network aired its inaugural live event—the first-ever night baseball game, between the [[Cincinnati Reds]] and the [[Philadelphia Phillies]].<ref>{{harvp|Gorman|Calhoun|Rozin|1994|p=105}}.</ref> In September, WXYZ dropped out to join NBC Blue, though contractual obligations kept ''The Lone Ranger'' on Mutual, airing three times a week, through spring 1942.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adage.com/custom/pdf/adcraft05.pdf |title=Adcraft |date=December 5, 2005 |access-date=March 1, 2010 |work=Advertising Age  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326005418/http://adage.com/custom/pdf/adcraft05.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2009 }} {{cite web|url=http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logl1011.htm|title=''The Lone Ranger'' Episode Log|date=February 18, 2005|access-date=March 1, 2010|publisher=Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs|archive-date=August 24, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000824154841/http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logl1011.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The hole in the Detroit market was immediately filled by [[CKLW]] in [[Windsor, Ontario]], just across the river.<ref name="Time">{{Cite magazine |date=January 4, 1937 |title=Business & Finance: M. B. S. |url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1937-01-04/page/45/ |magazine=Time |volume=XXIX |issue=1 |pages=39–[https://time.com/vault/issue/1937-01-04/page/46/ 40] |access-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211072654/https://time.com/vault/issue/1937-01-04/page/45/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In October, the network began a decades-long run as broadcaster of baseball's World Series, with airtime responsibilities shared between WGN's [[Bob Elson]] and Quin Ryan and WLW's [[Red Barber]] (NBC and CBS also carried the series that year; the Fall Classic would air on all three networks through 1938).<ref>{{harvp|Alexander|2002|p=110}}.</ref><ref>{{harvp|Gorman|Calhoun|Rozin|1994|p=89}}.</ref> Mutual broadcast its first Notre Dame football game that autumn as well, beginning another relationship that would last for decades.<ref>See, e.g., {{harvp|Patterson|2004|p=90}}.</ref> As an income-generating business, the Mutual network was a modest endeavor at the start: in the first eleven months of 1935, the cooperative garnered $1.1 million in advertising, compared to NBC's $28.3 million and CBS's $15.8 million.{{r|Time}}