Editing Mutual Broadcasting System (section)

===1940s: Becoming a radio network outside the "Big Three"===
According to scholar Cornelia B. Rose, at the beginning of 1940, Mutual's corporate structure expanded its inclusivity:
<blockquote>
Until January, 1940, six groups bore the expense of the network operation in varying degree: stations WGN and WOR owned all the stock of the corporation and guaranteed to make up any deficit; the Colonial Network in New England, the Don Lee System on the Pacific Coast, and the group of stations owned by the Cleveland ''Plain Dealer'', participated in responsibility for running expenses. A new contract effective February 1, 1940, provides for contributing membership by all the above group[s] plus station CKLW in Detroit-Windsor. These groups now agree to underwrite expenses and become stockholders in the network.... An operating board for the network is {{sic|comprised |hide=y|of}} representatives from each of these groups, together with additional representation appointed by other affiliated stations.<ref>{{harvp|Rose|1971|p=68}}.</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Mutual Broadcasting System - Fulton Lewis Radio 1940s-1950s Commercial.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=On the left, a suited man seated before a microphone, smiling and holding a script. On the right, radio station advertising copy.|Mutual featured a variety of political voices, but none for so long as that of conservative commentator [[Fulton Lewis|Fulton Lewis Jr.]] Many later pundits "copied his style—mocking, ridiculing, full of denials, full of sweeping generalizations, and full of inside-dopesterism."<ref>{{harvp|Nimmo|Newsome|1997|p=178}}.</ref> [[WKIC (AM)|WKIC]] was Mutual's affiliate in [[Hazard, Kentucky]].]]
The new cooperative structure was also joined by the owners of [[WKRC (AM)|WKRC]] in Cincinnati, which had replaced Mutual cofounder WLW in that market. The Mutual corporation now had 100 shares, apportioned as follows:<ref>{{harvp|Robinson|1979|p=29}}.</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Shareholders of the Mutual Broadcasting System, 1940
|-
! scope = "col" | Shareholder
! scope = "col" | Lead station
! scope = "col" | Shares
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | Bamberger Broadcasting
| WOR || 25
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | WGN Inc.
| WGN || 25
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | Don Lee Network
| KHJ || 25
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | Colonial Network
| WAAB || 6
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | United Broadcasting
| WHK || 6
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | Western Ontario Broadcasting
| CKLW || 6
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | ''[[The Cincinnati Times-Star]]''
| WKRC || 6
|-
! scope = "row" {{rh}} | Fred Weber
| Mutual general manager || 1
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="2" style="text-align:right;" scope="row" {{rh}} | Total || '''100'''
|}

In 1941, WOR's official city of license was changed to New York. Within two years, the Colonial Network's affiliate roster and shares in Mutual had been fully absorbed into the Yankee Network by [[John Shepard III]]; WNAC was the sole flagship, WAAB having been moved to [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], in central Massachusetts, to avoid [[duopoly (broadcasting)|duopoly]] restrictions. With [[WBZ (AM)|WBZ]] taking over the slot as the NBC Red affiliate in Boston, WNAC switched to Mutual. In January 1943, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) approved the sale of the Yankee Network—with WNAC, its three other owned-and-operated stations, its contracts with 17 additional affiliates, and its Mutual shares—to the Ohio-based [[General Tire|General Tire and Rubber Company]].{{r|BosTime}}<ref>Jaker et al. (1998), p. 93.</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January 18, 1943 |title=Radio: Rubber Yankee |url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1943-01-18/page/90/ |magazine=Time |volume=XLI |issue=3 |page=88 |access-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210220818/https://time.com/vault/issue/1943-01-18/page/90/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

By 1940, Mutual was already on par with the industry leaders in terms of affiliate roster size.{{efn|The two available authoritative sources differ widely on the affiliate figures for the year. Media historians F. Leslie Smith et al. give Mutual—140, NBC—113 (53 with Red, 60 with Blue), and CBS—112.<ref name="SmithWrightOstroff1998-p43">{{harvp|Smith|Wright II|Ostroff|1998|p=43}}.</ref> Media historian James Schwoch gives NBC—182, Mutual—160, and CBS—122.{{r|Schwoch}} It is unclear what different methodologies were employed to produce these varying results.}} Still, because Mutual affiliates were mostly in small markets or lesser stations in large ones, the network lagged way behind in advertising revenue—NBC took in eleven times as much as Mutual that year.<ref>See {{harvp|Robinson|1979|pp=26–27, 29}}.</ref>{{efn|For advertising sales in the first eight months of 1941, see "Happy Birthday MBS", from the September 15, 1941, issue of ''Time''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=September 15, 1941 |title=Radio: Happy Birthday MBS |url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1941-09-15/page/59/ |magazine=Time |volume=XXXVIII |issue=11 |pages=57–[https://time.com/vault/issue/1941-09-15/page/60/ 58] |access-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211072655/https://time.com/vault/issue/1941-09-15/page/59/ |url-status=live }}</ref> NBC's take was now less than eight times as much as Mutual's. All available reports suggest that the gap did not close much further during the decade.}} In 1941, the FCC, calling for NBC to divest one of its two networks, observed that the company "has utilized the Blue to forestall competition with the Red&nbsp;.... Mutual is excluded from, or only lamely admitted to, many important markets."<ref>Quoted in {{harvp|Robinson|1979|p=116}}.</ref><ref>"Chains Unchained?" ''Time'', May 12, 1941 (available [https://web.archive.org/web/20101115201232/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,795283-2,00.html online]).</ref> On January 10, 1942, Mutual filed a $10.275 million suit against NBC and its parent company, [[RCA]], alleging a conspiracy "hindering and restricting Mutual freely and fairly to compete in the transmission in interstate commerce of nationwide network programs."<ref>Quoted in {{harvp|Robinson|1979|p=74}}.</ref> The FCC's Supreme Court victory in 1943 led to the sale of the Blue Network and Mutual dropping its lawsuit.<ref>"Mutual Seeks to End Action Against RCA; Official Says Transfer of Blue Network Will Solve Issue," ''New York Times'', October 12, 1943.</ref>

These developments appear to have been of more symbolic than practical value to Mutual—the transfer of the NBC Blue stations to the new [[American Broadcasting Company]] did little to help Mutual's competitive position. In 1945, it reached 384 affiliates, and by December 1948, Mutual Broadcasting was heard on more than 500 stations in the United States.{{r|SmithWrightOstroff1998-p43}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeff560.tripod.com/1949am.html|title=AM Network-Affiliated Radio Stations, 1949|date=December 6, 1948|access-date=March 1, 2010|work=1949 Broadcasting-Telecasting Yearbook|publisher=History of American Broadcasting (Jeff Miller)|archive-date=May 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516155410/http://jeff560.tripod.com/1949am.html|url-status=live}}</ref> But this growth did not reflect any ability on Mutual's part to attract leading stations from the corporate-controlled networks. Rather, the FCC had eased its technical standards for local stations, facilitating the establishment of new outlets in small markets. Between 1945 and 1952, the number of AM stations rose from around 940 to more than 2,350.<ref>Leblebici et al. (1991), p. 17 (online pagination).</ref> It was these new, relatively weak stations that Mutual kept picking up. Though by now it had many more affiliates than any other U.S. radio network, for the most part they remained "less desirable in frequency, power, and coverage," as the Supreme Court had put it.{{r|NBCvUS}} For instance, in the postwar era, CBS and NBC covered all of North Carolina, each with only four stations. Mutual needed fourteen affiliates to deliver comparable statewide coverage.<ref name="Schwoch">{{harvp|Schwoch|1994}}.</ref>
[[File:KFRCMutualDonLeeLogo.jpg|thumb|left|300px|alt=Radio station call letters in bold sans-serif type, accompanied by the words "Mutual" and "Don Lee" in elegant cursive.|Logo for [[KFRC (defunct)|KFRC]], the Mutual station in San Francisco, owned by the [[Don Lee (broadcaster)|Don Lee Broadcasting System]]]]

====Mutual's involvement in television====
Late in the 1940s, there was a brief exploration into the idea of launching a Mutual-branded television network, serious enough to prompt talks with [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] as a potential source of programming talent.<ref>{{harvp|Segrave|1999|p=22}}. For more on the evaporation of Mutual's TV plans, see {{harvp|Schwoch|1994}}.</ref> Plans for the proposed Mutual-branded network advanced far enough that, at the annual meeting of Mutual stockholders in April 1950, network president Frank White made an official announcement of the planned creation of a limited five-station Mutual network ([[Boston]]-[[WNAC-TV (Boston)|WNAC]], [[New York City]]-[[WWOR-TV|WOR]], [[Washington, D.C.]]-[[WUSA (TV)|WOIC]], [[Chicago]]-[[WGN-TV|WGN]], and [[Los Angeles]]-[[KCAL-TV|KHJ]]).<ref name="Eugene Register-Guard">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PR01AAAAIBAJ&pg=6828%2C3171846 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=MBS Television Plans Readied |page=2 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |agency=United Press |date=1950-04-17 |access-date=2024-10-03 |archive-date=October 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007091847/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PR01AAAAIBAJ&pg=6828,3171846 |url-status=live }}</ref> At that same time Mutual radio station [[KQV]] in [[Pittsburgh]], which was engaged in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get a television license, was reportedly hoping for their station to be a Mutual television affiliate.<ref name="Pittsburgh Press">{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YOUdAAAAIBAJ&pg=2373%2C1487863&q=KQV+lincese+gets+hopes+these+days+join+Mutual's+just+nounced+five-station |author=Si Steinhauser |title=TV Fans Rush to 'Aid' Silent Star on Vedio [sic] |page=43 |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |date=1950-04-18 |access-date=2024-10-03 }}</ref> "Mutual Television Network" ended up being the decided-on branding for the Mutual-branded network.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malloy, C.S.C |first1=Edward A. |title=Monk's Tale: The Pilgrimage Begins, 1941–1975 |date=24 August 2009 |publisher=University of Notre Dame Press |isbn=978-0-268-16201-6 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Monk_s_Tale/tWEFDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22mutual+television+network%22&pg=PT24&printsec=frontcover |language=en |quote=Television provided my first exposure to Notre Dame when I happened to watch an Irish football game in the 1950s on the Mutual Television Network (Washington [D.C.] being one of the few cities to have an outlet). |archive-date=December 22, 2024 |access-date=November 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241222102115/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Monk_s_Tale/tWEFDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22mutual+television+network%22&pg=PT24&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Times-News |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1bsbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4&dq=%22mutual+television+network%22&article_id=2289,143405&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD9sbm8pKNAxVONNAFHfREH00QuwV6BAgFEAc#v=onepage&q=%22mutual%20television%20network%22&f=false |publisher=The Times-News |language=en |quote=As a journalist, Mr. Sholar covered Olympic Games in Helinski, Melbourne, and Rome for the Mutual Television Network and newspapers. |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Robb |first1=Brian |title=Quicklook at Television |date=1 August 2012 |publisher=Quicklook Books Limited |isbn=978-1-908926-66-1 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Quicklook_at_Television/UBUxDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22mutual+television+network%22&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover |language=en |quote=As a result, the so-called Mutual Television Network was doomed.}}</ref> However, the 5-station Mutual network failed in short time (operating for only 11 months), and Mutual became the only radio network outside the "Big Three" U.S. radio networks, even with a short-lived trial in TV, not to be long-term connected to (and eventually lose its dominance to) a television network. While the Mutual TV network was short-lived, this did not mean the group did not have an influence over commercial television's early development. Several Mutual radio affiliates launched their own television stations that would often be affiliated with the television networks of ABC, [[NBC]], CBS or [[DuMont Network|DuMont]].

The cooperative also held the rights to a number of valuable radio properties that made the transition to the new medium possible, including two of the era's most popular variations on what would later become known as the [[tabloid talk show]] and [[reality television|"reality" programming]]: the crabby gabfest ''[[Leave It to the Girls]]'' and, in particular, ''[[Queen for a Day]],'' which both started on Mutual radio in 1945. Referred to by some as a "misery show," ''Queen for a Day'' "awarded prizes to women who could come up with the most heart-stabbing stories told by the sick and the downtrodden&nbsp;.... On one show, a mother of nine requested a washing machine to replace one that broke when it fell on her husband and disabled him—and who, by the way, also needed heart surgery."<ref>{{harvp|Nachmann|2000|p=350}}.</ref> In May 1947, a simulcast version began airing on the Don Lee system's experimental TV station in Los Angeles, W6XAO (later [[KCBS-TV|KTSL]]). It was a smash hit, and by the turn of the decade, TV stations all along the coast were broadcasting it to high ratings.<ref>{{harvp|Cassidy|2005|pp=40–43, 187–188}}.</ref>{{efn|Media historian Marsha Francis Cassidy also refers to Mutual's wish-fulfillment show ''Heart's Desire'' as one of those that "made the shift to local or regional television",{{r|Cassidy 2005, p. 41}} but it has not been possible to confirm this. For a detailed account of this model of radio art, see:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://online.ceb.com/calcases/CA2/99CA2d56.htm|title=Kovacs v. Mutual Broadcasting System (1950) 99 CA2d 56 (California 2d District Court ruling)|date=August 18, 1950|access-date=March 1, 2010|publisher=Continuing Education of the Bar—California (University of California/State Bar of California)|archive-date=February 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211072655/http://online.ceb.com/calcases/CA2/99CA2d56.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>}} In the 1950s, Mutual would stare down NBC for four years as the mighty network sought to take control of the show.
{{clear}}

====Programming: World War II and ''Superman''====
[[File:FDR-December-24-1943.jpg|thumb|right|300px| President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his home in [[Hyde Park, New York]], December 24, 1943, delivering one of his nationwide radio '[[Fireside chats]]' on the [[Tehran Conference]] and [[Cairo Conference]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/speeches/speech-3333 |title=—Miller Center |access-date=September 14, 2015  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709061003/http://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/speeches/speech-3333 |archive-date=July 9, 2015 }} Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Fireside Chat 27: On the Tehran and Cairo Conferences (December 24, 1943)". Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Retrieved July 6, 2016.</ref>]]
Offscreen, Mutual remained an enterprising broadcaster. In 1940, a program featuring Cedric Foster joined Mutual's respected schedule of news and opinion shows. Foster's claim to fame was as the first daytime commentator to be heard nationally on a daily basis.<ref>Bliss (1991), p. 65.</ref> The network aired that year's [[NFL Championship Game, 1940|NFL Championship Game]] on December 8, the first national broadcast of the annual event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/chronology/1940-1959.aspx|access-date=March 1, 2010|title=History: Chronology (1940 to 1959)|publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame|archive-date=April 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408021426/http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/chronology/1940-1959.aspx}}</ref> Over the following half-decade, Mutual's war coverage held its own with that of the wealthier networks, featuring field correspondents such as Henry Shapiro and Piet Van T Veer and commentators such as [[Cecil Brown (journalist)|Cecil Brown]], formerly of CBS.<ref>Brown (1998), pp. 183, 190.</ref> At 2:26&nbsp;p.m. Eastern time, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Mutual flagship station WOR interrupted a football game broadcast with a news flash reporting the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]]. It was the first public announcement of the attack heard on the U.S. mainland. The first bombs had dropped 63 minutes earlier.<ref>Bliss (1991), p. 135; {{cite web|url=http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/2-PH/19411207_1426_WOR-PH_Attack_Interrupt.html|date=December 7, 1941|access-date=March 1, 2010|title=WOR: Interruption of Giants-Dodgers Football Game|publisher=Authentic History Center|archive-date=May 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510033817/http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/2-PH/19411207_1426_WOR-PH_Attack_Interrupt.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 1945, Sigrid Schultz reported from one of the last [[Nazi concentration camps]] to be discovered, [[Ravensbrück concentration camp|Ravensbrück]].<ref>{{harvp|Crook|1998|pp=206–207}}.</ref> The following month, ''[[Meet the Press]]'' premiered with [[Martha Rountree]] as moderator.<ref>{{harvp|Nimmo|Newsome|1997|p=311}}.</ref> For a year and a half in the late 1940s, [[William Shirer]] came over from CBS to do current events commentary after his famous falling out with [[Edward Murrow]].<ref>{{harvp|Bliss|1991|pp=202–203}}.</ref> In 1948, Mutual's four-part series ''To Secure These Rights'', dramatizing the findings of [[Harry S. Truman|President Truman]]'s [[President's Committee on Civil Rights|Committee on Civil Rights]], outraged many politicians and the network's own affiliates in the [[segregated South]].<ref>Savage (1999), p. 345 n. 123.</ref>
[[File:MStrangerSession.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Seven suited men holding scripts and an eighth man operating a bank of turntables.|A recording session for ''[[The Mysterious Traveler]]'', with the entire cast clustered around one microphone. Host [[Maurice Tarplin]] is directly behind the mic, third from the right. To the rear, a sound-effect artist and three phonographs (at least) provide music and effects.]]
In the field of entertainment, Mutual built on the incomparable success of ''The Shadow''. WGN's ''[[Chicago Theater of the Air]]'', featuring hour-long opera and musical theater productions before a live audience, was broadcast for the first time in May 1940. By 1943, the weekly show was being recorded in front of houses 4,000 strong, gathered to see performances featuring a full orchestra and chorus. ''Chicago Theater of the Air'' would run on Mutual through March 1955.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wgngold.com/timeline/1940s1950s.htm|access-date=March 1, 2010|title=WGN Radio Timeline: 1940s–1950s|publisher=WGN Gold|archive-date=July 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718035648/http://www.wgngold.com/timeline/1940s1950s.htm|url-status=live}} {{cite web|url=http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logc1053.htm|title=''Chicago Theater of the Air'' Episode Log|date=April 15, 2008|access-date=March 1, 2010|publisher=Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs|archive-date=March 6, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050306014405/http://otrsite.com/logs/logc1053.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Mutual provided an early national outlet for the influential, iconoclastic satirist [[Henry Morgan (humorist)|Henry Morgan]], whose show ''Here's Morgan'' began its network run in October 1940. Though ''The Lone Ranger'' moved over to NBC Blue in May 1942, within a few months Mutual had another reliable, and no less famous, action hero. ''[[The Adventures of Superman (radio)|The Adventures of Superman]]'', picked up from WOR, would run on the network from August 1942 to June 1949. In April 1943, Mutual launched what would turn into one of its longest-lasting shows. Debuting as ''[[Nick Carter (literary character)|The Return of Nick Carter]]'' and later retitled ''Nick Carter, Master Detective'', it would be a network staple through September 1955. From May 1943 through May 1946, Mutual aired ''[[The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]'' starring [[Basil Rathbone]] and [[Nigel Bruce]], reprising their roles from the [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] film series. An earlier incarnation of the show had run briefly on the network in 1936; a less starry version would return to Mutual from September 1947 through June 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logs1041.htm|title=''Sherlock Holmes'' Episode Log|date=July 6, 2008|access-date=March 1, 2010|publisher=Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs|archive-date=April 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403115331/http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logs1041.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Mysterious Traveler]]'', a proto–''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|Twilight Zone]]'' anthology series, aired every week on Mutual from December 1943 until September 1952.

In February 1946, Mutual introduced a quiz show, ''[[Twenty Questions]]'', that would run for more than seven years. In October, the detective series ''[[Let George Do It (radio)|Let George Do It]]'', starring Bob Bailey, launched as a Mutual/Don Lee presentation; it would also run into the mid-1950s. For two years, starting in 1946 as well, [[Steve Allen]] got his first network exposure on the Mutual/Don Lee morning show ''Smile Time'', out of Los Angeles's [[KHJ (AM)|KHJ]]. In February 1947, the religiously oriented ''[[Family Theater]]'' premiered; with frequent appearances by major Hollywood stars, the series aired on Mutual for ten and a half years. That March, [[Kate Smith]], a major star on CBS since 1931, moved over to Mutual. During most of her initial run at the network, which lasted until September 1951, she had two distinct weekday shows, each 15 minutes long: ''Kate Smith Speaks'', at noon, and ''Kate Smith Sings'', later in the hour.<ref name="Dunning-1998">{{harvp|Dunning|1998|p=382}}.</ref> The network gave an outlet to radio dramatist [[Wyllis Cooper]] and his highly regarded suspense anthology ''[[Quiet, Please]]'', which ran on Mutual from June 1947 to September 1948. It also aired actor [[Alan Ladd]]'s similarly lauded drama about a crime-solving mystery novelist, ''[[Box 13]]'', which ran for precisely a year. Mayfair Productions, Ladd's own business, produced its 52 episodes, which began airing every Sunday on August 22, 1948.