RADIO NETS' GROSSES
GOld Time Radio's post. The Gold In The Golden Age, provides an overview of Network Radio's billings in relation to the entire radio industry during the years 1932 to 1953. What follows is a more compact view of each network's gross revenues in a more expanded time frame, beginning in 1929, (three years before the Golden Age began), and extending to 1955, (two years after it ended). It also includes the annual gross billings of the combined television networks beginning in 1948 which emphatically illustrate what ended Network Radio's Golden Age.
Back to the beginning, Network Radio revenues from NBC's Red and Blue Networks in 1927 were $3,832,510. The two RCA-owned chains had the field to themselves until September, 1928, when Bill Paley's family bought CBS and established competition.
As in our post, The Gold In The Golden Age, the first line is the dollar amount of gross revenue. The second line indicates the increase or decease in revenues from the previous year - not profit or loss. The third line indicates the percentage of the growth or reduction.
1928 1929 1930 1931
NBC NA 7,441,399 10,445,760 13,892,840
3,004,361 3,447,080
40.4% 33.0%
CBS NA 4,700,000 6,730,000 9,074,999
2,030,000 2,344,999 43.2% 34.8%
Blue NA 6,868,983 9,642,240 12,824,160
2,773,257 3,181,920
40.4% 33.0%
Total 10,227,000 19,010,382 26,818,000 35,791,999
6,394,490 8,783,382 7,807,618 8,973,999
168.8% 85.9% 41.0% 33.5%
Below are the 21 years of Network Radio's Golden Age, expressed in its three, seven year periods: The Depression Years, The World War II Years and The Postwar Early Television Years with their Ups and Downs expressed in Green and Red. As seen in the first grouping, The Depression Years, the Mutual Network was established in late 1934, just in time to capitalize on its most prosperous period, 1935 and 1936.
1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938
NBC 13,752,228 11,695,067 16,420,049 18,722,715 22,645,527 27,171,965 31,187,000
140,612 2,057,161 4,724,982 2,302,666 3,922,812 4,526,438 4,015,035
1.0% 15.0% 40.4% 14.0% 21.0% 20.0% 14.8%
CBS 12,601,885 10,063,556 14,825,425 17,637,824 23,168,148 28,828,058 27,345,395
3,526,886 2,538,329 4,761,869 2,812,399 5,530,324 5,659,910 1,482,663 38.9% 20.1% 47.3% 19.0% 31.4% 24.4% 5.5%
Blue 11,444,390 8,644,489 10,350,388 11,650,499 11,878,423 11,470,321 10,275,000
1,379,770 2,799,901 1,705,899 1,300,111 227,924 408,102 1,195,321
10.8% 24.5% 19.7% 12.6% 2.0% 3.4% 10.4%
Mutual (MBS) 697,421 1,987,573 1,949,654 2,920,324
1,290,152 37,919 970,670
185.0% 1.9% 49.8%
Total 37,798,503 30,403,062 41,595,862 48,708,459 59,679,671 69,419,998 71,727,721
7,395,441 11,192,800 7,112,597 10,971,212 9,740,327 2,307,723
19.6% 36.8% 17.1% 22.5% 16.3% 3.3%
The seven World War II Years were easily Network Radio's halcyon days with double digit increases registered by NBC in three years, CBS and Blue, (ABC), in four years, and Mutual in six. But the end of the war in 1945 meant the beginning greatly increased competition for the advertising dollar with the lifting of paper rationing which had limited newspaper and magazine content, the renewed development of television and the resumed construction of AM and FM stations at an accelerated pace. In the meantime, however, Network Radio was the capital of entertainment, news and revenue.
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
NBC 36,601,000 39,955,000 41,654,000 44,023,000 53,837,110 63,012,000 64,429,181
5,414,000 3,354,000 1,699,000 2,369,000 9,814,110 9,174,890 1,417,181
17.4% 9.2% 4.3% 5.7% 22.3% 17.0% 2.2%
CBS 34,540,000 41,026,000 44,332,000 45,593,125 57,952,744 66,791,000 65,724,851
7,194,605 6,486,000 3,306,000 1,261,125 12,359,619 8,838,256 1,066,149
26.3% 18.8% 8.1% 2.8% 27.1% 15.3% 1.6%
Blue* 10,262,191 11,863,000 12,223,000 15,782,493 24,869,948 41,356,129 40,045,966
12,809 1,600,809 360,000 3,559,493 9,087,455 16,486,181 1,310,163
0.12% 15.6% 3.0% 29.1% 57.6% 66.3% 3.2%
MBS 3,330,000 4,767,000 7,301,000 9,636,122 13,841,608 19,533,650 20,637,362 409,676 1,437,000 2,534,000 2,335,122 4,205,486 5,692,042 1,103,712
14.0% 43.2% 53.2% 32.0% 43.6% 41.1% 5.7%
Total 84,733,191 97,611,000 105,510,000 115,034,740 150,501,410 190,692,779 190,837,360 13,005,470 12,878,809 7,899,000 9,524,740 35,466,670 40,191,369 144,581
18.1% 15.2% 8.1% 9,0% 30.8% 26.7% 0.08%
Figures from the seven Postwar Early Television Years tell the story of Network Radio's peak and fall better than any narrative could. For this purpose, the annual gross revenue of the four television networks, (ABC, CBS, DuMont and NBC), are added beginning in 1948, which coincidentally, was Network Radio's peak year, collecting over $199 Million in gross revenues. It was all downhill from there. Meanwhile, the annual percentage growth of Network Television revenues was unlike anything ever seen in broadcasting. The television networks' billings surpassed Network Radio in 1952 and never looked back.
1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
NBC 66,738,392 65,756,517 69,697,590 64,013,296 65,100,000 54,324,017 47,927,115
2,309,211 981,875 3,941,073 5,684,294 1,086,704 10,775,983 6,396,902
3.6% 1.5% 6.0% 8.2% 1.7% 16.6% 11.8%
CBS 60,064,000 59,250,964 62,265,105 63,403,583 70,774,669 68,784,773 59,511,209
5,660,851 813,036 3,014,141 1,138,478 7,371,086 1,989,896 9,273,564
8.6% 1.4% 5.1% 1.8% 11.6% 2.8% 13.5%
ABC 40,455,880 43,548,057 44,301,700 42,342,225 35,124,625 33,242,182 35,023,033
409,914 3,092,177 753,643 1,959,475 7,217,600 1,882,443 1,780,851
1.0% 7.6% 1.7% 4.4% 17,.0% 5.4% 5.4%
MBS 25,907,202 22,372,711 22,769,464 18,071,695 16,102,797 17,900,958 20,992,105
5,269,840 3,534,491 396,753 4,697,769 1,968,898 1,798,161 3,091,147
25.5% 13,6% 1.8% 20.6% 10.9% 11.2% 17.3%
Tot 193,165,474 190,928,249 199,033,859 187,830,799 187,102,091 174,251,930 163,453,462
2,328,114 2,236,925 8,105,610 11,203,060 728,608 12,850,161 10,798,468
1.2% 1.2% 4.3% 5.6% 0.4% 6.9% 6.2%
TV Nets 8,700,000 24,740,000 40,611,910 127,989,713 180,794,780
16,040,000 15,871,910 87,377,803 52,805,067 184.4% 64.2% 215.2% 41.3%
Network Television continued to grow much to Network Radio's expense of audience and advertising revenue after 1952. Below are the figures for the three years immediately following Network Radio's Golden Age. In 1955, Network Television had collected over $1.337 Billion in gross revenues since 1948. Network Radio trailed with $1.323 Billion during the same period but was fading fast. It got to the point that while the networks boasted loudly through the trade press that their television grosses reached over $400 Million in 1955, revenue totals for Network Radio were nowhere to be found. (1)
1953 1954 1955
NBC 45,151.077 34,014,356 NA
2,776,038 11,136,721
5.8% 24.6%
CBS 62,381,207 54,229,997 NA
2,869,998 8,151,210
4.8% 13.1%
ABC 29,826,123 29,051,784 NA
5,196,910 774,339
11.8% 2.6%
MBS 23,158.000 20,345,032 NA
1,780,851 2,812,968
8.5% 12.1%
Totals 160,516,407 137,641,169 113,300,000
3,937,055 22,875,238 24,341,171
2.4% 14.2% 17.1%
TV Nets 227,610,400 320,154,274 406,899,059
46,815,620 92,543,874 86,744,785
25.9% 40.7% 21.1%
(1) Publishers Information Bureau, which had published Network Radio Revenue information since the 1930's discontinued the radio service in June, 1955.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com
GOld Time Radio's post. The Gold In The Golden Age, provides an overview of Network Radio's billings in relation to the entire radio industry during the years 1932 to 1953. What follows is a more compact view of each network's gross revenues in a more expanded time frame, beginning in 1929, (three years before the Golden Age began), and extending to 1955, (two years after it ended). It also includes the annual gross billings of the combined television networks beginning in 1948 which emphatically illustrate what ended Network Radio's Golden Age.
Back to the beginning, Network Radio revenues from NBC's Red and Blue Networks in 1927 were $3,832,510. The two RCA-owned chains had the field to themselves until September, 1928, when Bill Paley's family bought CBS and established competition.
As in our post, The Gold In The Golden Age, the first line is the dollar amount of gross revenue. The second line indicates the increase or decease in revenues from the previous year - not profit or loss. The third line indicates the percentage of the growth or reduction.
1928 1929 1930 1931
NBC NA 7,441,399 10,445,760 13,892,840
3,004,361 3,447,080
40.4% 33.0%
CBS NA 4,700,000 6,730,000 9,074,999
2,030,000 2,344,999 43.2% 34.8%
Blue NA 6,868,983 9,642,240 12,824,160
2,773,257 3,181,920
40.4% 33.0%
Total 10,227,000 19,010,382 26,818,000 35,791,999
6,394,490 8,783,382 7,807,618 8,973,999
168.8% 85.9% 41.0% 33.5%
Below are the 21 years of Network Radio's Golden Age, expressed in its three, seven year periods: The Depression Years, The World War II Years and The Postwar Early Television Years with their Ups and Downs expressed in Green and Red. As seen in the first grouping, The Depression Years, the Mutual Network was established in late 1934, just in time to capitalize on its most prosperous period, 1935 and 1936.
1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938
NBC 13,752,228 11,695,067 16,420,049 18,722,715 22,645,527 27,171,965 31,187,000
140,612 2,057,161 4,724,982 2,302,666 3,922,812 4,526,438 4,015,035
1.0% 15.0% 40.4% 14.0% 21.0% 20.0% 14.8%
CBS 12,601,885 10,063,556 14,825,425 17,637,824 23,168,148 28,828,058 27,345,395
3,526,886 2,538,329 4,761,869 2,812,399 5,530,324 5,659,910 1,482,663 38.9% 20.1% 47.3% 19.0% 31.4% 24.4% 5.5%
Blue 11,444,390 8,644,489 10,350,388 11,650,499 11,878,423 11,470,321 10,275,000
1,379,770 2,799,901 1,705,899 1,300,111 227,924 408,102 1,195,321
10.8% 24.5% 19.7% 12.6% 2.0% 3.4% 10.4%
Mutual (MBS) 697,421 1,987,573 1,949,654 2,920,324
1,290,152 37,919 970,670
185.0% 1.9% 49.8%
Total 37,798,503 30,403,062 41,595,862 48,708,459 59,679,671 69,419,998 71,727,721
7,395,441 11,192,800 7,112,597 10,971,212 9,740,327 2,307,723
19.6% 36.8% 17.1% 22.5% 16.3% 3.3%
The seven World War II Years were easily Network Radio's halcyon days with double digit increases registered by NBC in three years, CBS and Blue, (ABC), in four years, and Mutual in six. But the end of the war in 1945 meant the beginning greatly increased competition for the advertising dollar with the lifting of paper rationing which had limited newspaper and magazine content, the renewed development of television and the resumed construction of AM and FM stations at an accelerated pace. In the meantime, however, Network Radio was the capital of entertainment, news and revenue.
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
NBC 36,601,000 39,955,000 41,654,000 44,023,000 53,837,110 63,012,000 64,429,181
5,414,000 3,354,000 1,699,000 2,369,000 9,814,110 9,174,890 1,417,181
17.4% 9.2% 4.3% 5.7% 22.3% 17.0% 2.2%
CBS 34,540,000 41,026,000 44,332,000 45,593,125 57,952,744 66,791,000 65,724,851
7,194,605 6,486,000 3,306,000 1,261,125 12,359,619 8,838,256 1,066,149
26.3% 18.8% 8.1% 2.8% 27.1% 15.3% 1.6%
Blue* 10,262,191 11,863,000 12,223,000 15,782,493 24,869,948 41,356,129 40,045,966
12,809 1,600,809 360,000 3,559,493 9,087,455 16,486,181 1,310,163
0.12% 15.6% 3.0% 29.1% 57.6% 66.3% 3.2%
MBS 3,330,000 4,767,000 7,301,000 9,636,122 13,841,608 19,533,650 20,637,362 409,676 1,437,000 2,534,000 2,335,122 4,205,486 5,692,042 1,103,712
14.0% 43.2% 53.2% 32.0% 43.6% 41.1% 5.7%
Total 84,733,191 97,611,000 105,510,000 115,034,740 150,501,410 190,692,779 190,837,360 13,005,470 12,878,809 7,899,000 9,524,740 35,466,670 40,191,369 144,581
18.1% 15.2% 8.1% 9,0% 30.8% 26.7% 0.08%
Figures from the seven Postwar Early Television Years tell the story of Network Radio's peak and fall better than any narrative could. For this purpose, the annual gross revenue of the four television networks, (ABC, CBS, DuMont and NBC), are added beginning in 1948, which coincidentally, was Network Radio's peak year, collecting over $199 Million in gross revenues. It was all downhill from there. Meanwhile, the annual percentage growth of Network Television revenues was unlike anything ever seen in broadcasting. The television networks' billings surpassed Network Radio in 1952 and never looked back.
1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
NBC 66,738,392 65,756,517 69,697,590 64,013,296 65,100,000 54,324,017 47,927,115
2,309,211 981,875 3,941,073 5,684,294 1,086,704 10,775,983 6,396,902
3.6% 1.5% 6.0% 8.2% 1.7% 16.6% 11.8%
CBS 60,064,000 59,250,964 62,265,105 63,403,583 70,774,669 68,784,773 59,511,209
5,660,851 813,036 3,014,141 1,138,478 7,371,086 1,989,896 9,273,564
8.6% 1.4% 5.1% 1.8% 11.6% 2.8% 13.5%
ABC 40,455,880 43,548,057 44,301,700 42,342,225 35,124,625 33,242,182 35,023,033
409,914 3,092,177 753,643 1,959,475 7,217,600 1,882,443 1,780,851
1.0% 7.6% 1.7% 4.4% 17,.0% 5.4% 5.4%
MBS 25,907,202 22,372,711 22,769,464 18,071,695 16,102,797 17,900,958 20,992,105
5,269,840 3,534,491 396,753 4,697,769 1,968,898 1,798,161 3,091,147
25.5% 13,6% 1.8% 20.6% 10.9% 11.2% 17.3%
Tot 193,165,474 190,928,249 199,033,859 187,830,799 187,102,091 174,251,930 163,453,462
2,328,114 2,236,925 8,105,610 11,203,060 728,608 12,850,161 10,798,468
1.2% 1.2% 4.3% 5.6% 0.4% 6.9% 6.2%
TV Nets 8,700,000 24,740,000 40,611,910 127,989,713 180,794,780
16,040,000 15,871,910 87,377,803 52,805,067 184.4% 64.2% 215.2% 41.3%
Network Television continued to grow much to Network Radio's expense of audience and advertising revenue after 1952. Below are the figures for the three years immediately following Network Radio's Golden Age. In 1955, Network Television had collected over $1.337 Billion in gross revenues since 1948. Network Radio trailed with $1.323 Billion during the same period but was fading fast. It got to the point that while the networks boasted loudly through the trade press that their television grosses reached over $400 Million in 1955, revenue totals for Network Radio were nowhere to be found. (1)
1953 1954 1955
NBC 45,151.077 34,014,356 NA
2,776,038 11,136,721
5.8% 24.6%
CBS 62,381,207 54,229,997 NA
2,869,998 8,151,210
4.8% 13.1%
ABC 29,826,123 29,051,784 NA
5,196,910 774,339
11.8% 2.6%
MBS 23,158.000 20,345,032 NA
1,780,851 2,812,968
8.5% 12.1%
Totals 160,516,407 137,641,169 113,300,000
3,937,055 22,875,238 24,341,171
2.4% 14.2% 17.1%
TV Nets 227,610,400 320,154,274 406,899,059
46,815,620 92,543,874 86,744,785
25.9% 40.7% 21.1%
(1) Publishers Information Bureau, which had published Network Radio Revenue information since the 1930's discontinued the radio service in June, 1955.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com