Radio Guide / Movie Radio
Guide published listings network radio
programming schedules and
programs with articles about
the stars, stations and
networks.. Issued weekly
from October 30, 1931 to
February, 1943 and then
monthly until November 1943.
There were as many as 14
regional editions at one
time, intended to reflect
"local" area programming and
stations.
Radio Guide morphed into Movie Radio
Guide and was the predecessor
of TV Guide.
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Regional Issues |
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Radio Guide was published
with a variety of regional
editions, each showing the
major stations in a region
of the US. We have attempted
to complete a collection of
one of each issue.
Collecting the regional
editions is difficult as
most sellers do not specify
(or understand) the regional editions. |
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Radio Guide's 1932 statement of purpose |
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Click on graphic to see full readable version |
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Radio Guide Mikeroscope and Log Book 1935 |
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About Radio Guide |
Elizabeth McLeod,
radio historian, says,
"'Radio Guide' began in
Chicago and New York in
November 1931, as a venture
of Moe Annenberg, a former
hood and strong-arm man for
the Hearst newspaper
distribution interests in
Chicago (his duties usually
involved
blackjack-and-brass-knuckle
confrontations with
distributors of rival
publications), who went
legit in the twenties as
publisher of the 'Daily
Racing Form.' For about its
first year it was presented
in a tabloid newspaper
format, with most of its
editorial content coming
from press releases —
although New York Journal
radio critic Mike Porter and
music critic Carleton Smith
were regular contributors
from very early on." |
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"Beginning in 1933,'Radio
Guide' began to feature
two-color 'art covers' and
was presented in a
saddle-stitched
large-magazine format. There
was also a new emphasis on
original editorial content,
and Chicago Herald-Examiner
radio editor Evans Plummer
became a regular contributor
with his 'Plums and Prunes'
column." |
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"Full color art covers
were featured beginning in
the spring of 1935, and
continued until the magazine
switched to black-and-white
photo covers in early 1938.
Many of these covers were
elegant portraits of
stars-of-the-moment painted
by Charles Rubino, and these
issues are perhaps the most
collectible of the run. This
period also marked the peak
of Radio Guide's editorial
quality — it published
substantial criticism and
serious journalism about
radio, such as its 1935
expose revealing that
elements of 'Major Bowes'
Original Amateur Hour' were
rigged. |
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"'Radio Guide' changed
both its title and focus in
1940, as a direct result of
Moe Annenberg being sent to
prison for tax evasion in
1940 -— the magazine was
taken over by his son Walter
(later publisher of 'TV
Guide') and the change to a
combination radio-movie
format was an attempt to
pump up the cash flow by
merging 'Radio Guide' with
'Screen Guide,' another
troubled Annenberg
publication of the era. The
transition to 'Movie Radio
Guide' was unfortunately
accompanied by a sharp drop
in editorial quality -- the
publication became much more
of a shallow
celebrity-oriented fan rag,
rather like what's happened
to 'TV Guide' over the last
twenty years." |
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Excellent old-time radio
history site from Elizabeth
McLeod including some of her
publications and good links
Click on the "ET" to view. |
