71-7416 CATHCART, William Lance, 1943- THE ROLE OF NETWORK BROADCASTING DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1970 Mass Communication University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan (cp Copyright by William Lance Cathcart 1971 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE ROLE OR NETWORK BROADCASTING DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By William Lance Cathcart, A.B., M.A. ****** The Ohio State University 1970 Approved by ^1 /9. Adviser Department of Speech PREFACE Although commercial radio in this country was horn and managed to gather up a full head of develop­ mental steam in the 1920's, the mass radio medium did not reach full maturity until two decades later when American involvement in World War II pressured radio to achieve its "finest hour." Once limited to to situation comedies and soap operas, network radio offered the human drama of death, devestation, and despair to a nation at war in the 194-0's. Radio became a companion; a constant source of information and inspiration against which the print medium could not compete. This study presents a detailed investigation of . network radio's activities during the Second World War. The networks were each composed of a main sta­ tion in New York City and a varying number of local or affiliated stations around the country. As a limit­ ing factor, the contributions of such local stations, apart from their role as network disseminators, will not be discussed. During the war, the networks were primarily concerned with government support/cooperation, ii news/information and regular/supplemental entertain­ ment roles. More simply, radio served as a domestic supporter, informer, and entertainer during the period of foreign hostilities. These activities combined to form a potent social force found to be beneficial to the maintenance of an appropriate level of public morale. As a by-product of this intense and effective attention to public service and morale boosting, net­ work broadcasting earned the right to continued opera­ tion free from the threat of federal control. Through­ out the war itself, the networks had voluntarily functioned within a cooperative regulatory system perhaps best defined as responsible freedom. The success of this experiment and the specifics involved with each of the wartime radio roles will be discussed in this study. While previous research has been done on radio and radio commentators during the Second World War, the vast majority of such was either written while the war was still in progress or written on only one aspect of the subject. The intent of this dissertation was to take a broader look at network broadcasting's wartime domestic participation in an effort to con­ tribute an over-view analysis of the era and, in so doing, help strengthen an area of broadcasting history still in need of research. iii I would like to acknowledge the valuable guidance and assistance provided by my adviser, Dr. Walter B. Emery, during the course of this study. Additional thanks go to Dr. Richard M. Mall and Dr. Robert W. Wagner for their time and probing questions, and also to Dr. James E. Lynch for his supervision of my doctoral course work and his help in obtaining the financial assistance necessary for the completion of this research. Finally, my deepest expression of gratitude must go to my parents, Dr. and Mrs. John A. Cathcart, whose continued concern and subtle encourage ment have played such a vital role in making this dream a reality. VITA February 3, 194-3 Born - Monmouth, Illinois 1965 .................A.B., Hope College, Holland, Michigan 1966-1967 ........... Teaching Assistant, Department of Speech, The Ohio State Uni­ versity, Columbus, Ohio 1966 ................. M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1967-1969 ........... Teaching Associate, Department of Speech, The Ohio State Uni­ versity, Columbus, Ohio 1969-1970 ........... University Dissertation Fellow­ ship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS "Viewer Needs and Desires in Television Newscasters." Journal of Broadcasting, vol. XIV (Winter 1969-70), ....& FIELDS OF STUDY. Major Field: Radio and Television Communications Studies in Broadcast History. Pfofessor James E. Lynch Studies in Broadcast Programing. Professor Richard M. Mall Studies in Communications Research. Professor Robert R. Monaghan v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE ....................................... ii VITA .......................................... v LIST OF TABLES ................................. vii INTRODUCTION ......... 1 Chapter I. BROADCASTING AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ........................... 9 Censorship Information Manpower and Production Summary II. NETWORK WAR NEWS COVERAGE............ 78 Network News Beginnings Coverage of the European War: 1939 to 194-1 Pearl Harbor to V-J Day Summary III. NETWORK SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMING ..... 146 Drama Variety Special Appeals Local Television Summary IV. POST-WAR STATUS ..................... 175 Radio Prosperity Network News Television Summary V. CONCLUSION ................ 197 APPENDIX................................ 220 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................. 240 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Radio Participation in War Information Campaigns - 1.944 61 2. Typical OWI Radio Campaigns in 1944 62 3. Advertising Expenditures in Radio and Newspapers, 1927 to 1936 80 4. Format Example from the CBS "Europe Tonight" Program 96 5. Radio Time and Talent Contribution to the War Effort in 1943 157 6. Radio's Contribution to the Eight Bond Drives 165 7. Advertising Revenues for Radio and Newspapers, 1939 to 1945 177 8. National Network Radio Net Time Sales Revenues, 1938 to 1948 177 9. Total War Programs Broadcast over the CBS Network, December 7, 1941 to September 2, 1945 183 10. FCC-Authorized U.S. Commercial Television Stations, as of January 15, 1946 188 11. Number of Licensed Standard Broadcasting Stations in the United States, 1938 to 1948 190 12. Total Radio Sets-in-Use in the United States, 1938 to 1948 191 vii INTRODUCTION ...radio is the number one arsenal of democracy in the ordnance of Ideas - the supply and transportation of words and thoughts that beget human action. — Paul V. Kesten1 In 1926, RCA created a subsidiary, the National Broadcasting Company, to operate the nation's first transcontinental radio network. In that same year, Adolph Hitler published the second volume of Mein Kampf and pushed his National Socialist movement closer to Berlin. Twelve years later the two forces would meet as network coverage of the world conflict got under way in the Fuhrer's old stomping ground, Munich. Briefly outlining first the principal events of the Second World War, Hitler, after having previously over­ thrown Austria, occupied the Sudetenland of Czechoslo­ vakia in October of 1938, following the agreement at Munich. In March, 1939 > the Republic of Czechoslovakia was formally dissolved. After six more months of rela­ tive external inactivity, Germany invaded Poland, signal ing the start of war on September 1, 1939- Two days later, Prance and Great Britain, among others, declared war on Germany. Once again, a period of calm followed 2 the German aggression. This lasted until April 9» 1940, when Hitler's forces invaded Norway and Denmark to finally begin the war in earnest. France collapsed and signed an armistice in late June. The Battle of Britain followed, with German bombing reaching its peak in the fall of 1940. Germany turned on its former ally when it attacked Russia in mid-1941. As European con­ ditions worsened, President Roosevelt declared a state of unlimited national emergency on May 27, 1941, as our own involvement date drew near. The Japanese attack on December 7 brought the United States into the war on both fronts. The Allied forces finally began to turn the tide, starting with the successful North African expedition in November, 1942. The year 1943 brought defeat to the Germans at Stalingrad and surrender to the Italians. D-Day, the long awaited Allied counter-invasion of Normandy, came on June 6, 1944. During the following spring, the Rhine River was crossed from the west and soon after Victory in Europe was declared on May 7» 1945. Our war in the Pacific continued until the formal Japanese surrender ceremonies aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2, 1945 marked V-J Day. The peak strength of the U.S. Armed Forces had reached 12.3 million per­ sons during the war, second only to the Soviet Union's 3 12.5 million. The United States' battle deaths totalled 292,000, as compared with 53*000 in World War I and 53*000 in Korea, with Viet Nam figures yet incomplete. The Soviet Union reported 7.5 million battle deaths, a statistic that certainly puts our losses into perspective. A look next at the pre-war status of radio. American broadcasting had grown rather dramatically since its beginnings in 1920. As the war approached, four national networks stood ready to cover the events. Since 1926, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) had maintained two networks, the Red and the Blue. The Blue Network was separated from NBC in 194-2, following a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling, and became the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 194-5. The Columbia Broadcasting System's (CBS) network of stations came into being in 1927 and the newest network, the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS), began operations in 1934-. So much for the major program transmitters. On the listening side of things, the United States could boast of having more radio receivers tuned to more stations airing more programs than any .other nation in the world. In 194-0, twenty-eight million families owned radios (85% of the total U.S. families) and over 83% of those families listened on a daily average of 5*1 2 hours. The nearly eight-hundred U.S. standard broad- 4 cast (AM) stations had a potential radio audience of over seventy million people.