Mutual survived demise under a number of owners over the decades. They had the lions share of small market affiliates and some great radio programs in the 30’s/40’s. Sad when they finally went.
Gina, I was able, when I worked for Mutual, to go back into its archives. I wish I had copied more tapes. They do sound good, don't they? Thanks for your interest. Dennis
Mutual started in 1935 as a fourth network for stations that could not affiliate with NBC Red or Blue or Columbia; many were smaller, 250-watt at the time, local stations. Its biggest affiliates were WOR New York, WGN Chicago and KHJ Los Angeles, which also provided much of the network's entertainment programming. At one time, affiliate KWTO Springfield, Missouri (where I used to work) offered a country music show called "Korn's-A-Krackin", which ran on Mutual in the late 1940's and morphed into the "Ozark Jamboree" program on ABC-TV in the 1950's. Regular entertainment programming left MBS, and the other networks, through the 50's, 60's and 70's; the network was acquired by Westwood One in the 80's, was the home of Larry King for several years, and later for his replacement, Jim Bohannon. Westwood absorbed Mutual and the other networks it operated into one unit in the 1990s and 2000's, as the market for network programming continued to shrink.
And their slogan “This is Mutual, the world’s largest network” of course they were largest in that they had the largest number of affiliates but not largest in reach.
Thank you for this. I had been looking for a while for the lead-in to the Mutual hourly news. It, as I remember it, was like the beginning of this, but a little crisper and sharper. I still play in in my head when dramatic events happen!
Thanks for the memories! I remembered when they tried to compete with the CBS mystery show back in the early seventies….it’s a shame that it didn’t make it. Well a least the radio news was. Presented in a mostly neutral manner unlike most of the modern network broadcast’s which are becoming propaganda.
I grew up in 60s and enjoyed AM Radio 📻 news sweepers from WABC and KDKA to include WCBD. Media wise we had 3 perhaps 4 📺 channels and genuine entertainment. Nostalgic indeed.
In the early 60s I recall a local sportscaster from Detroit would do a memorable sign on "This is Van Patrick speaking coast to coast on the Mutual Radio Network."
Van was the voice for Notre Dame football on Mutual for many years. Enjoyed growing up listening to many Irish games on WGPA in Bethlehem PA..a daytimer....and night games on WGPA-FM.
While at WRR (65-70) Mutual was our network. Got to visit them in New York in 1966 in the WOR building and they copied their entire sounder package on tape for us.
Can anyone please find and post the Mutual sounder from (I think) the late 70's and 80's; with a drum roll, a three-note fanfare, then "teletype" music? ("Mutual news at this hour! Fred Lowry reporting from Washington...")
It's interesting that Tony Marvin, after years of doing entertainment (as Arthur Godfrey's announcer/sidekick in the 1950's), reinvented himself as a radio network news anchor. (But for all I know, maybe Marvin did news early in his career before joining Godfrey)
I worked at a radio station in Alabama in 1979 & 80 and I certainly recall the little BE-DOOP sounder going into a commercial break from the news and coming back out. Thanks for reminding me.🙂
I can't believe my good fortune! Have you got The Larry King Show/The Best of King theme music? "It's Saturday night/Sunday morning, and that means it's time for..."
KOOQ North Platte, NE had mutual when I worked there. I rather liked the sounders they had then (83/84). They were left over from the 70s. They even had a "Star Wars" sounding version on their sounders/jingles album. Never heard it on the network, nor did we use that one.
@@johnbroughton3401 Very interesting! I never knew that they would put a 5,000 watt station on a Class IV (D) channel with more than 1000 watts. If they are running 5,000 watts, every station on the channel in the North Central region will get more interference. Add: they are not on 1400. They are on 14*10*.
opa gleepin gloppin glopin it sounded like thenstart of that 1 def leppard song my parents used to play in the 80s, but what do I know I didnt live then
Mutual went kaput in 1999; NBC radio news died last year. I wonder how long NBC's TV news will last on its free-air network? And one more thing; was Mutual radio news cheaper for affiliates than the other networks?
+K “kturner” Turner Back then, affiliates of commercial networks didn't pay for network service. Instead, they had to clear network commercial spots and probably received a little financial compensation. For decades, Mutual had far more affiliates than ABC, CBS, and NBC simply because many Mutual affiliates were AM stations of 1,000 watts power or less. By contrast, the other three networks each had mostly 5,000-watt stations and several 50,000-watt stations. Very few stations ABC/CBS/NBC stations had 1,000 watts or less,
In 1979, Mutual purchased, among others WHN (New York) and WCFL (Chicago), both 50,000-watters. WHN, however was directional, where 'CFL wasn't. WHN was 1050, WCFL was 1000. Both stations have since gone through several changes of call letters. Today, both are owned by ESPN and are all-sports.
Gary Kerns To be precise, WCFL was and is directional, though it had far superior coverage of it's Chicagoland market than WHN did of the NYC area. WCFL nulled to the West from a site well west of Chicago, and Chicago has superb soil conductivity. WHN had to protect clear-channel KYW on adjacent-channel in Philadelphia, and NYC (along with Atlanta, Tallahassee, and Traverse City) have the worst soil conductivity in the country).
I did not know that about WCFL, but I well knew it about WHN. Back in 1980, on a trip through New England, I pulled in WHN with no problem; in fact, I even posted on youtube, no less, that I was getting WHN in Boston as clearly as if I was in Brooklyn. Thank you very kindly for your response, and sorry I was late getting back to it. I didn't notice it till just now (1-27-2020).
Does anybody recall the theme for "Music Beyond the Stars" on Mutual? It came on at Midnight EST. And whatever happened to Dorees Bell, my favorite MBS lady news announcer.
Mutual was a good radio network. News ran right up their alley. Loved their music themes.
In 1999, Mutual Radio was sacrificed for CNN Radio. Now, CNN Radio is no more. May it be left further out n the dust than where it left Mutual.
Mutual was still the best and I was proud to be there till the end. Keith Angstadt
I miss Mutual!
One thing I remember is the "stop tone" as the newscast cut to commercial...
..."This Mutual News."... (BE-doop)
So do I! CNN Radio used it for awhile some years ago.
Mutual survived demise under a number of owners over the decades. They had the lions share of small market affiliates and some great radio programs in the 30’s/40’s. Sad when they finally went.
Of course, a much-abbreviated version of this theme would be used for years by Mutual as the sounder to introduce their hourly newscasts.
Gina, I was able, when I worked for Mutual, to go back into its archives. I wish I had copied more tapes. They do sound good, don't they? Thanks for your interest. Dennis
When did MBS first use (A-C-G-D)? I'm carrying it over to my revival.
It's always available for the precious ears of youngers, always just as our history always is
Mutual started in 1935 as a fourth network for stations that could not affiliate with NBC Red or Blue or Columbia; many were smaller, 250-watt at the time, local stations. Its biggest affiliates were WOR New York, WGN Chicago and KHJ Los Angeles, which also provided much of the network's entertainment programming. At one time, affiliate KWTO Springfield, Missouri (where I used to work) offered a country music show called "Korn's-A-Krackin", which ran on Mutual in the late 1940's and morphed into the "Ozark Jamboree" program on ABC-TV in the 1950's. Regular entertainment programming left MBS, and the other networks, through the 50's, 60's and 70's; the network was acquired by Westwood One in the 80's, was the home of Larry King for several years, and later for his replacement, Jim Bohannon. Westwood absorbed Mutual and the other networks it operated into one unit in the 1990s and 2000's, as the market for network programming continued to shrink.
KWTO: Keep Watching The Ozarks
And their slogan “This is Mutual, the world’s largest network” of course they were largest in that they had the largest number of affiliates but not largest in reach.
The news closing for mutual sounds like the music for Jack Webb's Dragnet series.
I heard this sounder more times on Jim Bohannon's "News You Can't Use," than in its original glory...
Thank you for this. I had been looking for a while for the lead-in to the Mutual hourly news. It, as I remember it, was like the beginning of this, but a little crisper and sharper. I still play in in my head when dramatic events happen!
Thanks for the memories! I remembered when they tried to compete with the CBS mystery show back in the early seventies….it’s a shame that it didn’t make it.
Well a least the radio news was. Presented in a mostly neutral manner unlike most of the modern network broadcast’s which are becoming propaganda.
WOW! Thanks for the memory of Mutual sounders.
This was when radio was both show business and news business. Now it's just business.
I grew up in 60s and enjoyed AM Radio 📻 news sweepers from WABC and KDKA to include WCBD. Media wise we had 3 perhaps 4 📺 channels and genuine entertainment. Nostalgic indeed.
I like that theme song.So cheerful!
In the early 60s I recall a local sportscaster from Detroit would do a memorable sign on "This is Van Patrick speaking coast to coast on the Mutual Radio Network."
Van was the voice for Notre Dame football on Mutual for many years. Enjoyed growing up listening to many Irish games on WGPA in Bethlehem PA..a daytimer....and night games on WGPA-FM.
"This is the Mutual Broadcasting System, Mutual, your network for news."
Since the organization is now defunct can anyone use the news sounder for any radio production?
While at WRR (65-70) Mutual was our network. Got to visit them in New York in 1966 in the WOR building and they copied their entire sounder package on tape for us.
"This is Mutual, your network for news!"
This Sports march was recorded in Dallas, Tx by CRC and written by Tom Merriman.
Can anyone please find and post the Mutual sounder from (I think) the late 70's and 80's; with a drum roll, a three-note fanfare, then "teletype" music? ("Mutual news at this hour! Fred Lowry reporting from Washington...")
Great news theme!!!
It's interesting that Tony Marvin, after years of doing entertainment (as Arthur Godfrey's announcer/sidekick in the 1950's), reinvented himself as a radio network news anchor.
(But for all I know, maybe Marvin did news early in his career before joining Godfrey)
I remember this from my youth- later I thought it sounded somewhat like martial music- definitely not a bad thing...
BE-doop!
I worked at a radio station in Alabama in 1979 & 80 and I certainly recall the little BE-DOOP sounder going into a commercial break from the news and coming back out. Thanks for reminding me.🙂
I can't believe my good fortune! Have you got The Larry King Show/The Best of King theme music? "It's Saturday night/Sunday morning, and that means it's time for..."
1958: ABC Sounder (then) This is Joe Templeton in the American newsroom in New York.
That could be the theme music for a 1960s TV western or cop show.
2:32 - this is your network for news...the Mutual Broadcasting System
Almost sounds like early NFL Films music.
Yes, it's very large in its sound. I remember tuning into a far-away Mutual station each afternoon just to hear the theme.
This is tame as hell, how can anyone think this is more dramatic than anything else from that time? It's great! It's definitely more creative though.
It probably was not considered "tame" at the time.
@@gidzmobug2323 compared to other stuff at the time, like I previously said, it's about the same.
+hourlynewscaster I made the logo for my MBS revival. If Mutual expanded to TV, they would use this.
One could only imagine what could've been had Mutual radio and the Dumont TV network had gotten together?!!
Hi Dennis, do you have these with the original news casters speaking?
KOOQ North Platte, NE had mutual when I worked there. I rather liked the sounders they had then (83/84). They were left over from the 70s. They even had a "Star Wars" sounding version on their sounders/jingles album. Never heard it on the network, nor did we use that one.
Was that the 10kW daytime on 750?
@@1L6E6VHF KOOQ was at 1400 at 5000 watts day and 500 watts directional at night.
@@johnbroughton3401
Very interesting!
I never knew that they would put a 5,000 watt station on a Class IV (D) channel with more than 1000 watts. If they are running 5,000 watts, every station on the channel in the North Central region will get more interference.
Add: they are not on 1400. They are on 14*10*.
More talk than historical audio.
I have lyrics. "I am a woof. I'm a big woof." Etc.
opa gleepin gloppin glopin it sounded like thenstart of that 1 def leppard song my parents used to play in the 80s, but what do I know I didnt live then
"Rock of Ages".
Truthfully it sounds a little bit cornball compared to the bare bones aggression of the CKLW news sounder. To me, anyway.
Mutual went kaput in 1999; NBC radio news died last year. I wonder how long NBC's TV news will last on its free-air network? And one more thing; was Mutual radio news cheaper for affiliates than the other networks?
+K “kturner” Turner Back then, affiliates of commercial networks didn't pay for network service.
Instead, they had to clear network commercial spots and probably received a little financial compensation.
For decades, Mutual had far more affiliates than ABC, CBS, and NBC simply because many Mutual affiliates were AM stations of 1,000 watts power or less. By contrast, the other three networks each had mostly 5,000-watt stations and several 50,000-watt stations. Very few stations ABC/CBS/NBC stations had 1,000 watts or less,
Hmm; wonder how Mutual got the low-watters? I wish radio stations (even the ones owned by conglomerates) still had national news broadcasts.
In 1979, Mutual purchased, among others WHN (New York) and WCFL (Chicago), both 50,000-watters. WHN, however was directional, where 'CFL wasn't. WHN was 1050, WCFL was 1000. Both stations have since gone through several changes of call letters. Today, both are owned by ESPN and are all-sports.
Gary Kerns
To be precise, WCFL was and is directional, though it had far superior coverage of it's Chicagoland market than WHN did of the NYC area.
WCFL nulled to the West from a site well west of Chicago, and Chicago has superb soil conductivity.
WHN had to protect clear-channel KYW on adjacent-channel in Philadelphia, and NYC (along with Atlanta, Tallahassee, and Traverse City) have the worst soil conductivity in the country).
I did not know that about WCFL, but I well knew it about WHN. Back in 1980, on a trip through New England, I pulled in WHN with no problem; in fact, I even posted on youtube, no less, that I was getting WHN in Boston as clearly as if I was in Brooklyn. Thank you very kindly for your response, and sorry I was late getting back to it. I didn't notice it till just now (1-27-2020).
Who voiced this? Very distracting lisp!
Radio Zeater club members used to be listeners
like the xylophone
Does anybody recall the theme for "Music Beyond the Stars" on Mutual? It came on at Midnight EST.
And whatever happened to Dorees Bell, my favorite MBS lady news announcer.
nice pronunciation, Sir : )
2:55
Old-sounding Tony Martin. Was way better younger.
Actually, they are just giving us the business...
Haha, OK, Beav!
@@trudygreer2491 I wonder what happened to all those old tapes that were archived.
1:14