This is the Programs section of
The Broadcast Archive
Featuring information about radio programs and
performers from the past....
Maintained by:
Barry Mishkind - The Eclectic Engineer
Updated 9/1/21
Unfortunately, at least several times each week (Sometimes as many as
a dozen) I get email requests for information on old programs or people
(typically: "My grandmother sang on some program in 1932. Can you tell
me the name of the show and where I can get a copy?"). In each case, I
try to help, and ask the people who write to let me know what they find, and of
additional resources on the net. Thus far, just TWO people have taken the time
and effort to actually write back to share anything with us in this area. If you
have some information, please share it.
Finding information on old
programs:
- If you want to trace an old network radio program, to
identify when and where it ran, and who was on it, the book "Radio
Programs, 1924-1948" by Terrace (McFarland Press, 1999) is highly
recommended.
- Local area programs are harder to track, and often are
best traced from the microfilms of newspapers.
Information for those wanting to
stage Radio Plays:
- Information on sound effects and sound effect production can be
found in the book Radio Sound Effects: Who did it, and How, in the era of
live broadcasting by Robert L. Mott (McFarland, 1993).
- www.soundslikeradio.com
appears to have some good information on plays, scripts, and associated
topics.
Scripts of old programs or plays:
- Radio program scripts are often difficult to find on the
Internet, this is usually due to copyright problems.
Finding sites about specific
programs or people:
Next is a link from here to other sites. Have you got one to
add? (My orientation is largely technical, so following the program links
depends upon others.)
- The War
of the Worlds is available (as of this writing).
- There was a fine list of old programs on Jack
Mann's site. In 1999, this link seems to have gone bad. Sorry ... no
one had let me know.
- There was also something on James Mason
.. but the link also "broke" in 1999.