[78-L] NBC (was: YOU)

[Elizabeth McLeod]

on 10/14/10 12:13 PM Michael Biel wrote:

>From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>> Even if the music had been from earlier, wouldn't a 1930 audition
>> disc have opened with "The National Broadcasting Company presents.."
>> instead of "NBC presents.."?  dl
>
>What an interesting thought.  Did they ever refer to themselves by
>initials that early?  I will have to start listening for this and ask
>the OTR people about this.
>
>Elizabeth, what do you think?  Although the mics did say NBC on the
>side, when did they first start uttering those initials verbally?  
>
>Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com  
>

A standard NBC outcue in 1931 was "this program has come to you from the 
NBC studios in New York/Chicago," but in 1930 they were still saying 
"this program has come to you from the New York/Chicago studios of the 
National Broadcasting Company."

They don't seem to have started saying simply "This Is The National 
Broadcasting Company" until the very end of 1931, and that remained 
standard, with a few exceptions, until 1946, when they began saying "This 
is NBC, The National Broadcasting Company."

As for the recording in question, there was a nighttime Clara, Lu and Em 
half-hour variety-type series in 1936 and this could conceivably be an 
audition for that. The syndicated revival from 1945 would feature a 
different actress playing Lu, since the original died in early 1937, 
bringing the original series to an end.

Elizabeth