[78-L] Another horrendously distorted representation of recording history.

[Elizabeth McLeod]

on 3/22/11 4:22 PM David Lennick wrote:

>(The Columbia Phonograph Company owned the radio network for about five 
>minutes, selling it off before it ever went on the air, leaving the Columbia 
>name behind as a souvenir. Of course according to the above, CBS owned 50% 
>of 
>Victor which was why it had to sell Columbia. Aaaaaagh........)

Less than that, even. Columbia's investment in the radio network was 
nothing more han an investment in a subsidary company intended to sell 
time on the network, not in the actual network itself. The Columbia 
Phonograph Broadcasting Company (not System) was essentially a time 
broker operation which bought time from United Independent Broadcasters 
and then resold it to other sponsors. Columbia Phonograph never owned a 
single share of U I B, which was controlled by Arthur Judson, George 
Coats, and Major J. Andrew White.  After Columbia Phonograph withdrew its 
investment in November 1928, they kept only the radio time they'd already 
bought.

"Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting Company/System" was never used as the 
on-air name of the network -- but "Columbia Broadcasting System" sounded 
snappier than "United Independent Broadcasters," and that was the on-air 
name from the start, even though the corporate name was still officially 
U. I. B. It wasn't until William Paley took over in late 1928 that the 
corporate structure was cleaned up.

Columbia Phonograph did a lousy job of selling time, too. They had the 
Columbia Phonograph Hour, The Kolster Hour, and the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer 
Hour, and that was about it.

Elizabeth