Monday, November 15, 2004
Weekend America is great
As one of the first of the so-called Baby Boomers of the mid 1940s, I had the distinct advantage of being exposed to the medium of radio and the medium of television during my formative years. Both of these media provided me with entertainment and information. However, it was radio that proved to be the more stimulating of the two, especially in terms of imagination and news.
Noteworthy among all radio shows was the magnificent weekend presentation on the NBC radio network, Monitor Radio, a program that debuted in the middle of June, 1955. These broadcasts became a staple of my weekends from my early teens (1959) and continued through my high school, college, and graduate school days and then into the beginning of my professional career. These shows were an eclectic mix of news, sports, weather, music, interviews, and discussions. The hosts were well-known broadcasters of the day, and their voices provided reassurance and consistency during the Cold War era and through the Vietnam "conflict."
I remember well the end of Monitor's near-twenty-year run in January of 1975. With nostalgia and sadness, I can still hear the final show's last hosts, Big Wilson and John Bartholomew Tucker, saying good-bye and hearing, for what I thought would be the last time, the Monitor beacon. (I have since been able to download a digital version of those sounds.) The end of an era had arrived, or at least I thought it had.
Several weeks ago, I heard a promotion for Weekend America on my favorite public radio station, WMUB. This program's description sounded quite familiar and evoked an immediate reaction--I must listen; Monitor Radio has returned! I did listen that first weekend it was broadcast (and beamed when I heard WMUB's call letters and my city, Oxford, OH, mentioned), and I have listened each weekend since. Those of today's generation who are use to visual stimulation and two-minute sound bytes will not, I fear, appreciate the information, intelligence, wit and entertainment found in this two-hour broadcast. I do, and I hope others will learn to value it as well. How refreshing! How truly delightful! How wonderfully stimulating!
Given the frenetic lifestyles of most of today's society, I realize that 1-5 p.m. is not considered by most to be "prime time." However, I urge the management of WMUB to continue to carry--and publicize--Weekend America, a gem of broadcasting, one that truly emulates (and surpasses) its predecessor, Monitor Radio.
I may no longer hear the Monitor beacon on the radio, but I certainly know and value quality radio. Barbara Bogaev and Bill Radke, along with the production and technical staff of Weekend America, have created such a program. They deserve the highest accolades. And they will receive them from me.
(I am sending a copy of this note to Weekend America.)
--Jerry in Oxford
Noteworthy among all radio shows was the magnificent weekend presentation on the NBC radio network, Monitor Radio, a program that debuted in the middle of June, 1955. These broadcasts became a staple of my weekends from my early teens (1959) and continued through my high school, college, and graduate school days and then into the beginning of my professional career. These shows were an eclectic mix of news, sports, weather, music, interviews, and discussions. The hosts were well-known broadcasters of the day, and their voices provided reassurance and consistency during the Cold War era and through the Vietnam "conflict."
I remember well the end of Monitor's near-twenty-year run in January of 1975. With nostalgia and sadness, I can still hear the final show's last hosts, Big Wilson and John Bartholomew Tucker, saying good-bye and hearing, for what I thought would be the last time, the Monitor beacon. (I have since been able to download a digital version of those sounds.) The end of an era had arrived, or at least I thought it had.
Several weeks ago, I heard a promotion for Weekend America on my favorite public radio station, WMUB. This program's description sounded quite familiar and evoked an immediate reaction--I must listen; Monitor Radio has returned! I did listen that first weekend it was broadcast (and beamed when I heard WMUB's call letters and my city, Oxford, OH, mentioned), and I have listened each weekend since. Those of today's generation who are use to visual stimulation and two-minute sound bytes will not, I fear, appreciate the information, intelligence, wit and entertainment found in this two-hour broadcast. I do, and I hope others will learn to value it as well. How refreshing! How truly delightful! How wonderfully stimulating!
Given the frenetic lifestyles of most of today's society, I realize that 1-5 p.m. is not considered by most to be "prime time." However, I urge the management of WMUB to continue to carry--and publicize--Weekend America, a gem of broadcasting, one that truly emulates (and surpasses) its predecessor, Monitor Radio.
I may no longer hear the Monitor beacon on the radio, but I certainly know and value quality radio. Barbara Bogaev and Bill Radke, along with the production and technical staff of Weekend America, have created such a program. They deserve the highest accolades. And they will receive them from me.
(I am sending a copy of this note to Weekend America.)
--Jerry in Oxford
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