A May 31st, 1950 article in The Chicago Daily Tribune offers a wonderful opportunity to compare three television rating services on a national level. As always, the article doesn’t indicate the period these figures cover but the inclusion of a Bob Hope special (his very first, actually) titled “Star-Spangled Revue” means they date back at least to Sunday, April 9th. The three charts, from Nielsen, Videodex and The Pulse, Inc. are introduced as “the latest comparative ratings for the top 10 TV shows, according to three national polling organizations.” Milton Berle topped all three.
Nielsen Top 10
## | Program | Rating |
---|---|---|
1. | Texaco Star Theater (The Milton Berle Show) | 77.7 |
2. | Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts | 70.6 |
3. | Star Spangled Revue (Bob Hope Special) | 57.6 |
4. | Arthur Godfrey and Friends | 57.4 |
5. | Toast of the Town | 55.1 |
6. | Stop the Music (first half) | 51.6 |
7. | Stop the Music (second half) | 48.6 |
8. | Cavalcade of Sports | 45.1 |
9. | Lone Ranger | 44.8 |
10. | Television Playhouse | 44.5 |
Videodex Top 10
## | Program | Rating |
---|---|---|
1. | Texaco Star Theatre (The Milton Berle Show) | 65.3 |
2. | Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts | 53.5 |
3. | Arthur Godfrey and Friends | 47.8 |
4. | Toast of the Town | 44.6 |
5. | Stop the Music | 39.5 |
6. | Fireside Theater | 38.9 |
7. | Television Theater | 38.8 |
9. | TV Playhouse | 36.5 |
10. | Martin Kane | 36.0 |
Lights Out | 36.0 |
The Pulse, Inc. Top 10
## | Program | Rating |
---|---|---|
1. | Texaco Star Theater (The Milton Berle Show) | 55.2 |
2. | Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts | 42.6 |
3. | Arthur Godfrey and Friends | 40.8 |
4. | Toast of the Ton | 40.2 |
5. | Stop the Music | 34.5 |
6. | The Goldbergs | 33.0 |
7. | Television Theater | 31.8 |
8. | Saturday Night Revue | 31.6 |
9. | Fireside Theater | 29.3 |
10. | Studio One | 28.2 |
I’m not sure why Nielsen split Face the Music in half, nor can I say exactly how many cities or television households were counted by the three companies.
Sources:
“Bob Hope Grabs Top Rung in 20 TV Appearance.” Chicago Daily Tribune. 31 May 1950: 16.
“STAR SPANGLED REVUE” was Bob Hope’s first national TV special, telecast on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1950 from 5:30-7pm(et) over NBC [for General Motors’ Frigidaire division; a kinescope of the show is worth checking out]- and viewers definitely wanted to see what “ol’ ski nose” (and his guests, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Dinah Shore) would do on the small screen…it was successful enough for Hope to headline a follow-up special (this time, featuring Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee) a month later, on May 27th; then, he KNEW television was going to be his future, yet continued his weekly radio show until April 1955.
The rest of the “Top Ten” shows are variations of what I’ve said before- CBS and NBC (and to a lesser extent, ABC) were already “carving out” blocks of time on various evenings, capitalizing on their top-rated shows on those nights-
CBS, Sundays
“TOAST OF THE TOWN” [Ed Sullivan] 8-9pm(et)
NBC, Sundays
“PHILCO TELEVISION PLAYHOUSE” 9-10pm
CBS, Mondays
“ARTHUR GODFREY’S TALENT SCOUTS” 8:30-9pm
“THE GOLDBERGS” 9:30-10pm
“WESTINGHOUSE STUDIO ONE” 10-11pm
NBC, Mondays
“LIGHTS OUT” 9-9:30pm
NBC, Tuesdays
“TEXACO STAR THEATER” [Milton Berle] 8-9pm
“FIRESIDE THEATER’ 9-9:30pm
CBS, Wednesdays
“ARTHUR GODFREY AND HIS FRIENDS” 8-9pm
NBC, Wednesdays
“KRAFT TELEVISION THEATER” 9-10pm
ABC, Thursdays
“THE LONE RANGER” 7:30-8pm
“STOP THE MUSIC” 8-9pm
NBC, Thursdays
“MARTIN KANE, PRIVATE EYE” 9:30-10pm
NBC, Fridays
“GILLETTE CAVALCADE OF SPORTS” 10-11pm
{“The Friday Night Fights”}
NBC, Saturdays
“SATURDAY NIGHT REVUE” 8-9pm
(just before “YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS”)
You can watch the first “Star Spangled Revue” at the online Museum of Broadcasting Communications Archives, although you’ll need to register (which is free).