Comments on: National Nielsen, Videodex and Pulse Ratings, April 1950 http://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/08/national-nielsen-videodex-and-pulse-ratings-april-1950/ Keeping Obscure TV From Fading Away Forever Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:31:58 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: RGJ http://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/08/national-nielsen-videodex-and-pulse-ratings-april-1950/comment-page-1/#comment-12265 RGJ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:04:09 +0000 http://www.tvobscurities.com/?p=3839#comment-12265 You can watch the first "Star Spangled Revue" at the online <a href="http://archives.museum.tv/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Museum of Broadcasting Communications Archives</a>, although you'll need to register (which is free). 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).

]]> By: Barry I. Grauman http://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/08/national-nielsen-videodex-and-pulse-ratings-april-1950/comment-page-1/#comment-12264 Barry I. Grauman Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:46:30 +0000 http://www.tvobscurities.com/?p=3839#comment-12264 "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") “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”)

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