First National Hooper Ratings, May 1949

The C. E. Hooper, Inc. got into the television ratings game in early 1948, initially only surveying viewing in the New York City area. The very first local Hooper report for New York City came out in March of 1948 (I don’t know the exact period it covered) and it would be some time before the company expanded into other cities. According to the December 4th, 1949 issue of The Billboard, Chicago was added to Hooper’s “tele survey” on February 1st following the opening of the East-Midwest connection via coaxial cable [1]. Additional cities — Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington among them — came later.

By the time Hooper released its first national network television ratings survey on June 28th, 1949. The Chicago Tribune reported that the number of cities surveyed ranged from five to 24 but The Billboard wrote that “the initial report is based on random phone calls in 31 tele cities” [2, 3]. The Billboard stated that Hooper would explain discrepancies between local ratings in New York City and the national results by pointing out that most cities don’t have the same level of competition as New York (it had seven stations, more than any other city). Hooper would also note that Texaco Star Theater (The Milton Berle Show) was seen in many cities via kinescope and thus many viewers might tune out [4].

Here are the Top 15 programs from this first national Hooper report, from The Billboard. You can find the exact number of cities for each program and its sponsor at the original article [5]:

## Program Network Rating
1. Texaco Star Theater (The Milton Berle Show) NBC 74.4
2. Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts CBS 73.3
3. The Goldbergs CBS 60.6
4. Toast of the Town CBS 54.6
5. Cavalcade of Stars DuMont 43.1
6. The Fred Waring Show CBS 42.1
7. The Bigelow Show NBC 41.6
8. Suspense CBS 41.1
9. Arthur Godfrey & Friends CBS 39.9
10. Admiral Revue DuMont 38.1
11. Fireside Theater NBC 35.1
12. Your Show Time NBC 34.3
13. Original Amateur Hour DuMont 33.6
14. Stop the Music ABC 32.9
15. Colgate Theater NBC 31.5

Works Cited:

1 “Hooper to Add Chi After Coax Linking.” The Billboard. 4 Dec. 1949: 12. (Read online at Google Books).
2 Wolters, Larry. “Berle Tops TV Hooper Ratings for Networks.” Chicago Daily Tribune. 7 Jul. 1949: B5.
3 “Hooper Issues First Network Tele Ratings.” The Billboard. 2 Jul. 1949: 10. (Read online at Google Books).
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.


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2 Replies to “First National Hooper Ratings, May 1949”

  1. All times are Eastern: some cities did present “delayed brodacasts” of these shows via kinescope film, on different days and times, due to certain stations that carried more than one network’s programming (mostly in those areas that had only ONE station in their community).

    1) “THE TEXACO STAR THEATER STARRING MILTON BERLE” [Tuesdays, 8-9pm]
    2) “ARTHUR GODFREY’S TALENT SCOUTS” [Mondays, 8:30-9pm]
    3) “THE GOLDBERGS” [Mondays, 9:30-10pm]
    4) “TOAST OF THE TOWN” (Ed Sullivan) [Sundays, 8-9pm]
    5) “CAVALCADE OF STARS” (starring Jack Carter) [Saturdays, 9-10pm]
    6) “THE FRED WARING SHOW” [Sundays, 9-10pm]
    7) “THE BIGELOW SHOW” (Paul Winchell and Joseph Dunninger) [Thursdays, 9:30-10pm]
    8) “SUSPENSE” [Tuesdays, 9:30-10pm]
    9) “ARTHUR GODFREY AND HIS FRIENDS” [Wednesdays, 8-9pm]
    10) “THE ADMIRAL BROADWAY REVUE” (starring Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca {the forerunner of “YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS”}, simulcast on DuMont AND NBC) [Fridays, 8-9pm]
    11) “FIRESIDE THEATER” (originally a live anthology, it switched to film in the fall of ’49) [Tuesdays, 9-9:30pm]
    12) “YOUR SHOW TIME” (the first filmed anthology aired on a national network) [Fridays, 9-9:30pm]
    13) “THE ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR” (Ted Mack, emcee) [Sundays, 7-8pm]
    14) “STOP THE MUSIC” (Bert Parks, emcee) [Thursdays, 8-9pm]
    15) “COLGATE THEATER” [Sundays, 8:30-9pm]

  2. One error in the above list: “CAVALCADE OF STARS” aired on DuMont, not “NBC”. That meant they had THREE shows in Hooper’s “Top 15”.

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