"Radio Collectors of America" conversation, and fifteen-minute television programs

It was a great pleasure being interviewed by Mel Simons, on March 28th (by phone), during the monthly meeting, in Quincy, Mass., of the "Radio Collectors of America," the New England Old-Time Radio and nostalgia group (see prior post).  We spoke about the revised edition of my book.

Mel, the group's Vice President, asked terrific questions.  I also had a brief, but enjoyable, conversation with Bob Forrest, the group's President.  Forrest was a longtime Boston radio personality; he retired from radio several years ago, after having been on the air for more than thirty years at stations WEZE-AM and WROL-AM.

My thanks to the Radio Collectors members, for having me as their guest, and for their hospitality.

One of the subjects I spoke about with Mel, during the interview, was the routine presence, in early television, of fifteen-minute programs (often music-oriented).  The fifteen-minute program was a popular early TV format; singers Roberta Quinlan, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Jack Leonard, and many others starred in such shows.  In 1951, my mother sang regularly on singer and actor John Conte's twice-weekly fifteen-minute musical program on NBC, Van Camp's Little Show (also known as John Conte's Little Show).  For several months, in 1949, she sang weeknights (with The Alan Logan Trio) on the fifteen-minute DuMont Network program Teen Time Tunes.  In 1954 and 1955, her network career behind her, she had her own weekly fifteen-minute musical show on Boston station WBZ-TV, The Sue Bennett Show.

In the brief question & answer period which followed the interview, Bob Forrest addressed, further, the subject of fifteen-minute programs. While I had emphasized the musical focus of the fifteen-minute shows, Forrest noted, importantly, that early TV's prominent news programs also employed the fifteen-minute format. CBS's nightly newscasts, anchored by Douglas Edwards, were fifteen minutes long--as were NBC's telecasts, with John Cameron Swayze. (The CBS and NBC fifteen-minute newscasts continued, indeed, until the early 1960s.)

In early television,  hosts, guests, and programmers were able to achieve much within the time span of the fifteen-minute telecast. The fifteen-minute shows I have seen--I am again thinking, here, of the musical programs of the time--did not seem hurried (as one might assume, given the short time frame). To the contrary:  the programs I've watched (preserved via kinescope) were relaxed, easygoing.  The stars of the shows, perhaps, sang a handful of songs, introduced a guest performer, or highlighted permanent cast members (such as a vocal group). The shows I've seen had, about them, a sense of fullness.

Attention spans, in our time, have of course become notably diminished.  One wonders if the fifteen-minute format could, as a result, make a return--in both the news and entertainment spheres. Perhaps one of the networks could cordon off thirty minutes--somewhere, for example, in the overnight hours. The half hour, perhaps, could start off with a fifteen-minute news roundup. This could then, say, be followed (considering the late-night time period) by a low-key fifteen minutes of music--perhaps featuring a singer and a small musical ensemble (or even just a singer and a pianist). I would think the brevity of these kinds of programs might, today, be an appealing addition to a network schedule. I'd enjoy seeing attempts made at such programming.