ABC Network - Seattle 1929-Linden's

KYA studio, 1929

Click Comparison of ABC and NBC program schedules - 1929
Note the dramatic difference in the number of hours ABC was programming vs NBC

Because Linden aspired to his station and his network’s greatness, he set KJR and

KYA up with huge musical and dramatic staffs and hired high respected

professionals to lead them. So, compared to the typical structure of radio stations

at the time, with some network programming and some in-studio musicians

performing, Linden’s stations had musicians playing virtually full days of

programming on the ABC. It was a sound artistic strategy, and ABC was often

saluted in the west as having the best programming on the radio networks.

However, it was an ultimately

reckless financial strategy.

NBC and CBS operated in a

“traditional” network manner. Their business was selling airtime of their affiliated

stations to sponsors. The network compensated the stations for that airtime in

varying ways. In NBC’s case the network initially charged its affiliates for

non-sponsored (known as sustaining) programs which it provided to stations to help

fill their airtime and then paid them, at a reduced rate, for station airtime they

used for commercially sponsored programs. CBS had a somewhat different

approach in which it gave stations the use of sustaining programs in exchange for

no-fee use of a specified number of hours of station airtime while paying them for

additional hours used.

Both NBC and CBS, however, were essentially in the business of selling airtime

and, other than for sustaining programming offered to affiliates, didn’t produce

the large, expensive programs that were sponsored. The client (sponsor) actually

paid the costs of producing those programs.

Moreover, in 1929 when ABC was in the ascendency, neither NBC nor CBS

produced full days of network content. On some days, such as Sundays, they may

have only offered one or two programs during the entire day which, since Sunday

programs were not likely sponsored, both reduced their sustaining program

production costs as well as their line charges for network interconnection (which

were charged by the hour).

That wasn’t

Linden’s vision.

Because he had

hired huge staffs

of musicians in

both Seattle and

San Francisco and

had them working

full days, the ABC offered MANY more hours of daily programming than either NBC

or CBS (or even for their two combined schedules). Because network sponsors had

gravitated to the evening hours, neither NBC nor CBS had very much in the way

of sponsored daytime programming. So ABC’s decision to program virtually full

broadcast days from 7 am through to midnight meant that ABC was offering

programming during daytime hours for which no sponsor could realistically be

found.

In a 1928 speech to the American

Association of Advertising Agencies,

the president of one of the nation’s

leading advertising agencies predicted

that would change in 1929. He

believed sponsors would buy out the

networks’ evening programming hours

causing many to newly seek daytime

schedules. It seems likely that Linden

shared that expectation since he quoted it in ABC’s June, 1929 stock offering

notice. No one counted on the October 1929 Stock Market Crash, of course.

So, essentially Liden’s business plan was to:

• Program essentially full broadcast days

• Pay for staff musicians to fill those many hours

• Pay for the line charges to run full broadcast days

on the ABC

• Use the grander nature of the ABC to attract

affiliates and sponsors in competition with the

somewhat lesser efforts of NBC and CBS

However, it was impossible to sustain those

unusually high costs (compared to NBC and CBS)

from the revenues that could be generated for

sponsorship of ABC’s evening programming (which

in fact turned out to never be particularly heavily sponsored).

ABC’s position was somewhat helped because CBS, which had no significant

western U.S. coverage of its own, contracted to have the ABC carry some CBS

evening programming when the CBS sponsor chose to pay additional airtime costs

for the added western coverage. So income from CBS’s use of the ABC would

have somewhat helped but, at most, the CBS sponsors willing to pay the added

costs for ABC carriage used only 60 to 90 minutes of ABC’s evening time.

The result, of course, was that the ABC couldn’t begin to generate sufficient

revenue from the sale of airtime to cover its higher-than-typical network

expenses. Other funding would be needed.

Because Linden aspired to his station and

his network’s greatness, he set KJR and

KYA up with huge musical and dramatic

staffs and hired high respected

professionals to lead them. So, compared

to the typical structure of radio stations

at the time, with some network

programming and some in-studio musicians

performing, Linden’s stations had

musicians playing virtually full days of

programming on the ABC. It was a sound

artistic strategy, and ABC was often

saluted in the west as having the best

programming

on the radio

networks.

However, it

was an

ultimately

reckless

financial strategy.

NBC and CBS operated in a “traditional”

network manner. Their business was

selling airtime of their affiliated stations

to sponsors. The network compensated

the stations for that airtime in varying

ways. In NBC’s case the network initially

charged its affiliates for non-sponsored

(known as sustaining) programs which it

provided to stations to help fill their

airtime and then paid them, at a reduced

rate, for station airtime they used for

commercially sponsored programs. CBS

had a somewhat different approach in

which it gave stations the use of

sustaining programs in exchange for

no-fee use of a specified number of hours

of station airtime while paying them for

additional hours used.

Both NBC and CBS, however, were

essentially in the business of selling

airtime and, other than for sustaining

programming offered to affiliates, didn’t

produce the

large,

expensive

programs that

were

sponsored. The client (sponsor) actually

paid the costs of producing those

programs.

Moreover, in

1929 when ABC

was in the

ascendency,

neither NBC nor

CBS produced

full days of network content. On some

days, such as Sundays, they may have only

offered one or two programs during the

entire day which, since Sunday programs

were not likely