Television
Firestone sponsored a related television series, The Voice of Firestone Televues, one of the first television series with programming other than news or sports coverage, and according to researchers of television history, may have been the first series in U.S. television history broadcast beyond New York on a network on a regularly scheduled basis. It began on November 29, 1943 on New York's WNBT-TV, when there were very few television sets. First seen on the NBC television network in April 1944, it continued until January 1947 with special interest topics in a documentary film format. The Voice of Firestone radio-TV programs were known not only for classical music, but for their support of organizations such as 4-H and the United Nations.
When The Voice of Firestone arrived on television in the fall of 1949, NBC simulcast the show on radio and TV, one of the first programs to use that technology. The show was considered to be very prestigious (due to the involvement of many classical musicians and Broadway musical stars), but the ratings were always small. In an era when successful programs were capable of garnering as many as half the viewers available in a given time slot, The Voice of Firestone only received three million viewers, a comparatively small number for what was rapidly becoming the nation's most influential mass medium. In 1954, NBC asked Firestone's permission to move the program to a different night or time period. Firestone refused, and the television series was picked up by ABC. The radio series stayed with NBC and ended in 1956.
It continued to air at 8:30 on Mondays until 1959, when ABC insisted on moving the program to a later time period. Firestone refused, and the show was canceled entirely. Although the ratings were low at the time of its cancellation, the fan outcry was very loud, with some writing their congressmen. ABC tried to appease the fans with Music for a Summer Night, a copy of the show minus Firestone, but the results were not favorable. The 30th anniversary show was telecast November 24, 1958.
In 1962, The Voice of Firestone returned, airing at 10pm on Sunday nights. The same relatively small number of viewers tuned in, and the show was canceled permanently in May 1963.
Read more about this topic: The Voice Of Firestone
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