The Stories Behind OTR

Some of the history of how radio got to be what it was in "the golden days", as well as the background behind some of the favorite shows of the day. Several of these items jump to another site, so make sure you have bookmarked this page!

Dr. Marvin Bensman's article on Collecting OTR University of Memphis History of Broadcasting A condensed history of OTR and TV broadcasting, from 1920 to the 1960s. The origin of Clear Channel Stations. Once upon a time, motorists could travel across very large regions of the USA while tuned to a single clear channel AM station. OTR is not limited to US programming. See Our International OTR Page for Non-US OTR info. The tribal background of the Lone Ranger's sidekick, Tonto. What does 'Kemo Sabe' really mean? By Fran Striker, Jr., the son of the author of The Lone Ranger. The Broadcast Archive Barry Mishkind's repository of broadcast history. historical materials on both pioneer and current broadcast radio stations. Did you ever wonder how the NBC chimes came to be? Did you know there was once a fourth chime? Read all about it in Bill Harris; A History of the NBC Chimes. Recordings from the machine that made the old NBC three-note chimes are now used on some NBC TV programs. Read about the discovery and return of this machine in Brian Wickham's More on the NBC Chimes article. "Golden Age", "Silver Age", "Stone Age". Just how do all these radio ages relate? Here is a table that should help!