Daytime Ratings Leaders
Here's how Hooper ranked daytime radio shows by audience size in the April 15 ratings report.
Breakfast in Hollywood- It aired at 11:00 AM on WJZ. Hooper counted it as two shows, one sponsored by Kellogg and in 6th place, the segment sponsored by Ivory Flakes. It was an audience participation show hosted by Tom Brenneman. It also featured celebrity guests. It debuted in 1941 and aired on three different networks during its eight years on the air.A movie based on the show was made in 1946.
Ma Perkins--Aired 1:15 on WABC. Sponsored by Oxydol. The serial was about a bighearted widow in a small town. It premiered in 1933 and spawned a number of soap operas about warmhearted, smalltown matrons.
Big Sister- 12:15 PM on WABC. Sponsored by Rinso. A soap about a woman who sacrificed her own happiness to care for her sister and disabled brother. It premiered in 1936.
Romance of Helen Trent- Aired 12:30 PM on WABC and was sponsored by Bisodel. it was the romantic adventures of a dressmaker who becomes a Hollywood costume designer. It premiered in 1933.
When a Girl Marries: Aired 5:00 PM on WEAF and was sponsored by Maxwell House Coffee. It was a serial about a woman from a society family married to a man raised on the wrong side of the tracks in a small town. It premiered in 1939. Marriages between two people from different social classes was a prime source of plot conflict in the soaps of the day.
Breakfast in Hollywood on WJZ.
Right to Happiness -- Aired 3:45 on WEAF. It was a spin-off from "The Guiding Light," which was in a temporary fade due to a conflict with creator Irna Phillips. It was about a magazine editor's daughter who seeks her right to happiness through four marriages. It premiered in 1939. Ivory Soap was the sponsor.
Our Gal Sunday-- 12:45 PM on WEAF sponsored by Anacin. A serial about an orphan from a small mining town who marries a wealthy British lord. It premiered in 1937.
Portia Faces Life-- 5:15 PM on WEAF sponsored by Post Raisin Bran. A female attorney fights corruption in a small town while facing the challenges of married life. Premiered in 1940.
Life Can Be Beautiful-- 1 PM on WABC sponsored by Ivory Soap. A serial about a wise book seller, who began each episode with an inspirational quote from a famous writer or thinker, and his two wards, destined to fall in love. It debuted in 1938.
Kate Smith Speaks- Aired at 12 noon on WABC, one of several popular women's interest shows. The popular singer, best remembered for "God Bless America," also had an early evening music show. It debuted in 1938. Bran Flakes was the sponsor.
Lorenzo Jones-- Aired 4:30 PM on WEAF sponsored by Bayer Aspirin. A comic soap opera about an inventor and his wife. It launched in 1937.
Pepper Young's Family-- 3:30 PM on WEAF sponsored by Camay Soap. A serial about a small town family. It had premiered under another name in 1932.
Young Dr. Malone-- 1:30 PM on WABC sponsored by Crisco. A serial about a small town doctor and his family. It began in 1939 and was one of several with a medical setting.
Stella Dallas-- 4:15 PM on WEAF sponsored by Milk of Magnesia. A serial based on a popular novel and movie about a woman who sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her daughter. It began as a local show in New York in 1937 and was picked up by NBC in 1938.
Young Widder Brown-- 4:45 on WABC sponsored by Philips Toothpaste. An attractive young widow raises two children while running a teahouse in a small town in West Virginia.
The top Saturday daytime shows, which were among the top daytime shows overall, were:
Stars Over Hollywood on WABC was brought to you by Bowey's Dari-Rich, a powdered milk additive. The show was a dramatic anthology series featuring big name Hollywood stars. it premiered in 1941.
Theater of Today aired on WEAF and was sponsored by Armstrong Quaker Rugs. It combined a weekly drama with a news broadcast. It premiered in 1941. It later moved to TV as Armstrong Circle Theatre
Let's Pretend on WABC was sponsored by Cream of Wheat. It presented adaptations for children of classic stories and fairy tales. The series premiered in 1934.
Other daytime shows that appeared near the top of the Hoopers at some time during the month included:
Billie Burke Show, airing Saturdays on WABC, was a sitcom starring the veteran actress with the high voice and fluttery mannerisms perhaps best remembered today as Glinda the Good from the "Wizard of Oz." In her radio show she played one of her trademark scatterbrained matrons. Burke was also Florenz Ziegfeld's widow. The show was sponsored by Listerine. It debuted in 1943 and ended its run in September 1946.
Grand Central Station also aired Saturdays on WABC . Pillsbury was the sponsor. This anthology show featured a mix of dramas, romances and comedies all of which began in Grand Central Station. It premiered in 1937.
Jack Armstrong aired daily on WJZ at 5:30 PM. Shows for kids, particularly young boys, dominated the 5:00 to 6:00 time period. This series featured the globe-trotting adventures of a high school athlete and had been a favorite for boys since its launch in 1933. Wheaties was the sponsor.
The Adventures of Tom Mix aired daily at 5:45 PM on WOR and was sponsored by Ralston Purina. Another favorite of young males, this series presented the fictional adventures of the former movie cowboy star who had died in 1940. It premiered in 1933.
Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories aired at 11:45 AM on WABC. Aunt Jenny was the fictional spokesperson for sponsor Spry shortening. She shared recipes and served as hostess of this daily show that presented a different serialized story each week. The show premiered in 1937.
In its April 13 issue, Billboard broke down the March 30 Hoopers for urban audiences by male, female and "juvenile" listeners. Among the shows that appeared on the daytime list for males, when relatively few males were listening to network programming were two NBC soaps airing at 5:30 and 5:45 respectively, when the network took into account the fact that some men were home from work. Both shows were sponsored by Anacin:
Just Plain Bill featured a barber whose vocation involved him in the affairs of his small town
Front Page Farrell was a crime reporter on a major metropolitan daily.
Also popular with urban males according to Hooper:
The Breakfast Club at 9:00 AM on WJZ, sponsored by Philco It was a long-running, Chicago-based AM talk and variety show hosted by Don McNeill. It premiered in 1933 (and ran until 1968).
Queen For a Day at 2:30 PM on WOR was sponsored by Alka-Seltzer. Housewives with sob stories competed for prizes. The audience decided which woman was more pathetic. It was a relatively new show that had premiered the previous April.
The Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on WJZ, sponsored by Texaco, were also on the list, perhaps more indicative of which males were at home during the day then the show's overall popularity. However, classical music had a much greater presence on radio both during the day and in primetime, than it does on television today.