Liberty Broadcasting System
Encyclopedia
The Liberty Broadcasting System was a U.S. radio network
of the late 1940s and early 1950s founded by Gordon McLendon
, which mainly broadcast live recreations of Major League Baseball
games, by following the action via Western Union ticker reports. The sound effects were very realistic, and many listeners were not aware the broadcasters weren't seeing the action live. At that time some major league teams and almost all minor league baseball clubs used recreations of their road games as an economy measure.
and the southwest
but did have 9 affiliates in Oregon
, an outlet in Los Angeles
, Seattle, and as of Sept. 29, 1950, WHAV in Haverhill, Massachusetts. At one time, it had about 500 radio stations on the line, being second in size only to the Mutual Broadcasting System
.
ticker provided the big money maker. The recreations used himself and future sportscasting stars such as Lindsey Nelson
and Jerry Doggett
.
Interestingly, it was a live, not recreated, game that provided McLendon and Liberty with their greatest career moment. The Scotchman himself was behind the Liberty mic at the Polo Grounds
in New York for the October 3, 1951 finale of the three-game National League
play-off series between the New York Giants
and Brooklyn Dodgers
).
Radio was still the more popular nationwide medium then. With Russ Hodges
' famous radio call limited to the Giants' network, McLendon's call is how most Americans heard the NL clincher, including Giant Bobby Thomson
's ninth-inning three-run homer into the left-field stands to win it for New York. Excerpts of the McLendon broadcast were highlighted in the 2001 HBO documentary Shot Heard 'Round the World.
1,000.00 per year for the rights to broadcast the games, but in 1951, the leagues raised the price to $250,000.00 per year, and prohibited broadcasts in any city which had a minor league
franchise and in the northeastern
and midwestern United States
.
football game broadcasts within a 75 mile range of league cities were the one two blow which ended the network. Since the baseball games were a major draw for both listeners and affiliates, the blackout
was a disaster for the fledgling company, which had only posted modest profits during its first few years of operation. More than 100 stations left the network, and, faced with mounting debts, on May 16, 1952, the network ceased broadcasting.
-based broadcaster, the Mutual Broadcasting System (not related to the former network
), began using the Mutual and Liberty names on its two stations, KTRW
AM 970 Spokane; and KTAC FM 93.9 Ephrata, Washington
. These stations have no connections with the original network, but presents adult standards, nostalgia, and some Christian programming, using these names as part of the nostalgia-style branding.
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
of the late 1940s and early 1950s founded by Gordon McLendon
Gordon McLendon
Gordon Barton McLendon was a radio pioneer and pirate radio broadcaster. He has been coined the Maverick of Radio. McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, with great commercial success, the Top 40 radio format during the 1950s and 1960s which was first invented by Todd Storz and for developing...
, which mainly broadcast live recreations of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
games, by following the action via Western Union ticker reports. The sound effects were very realistic, and many listeners were not aware the broadcasters weren't seeing the action live. At that time some major league teams and almost all minor league baseball clubs used recreations of their road games as an economy measure.
Availability
Founded in 1948, the network was mainly in TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and the southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
but did have 9 affiliates in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, an outlet in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Seattle, and as of Sept. 29, 1950, WHAV in Haverhill, Massachusetts. At one time, it had about 500 radio stations on the line, being second in size only to the Mutual Broadcasting System
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
.
Major League Baseball
It carried various types of programs (for instance, late night band remotes were another feature carried by Liberty) but McLendon, known as the "Old Scotchman", and his daily ball game recreations off the Western UnionWestern Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
ticker provided the big money maker. The recreations used himself and future sportscasting stars such as Lindsey Nelson
Lindsey Nelson
Lindsey Nelson was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of college football and New York Mets baseball.-Early life and career:...
and Jerry Doggett
Jerry Doggett
Jerry Doggett was an American sportscaster who called games for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1987.-Early days:...
.
Interestingly, it was a live, not recreated, game that provided McLendon and Liberty with their greatest career moment. The Scotchman himself was behind the Liberty mic at the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
in New York for the October 3, 1951 finale of the three-game National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
play-off series between the New York Giants
1951 New York Giants (MLB) season
The New York Giants season saw the Giants finish the regular season in a tie for first place in the National League with a record of 96 wins and 58 losses. This prompted a three-game playoff against the Brooklyn Dodgers, which the Giants won in three games, clinched by Bobby Thomson's walk-off...
and Brooklyn Dodgers
1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season
The Brooklyn Dodgers led the National League for much of the season, holding a 13 game lead as late as August. However, a late season swoon and a hot streak by the New York Giants led to a classic three-game playoff series...
).
Radio was still the more popular nationwide medium then. With Russ Hodges
Russ Hodges
Russell Patrick Hodges was an American broadcaster who did play-by-play for several baseball teams, most notably the New York and San Francisco Giants.-Early career:...
' famous radio call limited to the Giants' network, McLendon's call is how most Americans heard the NL clincher, including Giant Bobby Thomson
Bobby Thomson
Robert Brown "Bobby" Thomson was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Staten Island Scot", he was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants , Milwaukee Braves , Chicago Cubs , Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles .His season-ending three-run...
's ninth-inning three-run homer into the left-field stands to win it for New York. Excerpts of the McLendon broadcast were highlighted in the 2001 HBO documentary Shot Heard 'Round the World.
Rights fees
According to Time magazine articles of the era, McLendon only paid Major League Baseball $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,000.00 per year for the rights to broadcast the games, but in 1951, the leagues raised the price to $250,000.00 per year, and prohibited broadcasts in any city which had a minor league
Minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...
franchise and in the northeastern
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
and midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
.
Liberty baseball commentators
- Bud Blattner (19501950 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Philadelphia Phillies *All-Star Game, July 11 at Comiskey Park: National League, 4-3 -Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: Carta Vieja *College World Series: Texas...
-19511951 in baseball-Headline Event of the Year:Baseball's Shot Heard 'Round the World gives the New York Giants the National League Pennant in the third game of a best-of-three-games tiebreaker series over the Brooklyn Dodgers.-Major League Baseball:...
) - Jerry DoggettJerry DoggettJerry Doggett was an American sportscaster who called games for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1987.-Early days:...
(19501950 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Philadelphia Phillies *All-Star Game, July 11 at Comiskey Park: National League, 4-3 -Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: Carta Vieja *College World Series: Texas...
-19511951 in baseball-Headline Event of the Year:Baseball's Shot Heard 'Round the World gives the New York Giants the National League Pennant in the third game of a best-of-three-games tiebreaker series over the Brooklyn Dodgers.-Major League Baseball:...
) - Gordon McLendonGordon McLendonGordon Barton McLendon was a radio pioneer and pirate radio broadcaster. He has been coined the Maverick of Radio. McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, with great commercial success, the Top 40 radio format during the 1950s and 1960s which was first invented by Todd Storz and for developing...
(19491949 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers *All-Star Game, July 12 at Ebbets Field: American League, 11-7-Caribbean leagues:*Cuba - Almendares Scorpions*Panama - Spur Cola*Puerto Rico - Mayaguez Indians...
-19521952 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers *All-Star Game, July 8 at Shibe Park: National League, 3-2 -Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: La Habana *College World Series: Holy Cross...
) - Lindsey NelsonLindsey NelsonLindsey Nelson was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of college football and New York Mets baseball.-Early life and career:...
(19501950 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Philadelphia Phillies *All-Star Game, July 11 at Comiskey Park: National League, 4-3 -Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: Carta Vieja *College World Series: Texas...
-19511951 in baseball-Headline Event of the Year:Baseball's Shot Heard 'Round the World gives the New York Giants the National League Pennant in the third game of a best-of-three-games tiebreaker series over the Brooklyn Dodgers.-Major League Baseball:...
) - Wes Wise
Demise
Sports were the life blood of the Liberty Broadcasting System. Restrictions on Major League Baseball broadcasts in minor league franchise areas as well as bans on NFLNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
football game broadcasts within a 75 mile range of league cities were the one two blow which ended the network. Since the baseball games were a major draw for both listeners and affiliates, the blackout
Blackout (broadcasting)
Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...
was a disaster for the fledgling company, which had only posted modest profits during its first few years of operation. More than 100 stations left the network, and, faced with mounting debts, on May 16, 1952, the network ceased broadcasting.
Liberty Broadcasting System today
In the mid-2000s, a Spokane, WashingtonSpokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
-based broadcaster, the Mutual Broadcasting System (not related to the former network
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
), began using the Mutual and Liberty names on its two stations, KTRW
KTRW
KTRW is a locally-owned adult standards radio station based in Spokane, Washington, USA. It operates at 630 kHz with an ERP of 530 watts and 53 watts ....
AM 970 Spokane; and KTAC FM 93.9 Ephrata, Washington
Ephrata, Washington
Ephrata is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,808 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Grant County.-History:...
. These stations have no connections with the original network, but presents adult standards, nostalgia, and some Christian programming, using these names as part of the nostalgia-style branding.