The Radio City Matinee Radio Program

Background

The mid-1930s were a period of great expansion for both RCA-Victor and the National Broadcasting Corporation. The RCA-Victor Company was greatly expanding both its Record Division offerings and its Radio and Phonograph "Magic" series of consumer products. NBC for its part premiered its The Magic Key of RCA in 1935. NBC's The Magic Key was part of a concerted, three year Radio Corporation of America (RCA) campaign promoting its line of 'smart' electronics and technologies of the era. RCA characterized the various technological advances in its new recorders and players as 'Magic' components, such as:

• Magic Eye [for precision receiver tuning]
• Magic Brain [for precise noise and static filtering]
• Magic Voice [for clearer sound reproduction]
• Metal Tubes [for longer lasting performance and noise shielding]
• Magic Tone Cell with its Jewel-Lite Scanner [balanced tone head and diamond-tipped styli for less damage to record grooves]
• Flexible Tone Bridge [for more precise tracking in record grooves]

RCA's 'Magic' promotions continued to roll out new 'Magic' technologies between 1935 and 1939. Between 1937 and 1939 RCA began including a monthly four to eight page newletter insert in LIFE Magazine titled LISTEN. The multi-page monthly inserts comprised at least seventeen issues during the multi-year campaign.

RCA had recently completed the construction of its remarkable Radio City Complex at Rockefeller Center in 1932. Radio City Music Hall was opened to the public on December 27, 1932 with an extraordinary stage show featuring Ray Bolger and Martha Graham. The opening was meant to be a return to "high-class variety entertainment". 'Variety' was apparently not the best use of the stunning new venue. The premiere program was very long and individual variety acts were lost in the cavernous hall. Acting quickly, on January 11, 1933, the Radio City Music Hall converted to the then familiar format of a feature film with a spectacular stage show which 'Roxy' Rothafel had perfected at the Roxy Theatre. The first film was shown on the giant screen was Frank Capra's The Bitter Tea of General Yen starring Barbara Stanwyck. This was the formula they needed, and Radio City's Music Hall soon became the premiere showcase for films from the RKO-Radio Studio.

If you get the impression that RCA and NBC had much to tout throughout the early to mid-1930s, you're getting past the tip of the iceberg. The period between 1932 and 1939 was both RCA and NBC's single most explosive period of network growth and technological success. 1936 especially, was NBC's Tenth Anniversary in Broadcasting.

Throughout the period 1932-1936, during which RCA and NBC completed and opened their Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center, NBC rolled out numerous flagship programs promoting the new jewel in its crown:

• 1932 Roxy's Radio City Program
• 1933 Radio City Symphony Concert
• 1933 Radio City Variety Show
• 1933 Radio City Organ Music
• 1933 Radio City Story Book
• 1933 Radio City Revue
• 1933 Roxy's Radio City Players
• 1934 Radio City Music Hall Concert
• 1934 Radio City Choir
• 1934 Radio City Party
• 1934 Radio City Music Hall
• 1934 Radio City Revue
• 1935 The Magic Key of RCA
• 1935 Radio City Matinee

It's worth noting that although Rockefeller Center was completed in 1932, NBC didn't begin actually broadcasting from Radio City until November 11th 1933.

NBC-Blue brings Radio City Matinee to the air

Series Derivatives:

Notes on Provenances:

The most helpful provenances were the log of the radioGOLDINdex and newspaper listings.

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