Radio Broadcasting and Sport Reporting

During the Depression sportswriters had to begin to compete for fans’ attention with a new medium: radio. In 1920, a few thousand people owned radio receiving sets; by 1930, about 24 million did, and 44 million by 1940. Sportswriters were joined by sportscasters, as fans eagerly tuned in to live broadcasting of boxing, baseball, and college and some professional football. These radio sportscasters were usually hired not for their knowledge of sport but for the quality of their voices; Graham McNamee was a professional baritone when he auditioned on a whim for the new St. Paul, Minnesota, radio station in 1923. That same year, he broadcast the New York Yankees vs. New York Giants World Series.

Like Ted Husing, who began announcing for CBS in 1927, or Bill Stern who broadcast NBC’s prominent sporting events between 1939 and 1952, McNamee brought his listeners excitement. Criticized later for their “gee whiz” style, these early radio announcers helped millions visualize and enjoy sporting events they could never hope to attend. In the early days, all radio announcers, whether working for the emerging networks or for struggling local stations, had to possess glib tongues and vivid imaginations. Few teams were conscious of anyone but fans at the stadium, and play began when the teams were ready; radio sponsors, however, expected games to begin on time.

Don Dunphy remembered sitting in a press box as a reporter for the New York American and hearing someone start to announce a completely imaginary hockey game because the players were still warming up when the broadcast had to begin. Dunphy soon moved into radio himself; in 1935, he helped Earl Harper with a ticker broadcast, in which a Western Union telegrapher in the studio would give the studio announcers a distant game in Morse code. The studio supplied sound effects, including the national anthem, while the announcers broadcast a game they were not watching.Red Barber, the “Voice of Brooklyn,” and Ronald Reagan, for the Cubs, both flourished in this nerve-racking situation.

Dunphy brought in guests to his regular evening WINS (New York) sports show, a novelty; he learned racetrack jargon to broadcast instant results sponsored by a new horse-racing sheet, the Daily Pay Off. He became “The Voice of Boxing,” Gillette’s announcer of Madison Square Garden bouts, only because of a network battle about how music broadcasting should be paid for. Sports organizations needed media publicity; the media regarded sports as only one of their concerns.