The Grantland Rice Story - Single Episodes

Old Time Radio Researchers Group

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THE GRANTLAND RICE STORY

RCA Thesaurus obtained permission to serialize Rice's popular "The Tumult and The Shouting" via their transcription subscription service. Titled The Grantland Rice Story, the 15-minute series comprised fifty-two sequential installments. First airing regionally as early as August 1955, the entire run soon appeared across the nation on various stations at varying times. Some aired it every weekday, some three days a week, some weekly. The program's 15-minute installments closely followed the text of Rice's book. Jimmy Powers, himself a noted sportswriter and announcer of 30 years, narrated, read and commented on Grantland Rice's story in the first person, as Rice had intended. Not quite the equivalent of today's audio-books, the material from "The Tumult and The Shouting" was augmented by contemporary asides and updates from Jimmy Powers. The series literally begins at chapter one of Rice's book and moves through the entire autobiography. Powers intersperses the selections from the book with other timely updates and observations about Rice not contained in the book. The additional material helps expand the legend of Rice himself, places his work in context with the era, and provides insights not previously available when the book was written some 11 years earlier. The entire syndicated series apparently aired in several overlapping markets. Tracking the broadcasts was particularly difficult given the 15 minute format. As best as we can establish, there was at least one contiguous run of the entire 52-installment series airing between September 1955 and September 1956. The series also aired in many markets at the 15-minute mark, often 'buried' behind an on-the-hour broadcast of another program. The series provides the most comprehensive insight into the career and experiences of one of the most important sportswriters in American history, during an era when the pen and typewriter was still as important to news media as the paper it was printed upon. The information for this brief came courtesy of Digitial Deli Too, where you can find many more series synopsis. From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. See "Note" Section below for more information on the OTRR.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

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