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The CBS Is There Radio Programs

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The CBS News Bureau of 1941 had already compiled an extraordinary organization.

CBS Is There Chronology

1184 B.C. Fall of Troy
0480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae
0331 B.C. Alexander; Peace Offer
0331 B.C. Alexander; Battle For Asia
0331 B.C. Alexander; Mutiny In India
0399 B.C. Death of Socrates
0063 B.C. Conspiracy of Catiline
0049 B.C. Caesar Crosses Rubicon
0044 B.C. Julius Caesar Killed
0079 A.D. Last Day of Pompeii
0800 A.D. Charlemagne Crowned
1066 Battle Of Hastings
1215 Signing of Magna Carta
1431 Joan Of Arc at the Stake
1492 Columbus Finds America
1498 Fall Of Savonarola
1520 Death Of Montezuma
1574 Siege Of Leyden
1587 Mary, Queen Of Scots
1588 Defeat of Spanish Armada
1620 The Mayflower Sails
1637 Trial Ann Hutchinson
1649 Charles I, Sentenced
1664 New Amsterdam Surrender
1670 Trial Of William Penn
1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials
1701 Captain Kidd Hanged
1735 John Peter Zenger Tried
1757 Battle Of Plassey
1765 Stamp Act Rebelion
1773 Boston Tea Party
1775 Lexington and Concord
1776 Philadelphia, July 4, 1776
1781 Continental Army Mutiny
1788 Constitution Ratified
1789 Before the Bastille
1793 Trial of Marie Antoinette
1801 Thomas Jefferson Elected
1802 Toussaint L'ouverture
1803 Robert Emmett Hanged
1804 The Burr - Hamilton Duel
1805 Samuel Chase Impeached
1807 Trial of Aaron Burr
1815 Napoleon Returns
1815 Napoleon's Exile
1820 Col. Johnson Eats Love Apple
1830 Tom Thumb Trial Run
1836 Defense of the Alamo
1853 Women's Rights Conv.
1854 Charge of Light Brigade
1861 Fort Sumter
1861 First Battle of Bull Run
1861 Battle Of Gettysburg
1862 Monitor and Merrimac
1865 Lee & Grant; Appomattox
1865 Assassination of Lincoln
1865 John Wilkes Booth Capt.
1867 Maximilian Executed
1868 Pres. Johnson Impeached
1869 Conquest of Grand Canyon
1881 Surrender Of Sitting Bull
1889 Oklahoma Land Run
1899 Dreyfus Case
1909 Peary's Dash to North Pole

Background

The Columbia Broadcasting System compiled a long and distinquished record as early innovators, risk-takers and experimenters in attempting to showcase the very best and brightest ideas contributed by their programmers over the years. We have several examples of this in our own archives:

The Columbia Workshop
Columbia Presents Corwin
The CBS Documentary Unit Specials
CBS Radio Workshop
CBS' Forecast series
CBS Is There [later named You Are There]
The various Mercury Theatre of the Air programs

These remarkable CBS programs--among many, many others--also remind us of the amazing innovators CBS had to draw upon during its first thirty years of commercial broadcasts. CBS Is There was an off-shoot of the work of the CBS Documentary Unit and the core of CBS News Bureau personnel made available after the cessation of World War II reporting. CBS wisely chose to keep most of the amazing talent that William S. Paley had assembled for War coverage and channel their activities into documentary pursuits while making a determination of how best to re-deploy their News and Documentary units in the most economical way on two fronts:

Their exponentially growing Television broadcast demands
The demands of Post-World War II coverage in a world still beset by lingering turmoil and a growing threat of Communist expansion in the Atomic Age.

The CBS Documentary Unit debuts its ground-breaking format

CBS Is There's Summer of 1947 broadcasts were another in a long line of experiments in documentary Radio. In this case, it was posited that it might be both instructive as well as compelling Radio drama to dramatize historic events as they might have been covered by a modern News Bureau and its far-flung resources.

Employing on-the-scene reporters, correspondents and man-in-the-street types of interviews, CBS presented seven historic events in docu-drama style, using their own award-winning news bureau staff to report on the events. John Daly, in particular, most remembered by the Wartime America audience as the first voice to describe the events of December 7, 1941 to an anxiously awaiting public, was chosen to 'host' the initial series. He was depicted more as the Chief Correspondent for the series.

From the April 22nd, 1947 edition of the Canton Repository:

47-04-22 CBS Was There Crosby Review

THE Columbia Broadcasting System, which is constantly flirting with different ways to present news, has come up with a novel experiment for reviving some of the world's top news stories of bygone years. Entitled "CBS Was There," a title I don't entirely approve of, the program presents history as a news story covered the same way the network would cover any topflight story.

One of the audition recordings--none of these has been on the air yet--is the story of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The broadcast opens with a description of the crowd in front of Ford's Theater in Washington on the night of April 14, 1865.

As a matter of fact, this event might very well have been covered by a radio network if there had been any then because, completely apart from its tragic ending, Lincoln's attendance at the theater was quite an occasion.

HE HAD GONE to the theater only once before as president and had come in for a good deal of criticism at the time from bluenoses who considered the theater a scandalous frivolity.

This fact is cunningly woven into the broadcast when John Daly, (CBS uses its regular newsmen on the show)--interviews the President as he steps from his carriage and asks him to comment on his criticism.

"Some think I do wrong to go to the opera and the theater," replied Lincoln. "But it rests me. I want to get this burden off, to change the current of my thoughts. A hearty laugh relaxes me. And I seem better able after it to bear my cross."

This, in fact, was Lincoln's own defense of his theater-going although its context has been changed. Throughout the program, actual quotes and genuine historic incidents are used, though with a certain amount of dramatic license.

AFTER LINCOLN ENTERS his box, the CBS broadcast is switched to an adjoining box where Daly keeps up a running commentary on the crowd, Mrs. Lincoln's dress and the play, "Our American Cousin."

In the background--a very neat and difficult bit of production--the play itself can be heard. Suddenly a muffled shot booms through the microphone.

"What was that?" mutters Daly. "There's no shot in the play. One moment. Maj Rathbone is struggling with a man in the President's box--a man who is stabbing wildly at him with a knife. Now his attacker has leapt over the railing. He's on the stage ..."

Here everything dissolves into total confusion as the crowd and the announcer try to understand what is happening. Daly sticks with the story until the President is carried across the street to the Petersen home. The broadcast then switches back to the CBS newsroom.

"THIS IS QUINCY HOWE." It's the nervous but quiet voice of the professional newscaster. The trick of using veteran newsmen, who have learned to face any disaster with dry, unharried competence, adds immeasurably to the authenticity of the program. "John Daly has just announced that an attempt has been made on the life of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater.

"The suddenness with which this tragic ... I have just been handed a bulletin. Secretary of State Seward has been attacked. A man entered the Seward house on Lafayette Square in Washington tonight. He overpowered resistance, gained entrance to the secretary's bedroom and slashed at Mr. Seward with a knife."

By mixing well-known history with these not-so-well-known incidents the program packs a genuine wallop. "All Washington is in a state of panic," says another CBS newsman. "There are wild rumors that the entire cabinet has been murdered." There were such rumors too.

A FEW MOMENTS later the broadcast switches back to the front of the Petersen home where Daly interviews Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and Lincoln's secretary, John Hay, as they leave the death chamber.

Hay relates the famed story of Lincoln's own dream which foretold his death in office. From there the broadcast switches overseas to pick up expressions of sympathy from Queen Victoria, a French student and Leo Tolstoy.

The broadcast ends when Secretary of War Stanton announces the death of the President with his famed words: "Now he belongs to the ages."

Right now, CBS is shopping around for a sponsor for the show and I hope they find one. Besides providing a painless history lesson, it's an exciting program.

From the November 1947 issue of Radio Mirror magazine:

CBS Is There article head

HISTORY is no longer a dry record of the events of the past, in which wooden figures move through an unreal series of events, coming to conclusions which we find it hard to believe can matter to us now, or ever did matter.
     The Columbia Broadcasting System, this past season, has given its listeners a new definition of history. Now, as never before, the figures of historical importance have walked among us. We have heard them come alive, speak to us. The speeches which have rocked the world in the past have rung in our own ears, and the roar of long-gone battles has echoed in our own homes. Because, whenever history inscribed a leaf in the book of time--CBS was there!
     Did you, with CBS, stand at the side of Christopher Columbus as he planted the flag of Spain on the shores of the land we live in? Did you, with CBS, attend a witch hunt in the Salem of Cotten Mather? Did you, with CBS, go to Ford's Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865, to see a performance of "Our American Cousin," and so become a witness to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln? Were you, with CBS, one of the mob which, fighting for the things dearer than life itself, stormed the Bastille? If not, you have missed some of the most exciting experiences which radio has ever offered its listeners, for when CBS is there, you can be, too!
     The idea behind CBS Is There is a simple one, and is embodied in the title. Skillfully, producer-director Robert Louis Shayon and narrator John Daly pretend that they are on the spot at some great moment in history. They interview the principals who are making history, the bystanders who are unaware that they are watching history being made. They describe the scene, the clothes being worn, the vehicles in use--so that, at the end of the program, the listener has a complete, alive picture of the event, to its last detail.
     This program was one of the many summer shows which are used to replace winter-season commercials. Unfortunately for every radio listener, young or old, CBS Is There has now gone off the air, to make way for winter programs. So unfortunate that this, the most interesting, most listenable historical program, and indeed one of the most interesting and listenable programs of any sort ever heard, should have left the air, that the editors of RADIO MIRROR urge listeners everywhere to write to CBS demanding its return as an a year-round feature. It was your program--if you want this, and others like it, strongly enough, you can have them. But you must make your wishes known.
     CBS Is There is not the only excellent summer program which has had to make way for winter season schedules. It is only one--one of the most excellent, the most worthy to be kept on the air--of many. We do not mean to imply that the new or returned winter season programs aren't welcome back, that they do not have a place in many a reader's listening schedule. It is simply that when a program as outstanding as CBS Is There, and others of the same caliber, are taken away, the networks do their listeners a distinct disservice.
     Mourning the loss of these programs isn't the proper way to go about arranging for their return. But writing to the network is. Every program you, as a listener, sincerely liked, would have liked to listen to regularly in the winter as well as the summer season, deserves a letter to the network concerned, asking for its return. True--yours will be only one letter. But many single letters can combine to exert the pressure necessary to bring your favorite program back.
     And remember--the networks, all of them, want to give you what you want. But unless you tell them what it is that you want, they have no way of knowing. It's up to the listeners to let them know!

Every effort was expended to simulate an actual historic event as it unfolded. From the portentious 'CBS Is There' echo chamber effect from the opening, it was clear that this would be a new kind of broadcast. Relying on the most accurate historical facts available, the 'visual image' portrayed by each broadcast's correspondents was the most highly detailed exposition yet heard in Radio. The goal was to emulate the Wartime coverage of CBS' legendary correspondents as they 'painted' some of Radio's richest imagery of War.

John Daly and Producer Robert Shayon go over some research
for CBS Is There

The 1947 George Foster Peabody Award in Education went to the CBS documentary series and to its weekly program "CBS Is There." CBS Is There and You Are There garnered two more Peabody Awards in the following two years. It's clear from the circulating broadcasts that little expense was spared to re-create the most realistic depiction for it's listeners. The re-creations were both viscerally and factually accurate and--until the advent of similar Television broadcasts in the same vein--the most accurately depicted historical documentaries in Radio History.

From the April 20th, 1948 edition of the Canton Repository:

48-04-20 CBS Is There Crosby Review

"CBS IS THERE" is that rare thing--a radio program which isn't smothered by its own exalted purposes. This is a journalistic re-creation of momentous historic episodes covered just as CBS covered the Italian elections, by on-the-spot reporters who interview celebrities, offer background interpretation and deliver eye-witness reports of the key events.

The men with the mike are part of CBS' regular news staff--Quincy Howe, John Daly, Don Hollenbeck, en Roberts--and their dry, factual, unactorish voices add great authority to what might easily be a rather ludicrous stunt. Such a line as "And now over to Plato's home and Don Hollenbeck" could easily be preposterous. It isn't preposterous because CBS has done exhaustive research, because the writers have blended solemnity and showmanship in equal quantities, and because the production of each of these epics is a slick a bit of business as you'll find in radio.

IN 29 WEEKS on the air, 19 great events have been covered (10 of which have been repeated). An examination of the list indicates at first glance a rather grim interest in the putting to death by one form or another of distinguished citizens--Lincoln's assassination, the death of Socrates, the Burr-Hamilton duel, the assassination of Caesar, the execution of Joan of Arc--but this, after all, is the preoccupation of history and can hardly be blamed on CBS.

In most of the broadcasts, an excellent balance is achieved between color, historical fact and significance. At Runnymede, "the new philosophy of government for England" gets about equal play with the "gleaming sea of deadly metal in the springtime sun" which has been assembled there to force the Magna Carta down King John's throat. Arguments which the history books stretched over three days are encompassed in one day but I believe that's forgivable.

THERE IS A CERTAIN amount of hindsight in some of the reporting but it's a great man indeed who can write history without it. Also there's a studious attempt to put dialog into the colloquialisms of the year 1215. "No read, no write can I," says a farmer. "Nor truct I things on parchment." I assume this is authentic. No scholorship in this line have I.

The real significance of these flaming events is difficult to bring out in a contemporary broadcast of this nature and has been done with great ingenuity. In the execution of Joan of Arc, for example, a reporter interviews two persons, either of whom might have stepped from the pages of George Bernard Shaw.

One is the witty Earl of Warwick, who explains with more candor than any politician would dream of why the English want to get rid of this girl whose spirit is worth 10 battalions to the French. The other is a cynical Italian who says that Joan is being dispensed with for political rather than religious heresy.

"THE CHURCH, Signor, rules Europe. A very young girl, Jeanne d' Arc has arisen, unwittingly challenging a very old institution. She has dared to put a French king on a French throne. She has inspired the French people with a new and dynamic spirit--the spirit of nationalism. The flames that light this stake will help light a great new political era for Europe."

The arguments which raged in Athens over the death of Socrates are almost too contemporary. Aristophanes laments that questions of justice should not be left in the hands of the mob--Socrates was tried by a jury of 500--and Plato's retort that Aristophanes has lost faith in the process of democracy, those arguments can be heard today.

"The Peloponessian wars have exhausted us," says Plato. "We seek someone to blame." It's a statement that might easily be applied to the hysteria behind our current witch hunts.

THERE'S NOT SPACE to go into some of the others--the defeat of the Spanish armada, the battle of Gettysburg, Columbus' discovery of America, the Dreyfus case--beyond saying there haven't been any bad ones, though some are better than others. CBS seems intent on repeating all of them, not once but many times, and I can't think of a better idea.

CBS went on to create a total of sixy-four unique historical docudramas during the program's three-year run. Many of the scripts were so accurate and realistic that they were employed almost verbatim once the Television version of You Are There eventually aired over CBS from 1953-1958. The Television version was 'hosted' by Walter Cronkite. John Daly had since moved to the American Broadcasting Company as it's Director of News.

The genius of this series was in using the extraordinary resources of CBS News' own far-flung news staff, most of them multi-lingual by then, and most of them well-versed in painting as realistic a 'picture' as practical of wartime landscapes and events as they unfolded.

The docudramas hold up as well to this day. As a tribute to CBS' fact-checking of the time, virtually all 64 original scripts require almost no updates to portray an accurate depiction of these carefully chosen historic tableaus.

Series Derivatives:

CBS Was There; You Are There; AFRS H-89 You Are There; AFRTS IED-89 You Are There

Genre:

Anthology of Golden Age Radio Documentary Dramas

Network(s):

CBS, The AFRS

Audition Date(s) and Title(s):

As "CBS Was There":
47-04-xx [Aud] The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Premiere Date(s) and Title(s):

47-07-07 01 The Assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre

Run Dates(s)/ Time(s):

47-07-07 to 50-07-09; CBS; Ninety, 30-minutes programs; Sundays

Syndication:

AFRS

Sponsors:

Sustaining

Director(s):

Robert Lewis Shayon; The CBS Documentary Unit [Producer]

Principal Actors:

John Daly, Don Hollenbeck, Ned Calmer, Quincy Howe, George Fielding Eliot, Walter Cronkite, Harry Marble, Edward P. Morgan, Ken Roberts, Bud Collyer, Douglas Edwards, Karl Swenson, Thomas Chalmers, Richard Waring, Eric Dressler, Chester Stratton, Bernard Lenrow, Guy Sorel, Richard Gordon, Malcolm Keen, Peter Boyne, Iley Benson, John Merlin, Court Benson, Bert Cowlan, Howard Smith, Art Hannes, Raymond Edward Johnson, Richard C. Hottelet, Charles Webster, Alfred Dell, Doris Dalton, Rita Vale, John Sylvester, Walter Hampden, Anne Seymour, Walter Greaza, Art Hannes, Jack Walters, Joan Wetmore, William Podmore, Gavin GOrdon, Robert Readick, Staats Cotsworth, Douglas Edwards, Torin Thatcher, Roy Irving, D.A. Clark Smith, Rusty Lane, Michael Ingram, Elspeth Eric, Harold Huber, Ann Shephard, Roc Rogers, Oliver Cliff, Van Marlowe, Alfred Dell, Richard Seff, Alfred de La Fuente, Peter Hobbs, Julian Noa, Crazy Bull, Canada Lee, Anthony Campbell Cooper, Inge Adams, Richard Waring, A.J. Herbert, John Gibson, Ara Jerrold, Jim Davidson, Richard Newton, Oliver Cliff, John Merlin, Peter Hobbs, Joe De Santis, Guiseppe Sterni, Cavelli Aliki, James Monks, Arnold Moss, Skip Homeier, JOseph Boland, Matt Crowley, Marie Peary, Cliff Carpenter, Joseph Conway, Francois Grimar, Benjamin Hunninger, Abe Vigoda, Luis Van Rooten, Anthony Campbell Cooper, Gavin Gordon, Mercer McLeod, James Goss, Paul Mann, Agnes Young, Santos Ortega, Nelson Olmstead, Arthur Vinton, Bill Leonard, Carl Frank, Hester Sondergaard, Abby Lewis, Ian Martin, Barry Kroeger, Robert Dryden, Irene Hubbard, Jack Lloyd, Gibson Parker, Burford Hampden, Alfred Shirley, Ralph Bell, Larry LeSueur, Jack Walters, Minerva Pious, Grace Matthews, Amanda Randolph, Ruth Yorke, Lesley Woods, Edward P. Morgan, Harry Marble, Neva Patterson, Hughes Rudd, Morton Dean, Daniel Schorr, David Culhane, E.G. Marshall, Mike Wallace

Recurring Character(s):

Varied from production to production.

Protagonist(s):

Varied from production to production.

Author(s):

None

Writer(s)

Irv Tunick, Joseph Liss, Michael Sklar

Music Direction:

Musical Theme(s):

“Fanfare For The Common Man” by Aaron Copland

Announcer(s):

Stuart Metz, Dan Seymour, Jackson Beck, Ken Roberts, Harry Marble, Guy Sorel

Estimated Scripts or
Broadcasts:

64 unique scripts, 90 broadcasts.

Episodes in Circulation:

Total Episodes in Collection:

86 (Includes five AFRS episodes)

Provenances:

Billboard magazine review of CBS Is There from 1947

Notes on Provenances:

All above cited provenances are in error in one form or another. The most helpful provenances were newspaper listings.

OTRisms:

The first seven episodes were not a separate production by CBS. They were simply the first Summer run of the program.

The Special, CBS: The Listening Years, though presented in CBS Is There format, was not part of the CBS Is There canon.

The episodes that aired during December 1947 were all rebroadcasts, aired in several different timeslots and days, the most common being Saturdays and Sundays.

The title inaccuracies are simply too numerous to mention. We have here recorded the announced titles, the published titles, and the actually heard titles for each episode we could actually listen to.

We harbor serious doubt that the last episode, Boston Tea Party ever actually aired. It may have been preserved as a unaired transcription or an AFRS transcription, but we can find no evidence that it actually aired as scheduled.

The annotated preemptions describe the factual background for the preemption.

We also turned up two previously unidentified programs as annotated below.

This canon is one of the several most egregious examples of commercial OTR. The entire reason this series has been so miserably and inaccurately logged for 37 years is due primarily to the hobby's earliest OTR Sellers. It's obvious that the vast majority of circulating exemplars of this program have been altered at some point, to accomplish one or more of four deliberately deceptive goals:

To adulterate an AFRS-transcribed exemplar so as to appear to be an original You Are There broadcast episode.
To adulterate a CBS Is There episode so as to appear to be a You Are There episode.
To adulterate either AFRS or You Are There episodes to pass as earlier CBS Is There episodes.
To remove all outros and airchecks so as to disguise the actual broadcast air date.

This is not conjecture-- it's fact. One need but actually listen to them to determine the facts for oneself.

What you see here, is what you get. Complete transparency. We have no 'credentials' whatsoever--in any way, shape, or form--in the 'otr community'--none. But here's how we did it--for better or worse. Here's how you can build on it yourselves--hopefully for the better. Here's the breadcrumbs--just follow the trail a bit further if you wish. No hobbled downloads. No misdirection. No posturing about our 'credentials.' No misrepresentations. No strings attached. We point you in the right direction and you're free to expand on it, extend it, use it however it best advances your efforts.

We ask one thing and one thing only--if you employ what we publish, attribute it, before we cite you on it.

We continue to provide honest research into these wonderful Golden Age Radio programs simply because we love to do it. If you feel that we've provided you with useful information or saved you some valuable time regarding this log--and you'd like to help us even further--you can help us keep going. Please consider a small donation here:

We don't pronounce our Golden Age Radio research as 'certified' anything. By the very definition, research is imperfect. We simply tell the truth. As is our continuing practice, we provide our fully provenanced research results--to the extent possible--right here on the page, for any of our peers to review--or refute--as the case may be. If you take issue with any of our findings, you're welcome to cite any better verifiable source(s) and we'll immediately review them and update our findings accordingly. As more verifiable provenances surface, we'll continue to update the following series log, as appropriate.

All rights reserved by their respective sources. Article and log copyright 2009 The Digital Deli Online--all rights reserved. Any failure to attribute the results of this copywritten work will be rigorously pursued.


CBS Is There Radio Programs Log
Date	Episode	Title	Avail.	Notes
47-04-xx	[Aud]	The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln	N	[ Audition for the proposed "CBS Was There" ]
47-06-30	--		--
47-07-07	1	The Assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre [April 14, 1865]	N	[Premiere Episode] "CBS Is There (7:00 p.m.) This new series of imaginative documentaries recreating some of mankind's major triumphs and tribulations in newscast form, with Newsman John Daly at the microphone, makes its debut This first program will "report" the assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's theater.
47-07-14	2	The Citizens of Paris Before the Bastille [July14, 1789]	Y	(7 p. m.) French democracy's anguished birth, symbolized by the fall of the Bastille, will take on contemporary "stop-the-presses" significance when "CBS Is There" presents an on-the-scene, newscast re-enactment of the event. John Daly, veteran CBS newsman, will take his portable transmitter to the entrance of the beseiged fortress, to report the thrilling drama of the opening battle.
47-07-21	3	Columbus Discovers America [October 12, 1492]	N	(7 p. m.) With newsman John Daly at the microphone, the new series of imaginative documentaries recreating some of mankind's major triumphs and tribulations in up-to-date newcasts form, presents "Columbus Discovers America." 15th-century history is "covered" in modern on-thescene" fashion.
47-07-28	4	The Witchcraft Trials At Salem [June 29, 1692]	Y	(7 p. m.) Flipping the calendar back 255 years, CBS Is There places a microphone into a Massachusetts courtroom to report in the style of modern news coverage, the world-renowned 1692 "Witchcraft Trials at Salem." Daly makes his way up to the witness chair, where a 71 year old great grandmother is questioned before the judge amid prejudice and hysteria that brings in sharp relief the strides in the administration of justice since then.
47-08-04	5	Sir Francis Drake Defeats the Spanish Armada [July 29, 1588]	Y	(7 p. m.) For an up-to-the-minute newscast on one of the great events of the 16th century, John Daly figuratively takes his microphone to England to report on "Sir Francis Drake Defeats the Spanish Armada," with modern realism adding to the thrills of the historic event. Announces next show as Defense of the Alamo
47-08-11	6	The Defense Of the Alamo [March 06, 1836]	Y	(7. p. m.) The historic phrase,., '"Remember the Alamo," takes on contemporary' significance as Joan Daly and other top CBS newsmen "cover" the heroic struggle to prevent a Mexican invasion of Texas more than 100 years ago. Equipped with mobile transmitters and modern newscasting techniques, John Daly, Ken Roberts and Jackson Beck retravel the rough and bloody road by which the Lone Star Republic reached freedom.
47-08-18	7	The Last Day of Pompeii [August 26, 79 A.D.]	N	8, CBS Is There "Pompeii" 7 p. m.—CBS Is There (WBBM): "eyewitness" account of "The Last Days of Pompeii." (7 P- m-) Suffocated by volcanic dust, a rep0rter will die an heroic death at his microphone, as he describes the eerie doom overtaking Pompeii. Present in the Pompeii stadium to broadcast a sporting event held to enliven a Roman Holiday, the CBS man turns his attention from the gladiators to send out news of the awe-inspiring catastrophe following the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. July 26, 79 A. D.

47-11-06	Spcl.	CBS Radio - The Listening Years [1927 - 1947]	Y	National Radio Week Special CBS Is There (Thursday) (9:30 p.m.) "The Listening Years," a special CBS Is there re-enactment of high points in Columbia network's 20 years as a communications medium operating in the public interest will be presented to mark the conclusion of National Radio Week. The script will recreate radio's coverage of great events rather than the events themselves. The program will touch the peaks of radio listening and will include portions of 3 outstanding broadcasts of World war II.

47-12-06	8	The Exile of Napoleon [July 31, 1815]	Y	[In at least Pennsylvania and Wisconsin]
47-12-07	8	The Exile of Napoleon [July 31, 1815]	Y	[Sundays, 6:30 p.m.] Coming up for -Sunday: CBS 2 P. M. return of CBS is There, history series in the modern manner, "The Exile of Napoleon."
47-12-13	8	The Exile of Napoleon [July 31, 1815]	Y	[In at least Pennsylvania and Wisconsin] 10:30 p, m. — CBS Is There (WBBM): "The Exile of Napoleon" in an on-the-spot broadcast.
47-12-14	9	The Assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre [April 14, 1865]	N	Replaced by Blondie in many CBS affiliate outlets.
47-12-20	10	The Sailing of the Mayflower [September 06, 1620]	N	10:30 p. m. — CBS is There (WBBM): An on-the-spot news report from the quayside at Plymouth England, as the "Mayflower" sets sail.
47-12-21	10	The Sailing of the Mayflower [September 06, 1620]	N	Replaced by Blondie in many CBS affiliate outlets.
47-12-27	10	The Sailing of the Mayflower [September 06, 1620]	N	10:30 p. m. — CBS is There (WBBM): An on-the-spot news report from the quayside at Plymouth England, as the "Mayflower" sets sail.
47-12-28	11	The Citizens Of Paris Before the Bastille [July14, 1789]	Y	2 p.m. (Sunday)--WPAY "CBS Is There." John Daly and Ken Roberts will describe "The Storming of The Bastille."
48-01-04	12	The Witchcraft Trials At Salem [June 29, 1692]	Y	Moves from Sundays at 2:00 p.m. to Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
48-01-11	13	The Burr - Hamilton Duel [July 11, 1804]	Y	[1st Half Only]
48-01-18	14	The Signing of the Magna Carta [June 19, 1215]	Y	Announces next show as Defense of the Alamo
48-01-25	15	The Defense Of the Alamo [March 06, 1836]	N
48-02-01	16	Sir Francis Drake Defeats the Spanish Armada [July 29, 1588]	N
48-02-08	17	The Dreyfus Case [September 08, 1899]	Y	2 p. m. (Sunday)—WPAY-CBS: "CBS Is There". Dramatic events Of the second trial of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus by a French military court and his last-minute pardon will be reenacted in on-the-scene newscast style, "CBS Is There" breathed life into the Dreyfus case and made it as timely as the headlines you just scanned. The script's fiery wordage ignited the searing significance of the case — and the cast carried it like a torch of liberty"
48-02-15	18	The Assassination of Julius Caesar [March 15, 44 B.C.]	N	2 p. m. (Sunday)— WPAY-CBS: "CBS Is There" will dramatize one of the great moments in world history, 'when they "cover" "The Assassinaiion of Julius Caesar".
48-02-22	19	The Battle of Gettysburg [July 21, 1861]	Y
48-02-29	20	Joan of Arc Faces the Stake [May 30, 1431]	Y	The Oklahoma Land Run announced as next program.
48-03-07	21	The Oklahoma Land Run [April 22, 1889]	N
48-03-14	22	The Death of Socrates [ 399 B.C. ]	Y	48-03-22--Editor, the Times Herald: I have read with considerable interest, and conflicting emotions the matter of the postcard campaign of the Furriers Union of Middletown in relation to the so-called communist menace in this country. When I see the type of men (some of them, that is) who are so quick to judge the whole group by the actions of a few. I see how vital is a sentence I jotted down this afternoon from the radio version of Socrates' death, on CBS Was There! [sic]— It is better not to silence reproaches but to make yourselves as perfect as you can! Philadelphia, July 4, 1776 announced as next broadcast
48-03-21	23	Philadelphia, July 4, 1776	N
48-03-28	--	-- Preempted --		Preempted nationwide for New York Philharmonic Easter Concert
48-04-04	24	The Monitor and the Merrimac [March 09, 1862]	N	Sunday, April 4 — The historic battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac will be reported by John Daly and other "Columbia netvork newsmen on "CBS Is There" (1:30- 2 p.m.)
48-04-11	25	The Last Day of Pompeii [August 26, 79 A.D.]	Y	"CBS Is There" reports on the "Last Days of Pompeii" at 1:30.
48-04-18	26	The Battle of Plassey [June 22, 1757]	N	'CBS Is There Presents Clive's Indian Conquest The "CBS Is There" re-enactment of "The Battle of Plassey" will be heard Sunday at 1 p.m. over KFAB as CBS newsmen relive the crucial moments when Robert Clive won India for the British Empire. Centering about the personality of Clive, the East India company sank clerk who emerged as a military genius of his time, the broadcast will evoke all the battle's climactic phases, with Chief Narrator John Daly, Ned Calmer and other news analysts at "on-the-scene" microphones. They will report the furious advance of the vastly superior native forces, the bravery of the British-led Sepoys and the terrifying elephant charge which Clive turned back by his resourceful methods of warfare. His "shocking" innovation of ordering his men to take cover for protection from artillery fire, and the false rumor of his desertion which swept the British ranks during the heat of battle will also be reported.
48-04-25	27	The Fall of Troy [ 1184 B.C. ]	N	Sunday, April 25 -- A corps of crack newsmen headed by John Daly will be at the walls of Troy when "CBS Is There" to bring you the "Fall of Troy" (1:30-2p.m.)

48-05-02	28	The Surrender of Sitting Bull [July 21, 1881 ]	N	You Are There Broadcasts begin CBS—1 You Are There. "Sitting Bull."
48-05-09	29	The Burr - Hamilton Duel [July 11, 1804]	Y	YOU ARE THERE. KFAB. 1 p m The historic duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton will be dramatically reported by unofficial eyewitnesses.
48-05-16	30	The Signing of the Magna Carta [June 19, 1215]	N	YOU ARE THERE-KFAB. 1 p. m A recounting of the historic signing of the Magna Charta. with John Daly as chief narrator, assisted by Quincy Howe and Ken Roberts.
48-05-23	31	The Execution of Emperor Maximilian [June 19, 1867]	N
48-05-30	32	The Betrayal of Toussaint L'ouverture [May 06, 1802]	N
48-06-06	33	The Battle of Hastings [October 14, 1066]	N	Sunday, June 6 — -You Are There" the Battle of Hastings " is recreated with John Daly, Qulncy Howe and other newsmen at front line microphones (1:30-2 pm),
48-06-13	34	The Sailing of the Mayflower [September 06, 1620]	Y
48-06-20	35	The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson [May16, 1868]	Y	A top documentary program today is CBS' recreation of the impeachment .of Andrew Johnson over KFAB at 1 p. m.
48-06-27	36	Mary, Queen of Scots [February 08, 1587]	N
48-07-04	37	Philadelphia, July 4, 1776	Y

48-08-22	38	Lexington, Concord And Merriam's Corner [April 19, 1775]	N
48-08-29	39	Joan of Arc Faces the Stake [May 30, 1431]	N	[Rebroadcast]
48-09-05	40	The Assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre [April 14, 1865]	Y	48-09-05 Wisconsin State Journal 12:00 p. m.—You Are There--(WBBM) 48-09-05 Hutchinson News Herald 1:00 P.M. KFH You Are There (Final of Series)
48-09-12	41	The Dreyfus Case [September 08, 1899]	N	[AFRS Only] 48-09-12 Wisconsin State Journal 12:00 p. m.—You Are There--(WBBM)
48-09-19	42	The Ratification of the US Constitution [June 25, 1788]	Y	WFBL—"You Are There" portrays ratification of U. S. Constitution.
48-09-26	43	The Trial of Ann Hutchinson [November 07, 1637]	Y
48-10-03	44	The First Battle of Bull Run [July 21, 1861]	Y	3:30 p. m.—You AreThere(WBBM)- "The First Battle of Bull Run."
48-10-10	45	Columbus Discovers America [October 12, 1492]	Y	3:30 p. m.—You AreThere(WBBM)- "Columbus' Voyage."
48-10-17	46	The Trial of Marie Antoinette [October 16, 1793]	Y
48-10-24	47	The Fall of Troy [ 1184 B.C. ]	N	3:30 p. m.—You AreThere(WBBM)- "Fall of Troy."
48-10-31	48	The Election of Thomas Jefferson [February 17, 1801]	Y	3:30 p. m.—You AreThere(WBBM)- "The Election of Thomas Jefferson."
48-11-07	49	Lee and Grant at Appomattox [April 09, 1865 ]	Y	48-11-07 Wisconsin State Journal 1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "Lee and Grant at Appomattox."
48-11-14	50	The Exile of Napoleon [July 31, 1815]	N
48-11-21	51	The Hanging of Robert Emmett [September 20, 1803]	Y
48-11-28	52	Conquest of the Grand Canyon [August 1869]	N	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "The Conquest of the Grand Canyon."
48-12-05	53	The Execution of Emperor Maximilian [June 19, 1867]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM}: "The Execution of Emperor Maximilian."
48-12-12	54	The Conspiracy of Catiline [December 05, 0063 B.C.]	Y	1:30 p. m.—You Are There (WBBM): The Conspiracy of Catiline" in ancient Rome.
48-12-19	55	The Hanging of Captain Kidd [May 23, 1701]	Y	1:30 p. m.—You Are There (WBBM): "The Death of Capt. Kidd."
48-12-26	56	The Monitor and the Merrimac [March 09, 1862]	Y	1:30 p. m.—You Are There (WBBM): The Monitor and the Merrimac."
49-01-02	57	The Surrender of Sitting Bull [July 21, 1881 ]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "The Surrender of Sitting Bull."
49-01-09	58	The Sentencing of Charles I, King of England [January 27, 1649]	Y	1:30 p. m.—You Are There (WBBM): "The Sentencing of Charles I, King of England."
49-01-16	59	Mutiny in the Continental Army [January 08, 1781]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "Mutiny in the Continental Army."
49-01-23	60	The Betrayal of Toussaint L'ouverture [May 06, 1802]	Y	Announces Colonel Johnson Eats the Love Apple as next.
49-01-30	61	Colonel Johnson Eats the Love Apple [September 26, 1820]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): the tomato escapes its evil reputation
49-02-06	62	The Trial of John Peter Zenger [August 04, 1735]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "The Trial of John Peter Zenger," fight for press freedom.
49-02-13	63	The Battle of Hastings [October 14, 1066]	Y
49-02-20	64	The Fall of Savonarola [July 07, 1498]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "The Plot to Kill Savonarola."
49-02-27	65	The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson [May16, 1868]	Y
49-03-06	66	Alexander the Great Seeks Mastery of the World, Part I - Peace Offer [September 30, 331 B.C.]	Y	11:30 A. M.-KNX-A radio trilogy, "Alexander the Great Seeks Mastery cf the World." will be presented by CBS on the show "You Are There." The show is in three parts and will be continued for three successive Sundays. March 6, 13 and 20.
49-03-13	67	Alexander the Great Seeks Mastery of the World, Part II - Battle for Asia [October 01, 331 B.C.]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): Alexander the Great and "The Battle for Asia."
49-03-20	68	Alexander the Great Seeks Mastery of the World, Part III - Mutiny in India [September 08, 331 B.C.]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM):— Part III of "Alexander the Great Seeks Mastery of the, World" — "Mutiny in India"
49-03-27	69	The Oklahoma Land Run [April 22, 1889]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "Oklahoma Land Run."
49-04-03	70	Mary, Queen of Scots [February 08, 1587]	N
49-04-10	71	Peary's Dash to the North Pole [April 06, 1909]	Y	1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): retells Peary's Dash to The North Pole— CBS-WBBM
49-04-17	72	Napoleon Returns From Elba [March 07, 1815]	Y
49-04-24	73	The Assassination of Julius Caesar [March 15, 44 B.C.]	Y	12:30 p. m. —You Are There (WBBM): "The Assassination of Julius Caesar."
49-05-01	74	The Death of Montezuma [June 30, 1520]	Y	12:30 p. m. —You Are There (WBBM): "Montezuma and the Spaniards."
49-05-08	75	The Impeachment of Samuel Chase [March 01, 1805]	Y	12:30 p. m You Are There (WBBM); "The Impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase."
49-05-15	76	Lexington, Concord And Merriam's Corner [April 19, 1775]	Y	12:30 p. m. — You Art There (WBBM): "Lexington, Concord, and Merriam's Corner."
49-05-22	77	Fort Sumter [April 12, 1861]	Y	TODAY AT 1:30, the confederate attack on Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, will be re-enacted on "You Are There," over KFAB.
49-05-29	78	The Siege of Leyden [October 03, 1574]	Y	12:30 p. m. — You Art There (WBBM): "The Siege of Leyden."
49-06-05	79	The Capture of John Wilkes Booth [April 16, 1865]	Y	12:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "The Capture of John Wilkes Booth."
49-06-12	80	Caesar Crosses the Rubicon [January, 49 B.C.]	Y	CBS' PRIZE-WINNING "You Are There" program bows out for the season today with a dramatization of Ceasar's crossing of the Rubicon in defiance of Pompey and the Roman senate— KFAB, 3:30 p. m. Caesar's fateful decision was made to combat the concentration of political power in the hands of a few men.

49-10-30	81	The Trial of Aaron Burr [September 01, 1807]	Y	1:30— KNX— "The Trial of Aaron Burr" will be the premiere performance of the award-winning CBS program "You Are There." This popular program resumes today on a once-in-four Sundays basis, and re-enacts famous moments in history.
49-11-27	82	The Trial Run of Tom Thumb [August 28, 1830]	Y	1:15 O'CLOCK. You Are There—"The Trial Run of Tom Thumb"-CBS-WMT-WBBM.
49-12-25	83	Crowning of Charlemagne [December 25, 800 A.D.]	Y	You Are There on Columbia will enact the "Crowning of Charlemagne . " (KTSA, 9:30 p. m.)
50-01-22	84	The Surrender of New Amsterdam [September 01, 1664]	Y	Time Change - 4:30 p.m. Miscellaneous 3:30 p.m. — You Are There (WBBM): newscast-reenactment of "The Surrender of New Amsterdam"."
50-02-19	85	The Charge of the Light Brigade [October 25, 1854]	Y	Time Change - 2:00 p.m. 1 p.m.—You Are There (WBBM): "The Charge of the Light Brigade."
50-03-19	86	The Stamp Act Rebellion [November 01, 1765]	Y	1 p.m.—You Are There (WBBM): "The Stamp Act Rebellion."
50-04-23	87	The Battle of Thermopylae [ 480 B.C. ]	Y	Previously announced for April 16, the program actually aired April 23. 1:30 p. m. — You Are There (WBBM): "The Battle of Thermopylae."
50-05-21	88	The Trial of William Penn [September 05, 1670]	Y	12 p.m.. —— You Are There (WBBM): "The Trial of William Penn."
50-06-18	89	*The Women's Rights Convention* [September 07, 1853]	Y	12:30 p. m.— You Are There (WBBM): Women's Rights Convention held in 1853 in New York City.
50-07-09	90	Boston Tea Party [December 16, 1773]	N	[ Last Episode ]

AFRS You Are There Radio Program Log
Date	Episode	Title	Avail.	Notes
48-04-18	--	The Battle of Plassey [June 22, 1757]	Y
48-05-09	--	The Burr - Hamilton Duel [July 11, 1804]	Y
48-10-24	--	The Fall of Troy [ 1184 B.C. ]	Y
49-04-03	--	Mary, Queen of Scots [February 08, 1587]	Y
54-01-17	--	Mallory's Tragedy On Mt. Everest ~~The Attempt to Scale Mt Everest~~ [June 8, 1924]	N	[AFRTS -- From the CBS Television series; probably broadcast over AFRTS during 1961 and beyond] 54-01-17 Long Beach Independent 6:00 P.M. KNXT (2)--You Are There: "Mallory's Tragedy On Mt. Everest."
54-03-14	--	The Rescue of The Statue of Liberty [May 01, 1878]	Y	[AFRTS -- From Season 2, Episode 28 of the CBS Television series; probably broadcast over AFRTS during 1961 and beyond] 54-03-14 Brooklyn Daily Eagle 6:30 2--You Are There, "The Rescue of the Statue of Liberty." 54-03-28 Long Beach Independent 6:00 P.M. KNXT (2)--You Are There: "Rescue of the Statue of Liberty."

CBS Is There Radio Programs Biographies

John Daly [John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly] (Chief Correspondent) Radio and Television Journalist, Producer, Correspondent, and Host; Director of Voice of America (1914-1991) Birthplace: Johannesburg, South Africa Education: Tilton Academy, Tilton, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Boston College Radiography: 1938 The Labor Parade 1939 President Franklin Roosevelt 1940 The News From Europe 1941 Life For Wildlife 1941 Library Of Congress Radio Research Project 1941 Office Of Emergency Management 1941 The World Today 1941 Lux Radio Theatre 1941 Pearl Harbor Coverage 1941 Texaco Star Theatre 1941 Twelve Crowded Months 1942 Columbia Workshop 1942 War Production Drive Program 1942 World News Today 1942 Sammy Kaye's Sunday Serenade 1944 CBS D-Day Coverage 1946 Continental Celebrity Club 1946 Yours Sincerely 1946 Stars In the Afternoon 1947 As Others See Us 1947 CBS Was There 1947 CBS Is There 1948 You Are There 1948 Great Scenes From Great Plays 1949 A Report To You 1949 The Lone Ranger 1951 News Of Tomorrow 1953 What's My Line 1954 Crime and Peter Chambers 1958 All Star Revue 1958 We Take You Back 1961 The Jack Benny Program	John Charles Daly, ca. 1952 War reporter John Charles Daly gives his radio report by the light of a kerosene lantern, ca 1941 John Daly and the News became an ABC fixture for over five years. Hirschfield caricature of John Daly and his What's My Line? panelists, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis and Dorothy Kilgallen, ca. 1961 John Daly as millions remember him.	Peabody, Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning John Charles Daly was born in 1914, in Johannesburg, South Africa. His father, an American, worked there as a geologist. When his father subsequently died of tropical fever, John's mother took him and his older brother to live in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied at The Tilton School in Tilton, New Hampshire, U.S.A., attended junior college in New Hampshire, and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Boston College. Upon graduation, Daly worked for a time in a wool factory and then for a transit company in Washington, D.C. before becoming a reporter for first NBC Radio and then CBS Radio. He served as White House correspondent for CBS, eventually travelling the globe reporting for the CBS News Division of the CBS Radio Network. During his career with CBS' legendary News Bureau and Documentary Unit, John Daly was part of The Golden Age of Radio's most effective and wide-reaching Radio News Bureau. Hand-assembled by William S. Paley himself, CBS' New Bureau represented some of Broadcast History's greatest legends, among them Edward R. Murrow, Eric Sevareid, William L. Shirer, Charles Collingwood, Ed Bliss, Bill Downs, Richard C. Hottelet, Larry LeSueur, Robert Trout, Howard K. Smith, Winston Burdett, and Producer Fred W. Friendly. Indeed for millions of Americans it was John Daly's voice they heard relate the December 7, 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor for the first time. As with Walter Cronkite and his tear-choked announcements on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, John Daly's around the clock coverage of the first news of Pearl Harbor forever etched his voice and delivery into an entire generation of Radio listeners. Between 1937 and 1961, John Daly compiled a Radio career in excess of 4,000 appearances over CBS' famed World News Tonight, as well as hundreds of other guest appearances, News Specials, public service programs, and CBS Documentary programs, most notable of which were his CBS Is There/You Are There broadcasts between 1947 and 1950. The ground-breaking format dramatized News stories of historical significance ranging from the days of Ancient Greece to CBS' own Radio History between 1927 and 1947. The award winning series ran for three years over Radio then transitioned to Television as You Are There (1953) running for another five years on Television. Walter Cronkite was tapped to host the Television series, as Daly had already begun what would become a seventeen-year run of his What's My Line? John Daly was concerned that he'd never make the transition to Television. While working on Radio's You Are There programs, and with many of his successful colleagues already entering Television, Daly began to pursue work with a major newspaper. A friend cajoled him into an appearance on an early Television quiz show, Celebrity Time (1948), as a panelist. As it turned out, the camera accurately captured Daly's wholesome honesty, humor and warmth, effectively ending any conjecture as to Daly's possible future in Television. Upon agreeing to be the host of What's My Line? (1949), he was told it would probably run about six months--the average life of quiz programs of the era. In addition to his quiz panel program, Daly was an active member of ABC's News Bureau. Daly was eventually named Vice President in charge of ABC News, Special Events, Public Affairs, Religious programs and Sports. When What's My Line? had finally run its course, John Daly was named Director of the Voice of America, resigning a year later over a dispute with the Director of the U.S. Information Agency, the managing agency for The Voice of America at the time. Expanding his influence to three generations of early Radio and Television audiences, John Daly is one of The Golden Era's most beloved personalities. His gentle humor, charm, and sensitivity over seventeen years of What's My Line? endeared him to even more fans worldwide. John Daly remains, to this day, one of the most trusted, reassuring voices of The 20th Century--both a well deserved and appropriately applied assessment of the confidence Daly engendered in his viewers and listeners.

Ken Roberts [Saul Trochman] (Announcer) Radio, Television and Film Actor and Announcer (1910-2009) Birthplace: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.A. Radiography: 1932 The Linit Bath Club Revue 1937 The Burns and Allen Show 1937 The Shadow 1938 The American School of the Air 1938 Columbia Workshop 1944 Calling All Girls 1944 It Pays To Be Ignorant 1944 Let Yourself Go 1945 Treasury Salute 1945 The Jane Cowl Show 1945 Guest Critic Series 1946 Your Sports Question Box 1946 Eversharp Schick Varieties 1946 Mercury Summer Theatre 1946 Tonight On Broadway 1947 Flit Frolics 1947 Quick As A Flash 1947 The Jan August Show 1948 The Milton Berle Show 1948 Grand Central Station 1948 Mr Ace and Jane 1948 Meet the Press 1949 Hogan's Daughter 1949 The Eddy Duchin Show 1949 Casey, Crime Photographer 1949 The Anacin Hollywood Star Theatre 1949 Grand Central Station 1950 Not For Children 1950 Candid Microphone 1950 Lorenzo Jones 1951 Philip Morris Playhouse On Broadway 1951 Horace Heidt's Youth Opportunity Program 1952 My Little Margie The Xavier Cugat Show	Ken Roberts circa 1940 Ken Roberts circa 1947 Ken Roberts reenacts a script of The Shadow for a Shadow Fans convention, ca. 1987	Legendary Announcer Ken Roberts' career spanned over 35 years in Radio and another forty-five years in Television. Born on the island of Manhattan, Roberts announced some of Radio's earliest programs, such as The Linit Bath Club Revue (1932). The next thirty-five years found Ken Roberts accouncing many of Radio's most famous and memorable programs: The Burns and Allen Show, The Shadow, Columbia Workshop, It Pays to be Ignorant, Mercury Summer Theatre, Quick As A Flash, The Milton Berle Show, the long running Mr. Ace and Jane, Casey Crime Photographer, Grand Central Station, and My Little Margie. Making not only a successful, but equally legendary transition to the small screen, Roberts' Television career comprises over seventy programs and over 800 appearances to date. Roberts' most recent Film appearance was a cameo role in 2005's Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain. This durable actor and announcer has lent his unmistakeable voice to the airwaves and Film for over seventy-five years as of this writing. As fondly remembered for his stirring lead-ins for The Shadow, Roberts is equally remembered for his portentious announcements for CBS' historic, award-winning You Are There series. Ken Roberts was the announcer for the Television soaps, "Love of Life" for twenty years and "The Secret Storm" for twenty years. Extraordinarily versatile, Ken Roberts was as effective in TV's earliest action adventure dramas as in the first 130 ground-breaking episodes of Electric Company (1972)--and virtually every genre between those extremes. Roberts inflection, phrasing, and projection over the years remained as forceful and discernable as ever--a tribute to both his range and reliability. Ken Roberts is also the proud father of Tony Award winning dramatic actor Tony Roberts, a favorite of Woody Allen movies and stage plays alike. As durable and versatile as his father, the two actors represent over 110 years of Radio, Television, Film and Stage excellence. The two appeared together in Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987) with Tony Roberts on screen and Ken Roberts off-screen. It's the 21st Century, Mr. Roberts. A celebration of the very finest recordings of The Golden Age of Radio, and You, Mr. Roberts, Most Definitely Were There. [Update: Ken Roberts passed away June 19, 2009 at the age of 99]

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The CBS Is There Radio Programs

CBS Is There Chronology

Background

The CBS Documentary Unit debuts its ground-breaking format

CBS Is There Radio Programs Log

AFRS You Are There Radio Program Log

CBS Is There Radio Programs Biographies