Crosley Broadcasting Corporation

Crosley Broadcasting Corporation. The Crosley Broadcasting Corporation was a pioneering American radio and television broadcasting company founded by industrialist Powel Crosley Jr. in the early 1920s. Originating from its flagship station WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, it grew into a major regional network known for high-power transmission and innovative programming. The corporation was a key player in the early development of both AM broadcasting and television in the United States, and its assets were later absorbed into Avco Broadcasting Corporation.

History

The corporation's origins are tied to the entrepreneurial ventures of Powel Crosley Jr., who entered broadcasting by founding WLW in 1922 to promote his Crosley Radio manufacturing business. Under the leadership of Crosley and his brother Lewis Crosley, the station rapidly expanded its influence, becoming a cornerstone of the Midwestern United States media landscape. In 1929, the company established the Crosley Radio Corporation to formally manage its broadcasting and manufacturing interests, navigating the regulatory changes of the Federal Communications Commission and the Communications Act of 1934. Following World War II, the company aggressively entered the new medium of television, launching one of the nation's first TV stations. In 1945, the broadcasting division was separately incorporated, and in 1968, the entire operation was purchased by the Avco conglomerate, leading to its rebranding as Avco Broadcasting Corporation.

Stations

The core of the company's radio operations was the immensely powerful clear-channel station WLW, which broadcast at 500,000 watts during the 1930s from its transmitter in Mason, Ohio. Its television flagship, WLWT, signed on in 1948 as one of the first stations in Cincinnati and became an important affiliate of the NBC network. Other significant owned-and-operated stations included WLWD (now WDTN) in Dayton, Ohio, and WLWC in Columbus, Ohio, forming a powerful regional network in the Ohio Valley. The company also operated WKRC and WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, acquired in 1957, further solidifying its dominance in the Tri-State area. These stations were crucial for distributing the corporation's original programming across the Midwestern United States.

Programming

The corporation was renowned for producing a wide array of popular and influential programs that aired on its own stations and were syndicated nationally. Its radio division, often called the "Crosley Radio Network," featured major programs like the long-running musical variety show Moon River and the adventure serial The Lone Ranger. It was also an early broadcaster of Major League Baseball games, including those of the Cincinnati Reds. In television, WLWT was a prolific production center, creating the groundbreaking children's program The Paul Dixon Show and the popular daytime series The 50-50 Club. The station was also the original home for the nationally syndicated Ruth Lyons' 50-50 Club, which had a massive audience and influenced the format of later talk shows.

Technical innovations

The company was a leader in broadcast engineering, most famously for its experimentation with super-power AM broadcasting at WLW, which used a custom-built transmitter to reach audiences across much of North America. This "Nation's Station" period provided valuable data on signal propagation and interference for the Federal Communications Commission. In television, it was an early adopter of coaxial cable for linking its stations and invested in advanced studio facilities at its Crosley Square complex in Cincinnati. The corporation's engineers also contributed to the development of frequency modulation technology and the standards for the postwar television in the United States.

Legacy

The purchase by Avco in 1968 marked the end of the Crosley name in broadcasting, but its infrastructure and stations continued as the core of the successful Avco Broadcasting Corporation, which later became part of Argyle Television and then Hearst Television. The pioneering high-power radio work at WLW remains a legendary chapter in the history of AM broadcasting in the United States. Many of its produced programs, such as The Bob Braun Show, set templates for local and syndicated television. The corporation's history is preserved in archives at the Cincinnati Museum Center and is a frequent subject of study for historians of the Golden Age of Radio and early Television in the United States.

Category:Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States Category:Companies based in Cincinnati Category:1922 establishments in Ohio Category:1968 disestablishments in Ohio