Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
First game show sold newspapers
The newspaper bee
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle held Current Events Bees, spelling-bee-style contests on topical issues. A correct answer kept you in, and the last person standing won bragging rights and a small cash prize. Whenever the paper ran one, it printed a special edition with all the questions and answers, and it always sold a lot of extra copies. Putting the bee on radio was the next step.
Vox Pop pays a dollar
Another radio show, Vox Pop, started by asking random people on the street for their opinions on the news. Then it added a segment testing what they knew about it, but people didn't want to risk looking foolish on the air. So the host took a wad of money along and handed out a dollar for each correct answer.
Depression and war
In the middle of the Great Depression, one dollar was incentive enough. Quiz shows became a distraction for listeners who couldn't afford other entertainment, and they could fantasize about winning a dollar for knowing a fact or two. During World War II, the federal government asked many of the shows to shut down for fear that an audience member would leak war secrets live on the air. Information Please! kept going, with prizes that included a $25 defense bond.
Why did newspapers start radio stations?
In the early 1920s, radio was a new way to reach readers, and many publishers used it to promote their papers. Publishers also feared radio would take their advertisers, and owning a station was a way to hedge. The Chicago Tribune's WGN, launched in 1924, took its call letters from the slogan World's Greatest Newspaper.
Why did wartime censors worry about live radio?
After the United States entered World War II, the Office of Censorship asked broadcasters to follow a voluntary code. It asked stations to drop weather reports, which could help enemy planes and ships. It also discouraged ad-lib interviews and man-on-the-street programs, where a speaker could reveal troop movements or other details. Broadcasters followed the code voluntarily rather than by law.
How did Information Please! flip the quiz format?
Information Please! premiered on NBC radio in 1938, with listeners sending in questions meant to stump a panel of experts. Regular panelists included columnist Franklin P. Adams, sportswriter John Kieran, and pianist Oscar Levant. Listeners whose questions stumped the panel won prizes. The program ran on radio for more than a decade.
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