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Line 39: | podcast = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> }} '''''Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge''''' is an American [[old-time radio]] musical quiz program starring [[Kay Kyser]]. It was broadcast on [[Mutual Broadcasting System|Mutual]], [[NBC]], and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] beginning on February 1, 1938, and ending on July 29, 1949.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book|last1=Dunning|first1=John|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|url=https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn|url-access=registration|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-19-507678-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/384 384-385]|edition=Revised}}</ref> ==Background== In the latter half of the 1930s, leaders of [[Big band|big bands]] sought ways to differentiate their groups from others who played similar music. Successful variations on the standard format of just playing one song after another could quickly move bands from "being merely late-hour fillers" without sponsors to having sponsored broadcasts in better time slots. [[Tommy Dorsey]] began featuring amateur musicians, [[Benny Goodman]] moved his trio and quartet into the spotlight, and [[Kay Kyser]] added a quiz component. Some of the changes were less innovation than adaptation. An article in the trade publication ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' noted that Dorsey's airing of amateurs followed the example of [[Major Bowes]], and Kyser's contest was a variation on the ''[[Professor Quiz]]'' program.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Evening Dance Hours Improved By Orks' Showmanship Measures |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/30s/1938/BB-1938-02-19-OCR-Page-0008.pdf#search=%22kollege%22 |magazine=Billboard |date=February 19, 1938 |page=8}}</ref> In October 1937,<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Wolters |first1=Larry |title=Our Listening to Radio Cost Billion in '37 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25163742/chicago_tribune/ |work=Chicago Tribune |date=January 13, 1938 |location=Illinois, Chicago |page=15|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = November 6, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> Kyser began including the ''Kollege'' as a segment in his Monday night broadcasts from the [[Blackhawk (restaurant)|Blackhawk]] restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, via radio station [[WGN (AM)|WGN]].<ref name=rmt/> Line 69: Kyser took the program to television on December 1, 1949, on NBC, where it ran weekly until December 28, 1950. The format was essentially the same as that of the radio program, including Kyser's wearing a cap and gown.<ref name=tt>{{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Alex|title=Total Television|date=1996|publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc.|location=New York, New York|isbn=0-14-02-4916-8|page= 172|edition=4th}}</ref> Kyser, Douglas, and Kabibble were the only entertainers carried over from the radio version. Other regulars were Liza Palmer, [[Sue Bennett]], [[Diane Sinclair]], and Ken Spaulding. [[Ben Grauer]] and Roy Marshall were the announcers.<ref name="brooks">{{cite book|last1=Books|first1=Tim|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows : 1946 - Present|url=https://archive.org/details/completedirector1st00bro|url-access=registration|date=1979|publisher=Ballantine Books|location=New York|isbn=0-345-25525-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/completedirector1st00bro/page/321 321]}}</ref> The program returned to TV on July 4, 1954, again on NBC, and ran until September 12, 1954. [[Tennessee Ernie Ford]] was the host, and the title used the traditional spelling, == References == | |||