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Bill Stern's Colgate Sports Newsreel

110 episodes · 1942–1950 · NBC · News

Bill Stern
Bill Stern

Play Bill Stern's Colgate Sports Newsreel on Radio Days

Bill Stern was NBC's star sportscaster: in 1939 he called the first televised sporting event, a Princeton-Columbia baseball game, and that fall the first televised football game. On his weekly fifteen minutes for Colgate Shave Cream he told sports stories that, in his own words, "might be actual, may be mythical, but definitely interesting," and he made no effort to check them, which is half the fun. Each week a guest dropped by, from Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Jim Thorpe to Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles and Jack Benny, and Bill signed off by inviting listeners to see him in the News of the Day newsreel. RadioGOLDINdex's anniversary broadcasts date the show's start to October 1939.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bill Stern; RadioGOLDINdex

Episodes

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19422 episodes
  • Harry James September 12, 1942 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Harry James.
  • John Welshel October 24, 1942 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with Navy's coach John Welshel as guest.
19431 episode
  • Madeleine Carroll April 17, 1943 · NBC · 12 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Madeleine Carroll.
19443 episodes
  • Constance Bennett March 17, 1944 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Constance Bennett.
  • Ellery Queen August 18, 1944 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill's guest is the fictional detective Ellery Queen.
  • Joseph Dunninger September 8, 1944 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the mentalist Joseph Dunninger as guest.
194520 episodes
  • Lawrence Tibbett March 2, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Lawrence Tibbett.
  • Lena Horne March 30, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Lena Horne.
  • Larry MacPhail April 20, 1945 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill tells of the Kaiser's ashtray and an Olympic pistol-shooting medal, and Yankees president Larry MacPhail joins him from Washington.
  • Henny Youngman April 27, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Henny Youngman.
  • Kathleen Winsor June 15, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the novelist Kathleen Winsor as guest.
  • Allan Jones June 22, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Allan Jones.
  • H. V. Kaltenborn Sits In July 6, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    The news commentator H. V. Kaltenborn fills in for Bill Stern.
  • H. V. Kaltenborn Sits In Again July 13, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    H. V. Kaltenborn fills in for Bill Stern a second week.
  • Byron Nelson July 27, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    From Chicago: Bill tells of a golfer who gave up the game for love, and the song he wrote, and the golfer Byron Nelson is his guest.
  • Joan Edwards (1945) August 3, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Joan Edwards.
  • Eddie Rickenbacker (1945) August 17, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Eddie Rickenbacker.
  • Charlie Spivak August 31, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the bandleader Charlie Spivak as guest.
  • Brace Beemer September 14, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    From Detroit: Brace Beemer, radio's Lone Ranger, talks about his career.
  • Pat O'Brien October 5, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Pat O'Brien.
  • Tommy Dorsey November 9, 1945 · NBC · 15 min
    Tommy Dorsey tells how baseball fans helped the singer Geraldine Farrar's career, and how he and his brother Jimmy gave up baseball for music.
  • Frank Sinatra November 23, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Frank Sinatra.
  • Joe Louis December 7, 1945 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with heavyweight champion Joe Louis as guest.
  • Elsa Maxwell December 14, 1945 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Elsa Maxwell.
  • Ezra Stone December 21, 1945 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Ezra Stone, radio's Henry Aldrich.
  • Jack Benny December 28, 1945 · NBC · 15 min
    From Hollywood, with guest Jack Benny: Bill's "top" stories of 1945, including a pen said to have come from a football player on Iwo Jima, a dinner party for a horse, and a soccer tale tied to the atomic bomb.
194631 episodes
  • Abbott and Costello January 4, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guests Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
  • Kay Kyser February 6, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill is named America's favorite sportscaster by Radio Daily, and Kay Kyser tells how the French underground made a wartime song popular.
  • Linda Darnell March 1, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Linda Darnell.
  • Jack Carson March 8, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Jack Carson.
  • Babe Ruth March 22, 1946 · NBC · 11 min
    Babe Ruth himself is Bill's guest.
  • Bonita Granville March 29, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Bonita Granville.
  • Xavier Cugat April 12, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Xavier Cugat.
  • Lucille Ball May 24, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Lucille Ball.
  • Eddie Anderson June 7, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Eddie Anderson, Jack Benny's Rochester.
  • Dave Elman June 14, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with Dave Elman of Hobby Lobby as guest.
  • Robert Ripley June 21, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Robert Ripley of Believe It or Not.
  • Orson Welles June 28, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Orson Welles.
  • Joan Edwards (1946) August 2, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Joan Edwards.
  • Dinah Shore August 9, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Dinah Shore.
  • Vivian Blaine August 16, 1946 · NBC · 13 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Vivian Blaine.
  • Cab Calloway August 23, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Cab Calloway says his first job was with the Bill Stern Band, and Bill tells of the jinx on room 243 of the United States Hotel.
  • Mischa Auer August 30, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Mischa Auer.
  • Sammy Kaye September 6, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the bandleader Sammy Kaye as guest.
  • Ann Rutherford September 13, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Ann Rutherford.
  • Drew Pearson September 20, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the columnist Drew Pearson as guest.
  • Connie Mack October 4, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics as guest.
  • Lizabeth Scott October 11, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Lizabeth Scott.
  • Roddy McDowall October 18, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    The show's seventh anniversary, with guest Roddy McDowall.
  • Gene Autry (1946) October 25, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Gene Autry.
  • Lou Little November 8, 1946 · NBC · 12 min
    From Chicago: the jinx on N.Y.U.'s football team, and Columbia coach Lou Little speaks from New York.
  • Mickey Rooney November 22, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Mickey Rooney.
  • Elmer Layden November 29, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    From Chicago: how Johnny Dalton won two games for Navy by himself, and how Diana Barrymore helped U.S.C. and Notre Dame, with former Notre Dame coach Elmer Layden, one of the Four Horsemen.
  • Sammy Baugh December 6, 1946 · NBC · 14 min
    Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins struggles through Bill's All-America list, and Bill passes an award of his own on to the Graham McNamee Memorial.
  • Guy Lombardo December 13, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill tells how a British convict helped free American slaves, and the legend of Pop Courtney and the Poughkeepsie Regatta, with guest Guy Lombardo.
  • Bill Stern's Christmas Show, 1946 December 20, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    From New Orleans, Bill's annual Christmas show: a sports tragedy behind a famous poem and a Christmas-tree legend, with U.S.C. coach Jeff Cravath.
  • Eddie Cantor December 27, 1946 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Eddie Cantor.
194722 episodes
  • Morton Downey January 17, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Morton Downey.
  • Rudy Vallee January 24, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Rudy Vallee.
  • Bucky Harris (January 1947) January 31, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill's stories of a song born of a sled race and of the 1921 fight broadcast, and the new Yankees manager Bucky Harris is his guest.
  • Spike Jones February 7, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Spike Jones.
  • Frank Frisch February 14, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the Fordham Flash, Frank Frisch, as guest.
  • Woody Herman February 21, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the bandleader Woody Herman as guest.
  • Toots Shor February 28, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the restaurateur Toots Shor as guest.
  • Lou Gehrig Remembered May 30, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill tells of Lou Gehrig's 1931 trip to Japan, and Mrs. Gehrig speaks briefly; a Memorial Day look at sports in the war, and tennis champion Pauline Betz is the guest.
  • Roy Rogers June 13, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Roy Rogers.
  • James J. Braddock and Perry Como June 20, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the former heavyweight champion James J. Braddock and Perry Como.
  • George Jessel, Joe Howard and June Haver July 4, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guests George Jessel, Joe Howard and June Haver.
  • Bob Feller July 11, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with Cleveland's Bob Feller as guest.
  • Eddie Cantor Sits In July 25, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Eddie Cantor fills in for Bill Stern.
  • Frank Sinatra Sits In August 1, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    Frank Sinatra fills in for Bill Stern.
  • John Garfield Sits In August 8, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    John Garfield fills in for Bill Stern.
  • Paul Whiteman August 22, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Paul Whiteman.
  • Babe Didrikson Zaharias September 19, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the champion athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias as guest.
  • Bucky Harris (October 1947) October 3, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    From New Orleans: a portrait of a basketball player, and how a World Series saved a Mexican city, with Yankees manager Bucky Harris speaking from New York.
  • Gene Autry (1947) October 10, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    The show's eighth anniversary, with Gene Autry speaking from Madison Square Garden.
  • Hildegarde October 17, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the singer Hildegarde as guest.
  • Frank Leahy October 31, 1947 · NBC · 14 min
    From Chicago: a Halloween story about Notre Dame, Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy as guest, and the boy who wanted to play for Navy and ended up in the Army, Dwight Eisenhower.
  • Eddie Rickenbacker (1947) November 14, 1947 · NBC · 15 min
    From Chicago: Bill tells how a football team's student manager saved Eddie Rickenbacker's life, and Rickenbacker speaks from New York.
194814 episodes
  • Ronald Reagan January 2, 1948 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Ronald Reagan, himself a sports announcer before Hollywood.
  • Jimmy McHugh and Eddie Cantor January 9, 1948 · NBC · 14 min
    From Hollywood: Bill's tale of songwriter Jimmy McHugh's boxing days and "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and Eddie Cantor on Hollywood as a sports town.
  • Jack Dempsey April 2, 1948 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with former heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey as guest.
  • Canada Lee April 16, 1948 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the actor and former boxer Canada Lee as guest.
  • Maxie Rosenbloom April 23, 1948 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the boxer Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom as guest.
  • Tony Martin April 30, 1948 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Tony Martin.
  • Jane Froman May 7, 1948 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Jane Froman.
  • Fred Waring May 14, 1948 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Fred Waring.
  • Jim Thorpe June 4, 1948 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the great all-around athlete Jim Thorpe as guest.
  • Frank Sinatra Sits In, 1948 July 9, 1948 · NBC · 14 min
    Frank Sinatra fills in for the vacationing Bill Stern.
  • William Powell Sits In July 16, 1948 · NBC · 15 min
    William Powell fills in for Bill Stern.
  • Frankie Carle November 26, 1948 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the bandleader Frankie Carle as guest.
  • Marie McDonald December 17, 1948 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Marie McDonald.
  • George Raft December 31, 1948 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest George Raft.
194913 episodes
  • Eddie Cantor, 1949 January 7, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Eddie Cantor.
  • Horace Heidt January 21, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the bandleader Horace Heidt as guest.
  • Jerry Colonna January 28, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Jerry Colonna.
  • Casey Stengel February 18, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with the new Yankees manager Casey Stengel as guest.
  • Rudy Vallee and Mrs. John McGraw February 25, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Guests Rudy Vallee and Mrs. John McGraw, on the fifteenth anniversary of the Giants manager's death.
  • Zachary Scott March 4, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Guest Zachary Scott, and Bill's tale of two strange athletes.
  • Susan Hayward March 18, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Susan Hayward.
  • A Profile of Lou Gehrig June 3, 1949 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill's stories of two racing drivers named Ed and Louis and a three-year-old royal racing driver, then a profile of Lou Gehrig, with Mrs. Gehrig.
  • The Connie Mack Story June 17, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill presents the Connie Mack story with Mack himself as guest, plus a tall tale of America's first woman doctor and John Philip Sousa.
  • The Man Born in Three States August 19, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill's stories of a double knockout in a title fight, of Dizzy Dean as the man born in three states, and of Rudolph Valentino and Al Jolson.
  • Bob Zuppke and Red Grange October 28, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with Illinois coach Bob Zuppke and his star, Red Grange.
  • The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame November 25, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with Notre Dame's Four Horsemen as guests.
  • Bill Stern's Christmas Show, 1949 December 23, 1949 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill's annual Christmas story and a tale of America's first Christmas tree, and Joe Louis recites "The Night Before Christmas."
19504 episodes
  • Sammy Kaye, 1950 January 20, 1950 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill's tale of a 1901 auto race won by an amateur, and Sammy Kaye asks for sports stories about popular songs.
  • Jack Carson, 1950 April 7, 1950 · NBC · 14 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Jack Carson.
  • Laraine Day May 12, 1950 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with guest Laraine Day.
  • Ted Williams May 19, 1950 · NBC · 15 min
    Bill Stern's sports stories, with Boston's Ted Williams as guest.