When she spoke, whether in the Crosley Broadcasting boardroom or a hallway, everyone listened. She wielded tremendous power within her organization, and a passionate audience followed her every move. Always on the leading edge, she wasn’t afraid to take on “difficult” topics, anything from race and sex to war and cancer. Fans signed a waiting list to get on her show—as did sponsors. Anxious to tap into the tremendous exposure, celebrities, authors, and politicians vied for guest spots on her show. Anything she endorsed flew off the shelves.She was not Oprah Winfrey.
She was Ruth Lyons, a pioneering broadcaster whose television daytime television show had the highest ratings in the nation. Her audience in 1960 equaled that of Oprah Winfrey today (7 million viewers). With a mix of sentimentality and caustic commentary she ad-libbed her way through commercials, interviews with Hollywood stars, and her version of national and world events—all the while maintaining that she was simply a normal housewife and mother who happened to have a radio show. National magazines labeled her “The most influential housewife in America.”
She gave away cars on her show, “The 50-50 Club,” and told advertisers what to do. Always working without a script, she did commercials when, how, and if she wanted to. She could make or break products or companies. And sponsors signed up on waiting lists to pay prime-time network advertising rates to get on her show. It was like Powel Crosley, Jr.’s half-million watt WLW radio in the 1930s, reborn on television ...
1 comment:
Ruth Lyons was an amazing woman who was able to capture and control the TV world in the tri-state area by way of a natural capacity for leadership, an ability to converse about everything and anything with anybody.....and having a natural gift for appreciating the goodness in everyone she met. She could find something of interest in all her guests, associates, friends, audiences and in the products on her show which financed The 50/50 Club, and which in turn, benefitted the producers of these products but only IF Ruth herself felt they were worthy of purchase by the American public. "Mother's" preoccupation with her beloved family endeared her to even more to her devoted fans, and her Ruth Lyons Children's Fund has done amazing things for hospitalized children for nearly 70 years. She lives on in my heart and in the hearts of many others as THE First Lady of Television. God bless you, "Mother"~~~keep pushing us to do our best for those less fortunate.
Post a Comment