Editing Golden Age of Radio (section)

===Armed Forces Radio Service===
{{Main|American Forces Network#History}}
[[File:Sinatra Radio.gif|thumb|300px|right|[[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Alida Valli]] converse over Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II.]]
The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) had its origins in the U.S. [[United States Department of War|War Department]]'s quest to improve troop morale. This quest began with short-wave broadcasts of educational and information programs to troops in 1940. In 1941, the War Department began issuing "Buddy Kits" (B-Kits) to departing troops, which consisted of radios, 78 rpm records and electrical transcription discs of radio shows. However, with the entrance of the United States into World War II, the War Department decided that it needed to improve the quality and quantity of its offerings.

This began with the broadcasting of its own original variety programs. ''[[Command Performance (radio series)|Command Performance]]'' was the first of these, produced for the first time on March 1, 1942. On May 26, 1942, the Armed Forces Radio Service was formally established. Originally, its programming comprised network radio shows with the commercials removed. However, it soon began producing original programming, such as ''[[Mail Call (radio program)|Mail Call]]'', ''G.I. Journal'', ''Jubilee'' and ''[[GI Jive]]''. At its peak in 1945, the Service produced around 20 hours of original programming each week.

From 1943 until 1949 the AFRS also broadcast programs developed through the collaborative efforts of the [[Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]] and the [[Columbia Broadcasting System]] in support of America's [[cultural diplomacy]] initiatives and President Franklin Roosevelt's [[Good Neighbor policy]]. Included among the popular shows was ''[[Viva America]]'' which showcased leading musical artists from both North and South America for the entertainment of America's troops. Included among the regular performers were: [[Alfredo Antonini]], [[Juan Arvizu]], [[Nestor Mesta Chayres]], [[Kate Smith]],<ref>[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/left-to-right-actor-pat-obrien-and-cbs-radio-singer-kate-news-photo/905998976?adppopup=true Photograph of actor Pat O'Brien and singer Kate Smith on the Viva America program for CBS Radio on Getty Images.com]</ref>  and [[John Serry Sr.]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=L3WyZ9A4_XEC&q=VIva+America&pg=PA198 ''The Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series'' Mackenzie, Harry. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT, 1999 p. 21] {{ISBN|0-313-30812-8}}<span>  Viva America on books.google.com</span></ref><ref>Media Sound & Culture in Latin America. Editors: Bronfman, Alejanda & Wood, Andrew Grant. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2012, p. 49 {{ISBN|978-0-8229-6187-1}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=ehN4sM0Xy_UC&dq=Alfredo+Antonini+Elsa+Miranda&pg=PA49 books.google.com See p. 49]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Anthony|first=Edwin D.|title=Records of the Office of Inter-American Affairs|volume=Inventory of Record Group 229|publisher=National Archives and Record Services – General Services Administration|location=Washington D.C.|year=1973|pages=25–26|lccn=73-600146 <!-- dead -->|chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-229-inter-american-affairs.pdf#page=33|chapter=Records of the Radio Division}}</ref>

After the war, the AFRS continued providing programming to troops in Europe. During the 1950s and early 1960s it presented performances by the Army's only symphonic orchestra ensemble—the [[Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=L3WyZ9A4_XEC&dq=Seventh+Army+Symphony+Orchestra&pg=PA198 ''The Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series''] Harry MacKenzie, Greeenwood Press, CT. 1999, p. 198  {{ISBN|0-313-30812-8}} "Seventh Army Symphony on Armed Forces Radio in 1961 performing works by Vivaldi and Dvorak" via – Google Books</ref>
It also provided programming for future wars that the United States was involved in. It survives today as a component of the [[American Forces Network]] (AFN).

All of the shows aired by the AFRS during the Golden Age were recorded as electrical transcription discs, vinyl copies of which were shipped to stations overseas to be broadcast to the troops. People in the United States rarely ever heard programming from the AFRS,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://community.mcckc.edu/crosby/AFRS.htm |title=Armed Forces Radio Services broadcasts |access-date=2007-05-16 |work=Bing Crosby Internet Museum |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070221191200/http://community.mcckc.edu/crosby/AFRS.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-02-21}}</ref> though AFRS recordings of Golden Age network shows were occasionally broadcast on some domestic stations beginning in the 1950s.

In some cases, the AFRS disc is the only surviving recording of a program.