Editing Golden Age of Radio (section)

== Legacy ==
===United States===
Although the Golden Age of Radio is generally considered to have ended in the 1950s with the rise of television, radio continued to evolve and remain a significant medium in the 1960s. The decade saw the growth of FM radio, which offered better sound quality and attracted listeners with its music and talk show formats. Notable events included the [[1960 United States presidential debates|first presidential debate broadcast]] on both radio and television in [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]], and the debut of the first locally produced  [[talk radio]] show, 'At Your Service,' from KMOX in St. Louis, Missouri, which helped launch the talk radio format in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Radio - Digital, Broadcasting, Technology {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/radio/New-initiatives-1960-80 |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Some old-time radio shows continued on the air, although in ever-dwindling numbers, throughout the 1950s, even after their television equivalents had conquered the general public. One factor which helped to kill off old-time radio entirely was the evolution of popular music (including the development of [[rock and roll]]), which led to the birth of the [[top 40]] radio format. A top 40 show could be produced in a small studio in a local station with minimal staff. This displaced [[Full service (radio format)|full-service]] network radio and hastened the end of the golden-age era of radio drama by 1962. (Radio as a broadcast medium would survive, thanks in part to the proliferation of the [[transistor radio]], and permanent installation in vehicles, making the medium far more portable than television). Full-service stations that did not adopt either top 40 or the mellower [[beautiful music]] or [[Middle of the road (music)|MOR]] formats eventually developed [[all-news radio]] in the mid-1960s.

Scripted radio comedy and drama in the vein of old-time radio has a limited presence on U.S. radio. Several radio theatre series are still in production in the United States, usually airing on Sunday nights. These include original series such as ''[[Imagination Theater]]'' and a radio adaptation of ''[[The Twilight Zone (radio series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' TV series, as well as rerun compilations such as the popular daily series ''[[When Radio Was]]'' and [[USA Radio Network]]'s ''[[USA Radio Network#Golden Age of Radio Theatre|Golden Age of Radio Theatre]]'', and weekly programs such as ''The Big Broadcast'' on [[WAMU]], hosted by [[Murray Horwitz]]. These shows usually air in late nights and/or on weekends on small AM stations. Carl Amari's nationally syndicated radio show ''Hollywood 360'' features 5 old-time radio episodes each week during his 5-hour broadcast. Amari's show is heard on 100+ radio stations coast-to-coast and in 168 countries on American Forces Radio. Local rerun compilations are also heard, primarily on [[public radio]] stations. [[Sirius XM Radio]] maintains a full-time [[Radio Classics]] channel devoted to rebroadcasts of vintage radio shows.

Starting in 1974, [[Garrison Keillor]], through his syndicated two-hour-long program ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'', has provided a living museum of the production, tone and listener's experience of this era of radio for several generations after its demise.  Produced live in theaters throughout the country, using the same sound effects and techniques of the era, it ran through 2016 with Keillor as host. The program included segments that were close renditions (in the form of parody) of specific genres of this era, including Westerns ("Dusty and Lefty, The Lives of the Cowboys"), detective procedurals ("[[Guy Noir]], Private Eye") and even advertising through fictional commercials.  Keillor also wrote a novel, ''[[WLT: A Radio Romance]]'' based on a radio station of this era—including a personally narrated version for the ultimate in verisimilitude. Upon Keillor's retirement, replacement host [[Chris Thile]] chose to reboot the show (since renamed ''[[Live from Here]]'' after the syndicator cut ties with Keillor) and eliminate much of the old-time radio trappings of the format; the show was ultimately canceled in 2020 due to financial and logistics problems.<ref>Baenen, Jeff (April 12, 2016). [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b68c4645599c48dd90a2f8a01bbab360/goodbye-lake-wobegon-prairie-home-getting-new-host Goodbye, Lake Wobegon: 'Prairie Home' is getting a new host] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415153500/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b68c4645599c48dd90a2f8a01bbab360/goodbye-lake-wobegon-prairie-home-getting-new-host |date=2016-04-15 }}. ''AP''. Retrieved April 13, 2016.</ref>

Vintage shows and new audio productions in America are accessible more widely from recordings or by satellite and web broadcasters, rather than over conventional AM and FM radio.  The [[National Audio Theatre Festival]] is a national organization and yearly conference keeping the audio arts—especially audio drama—alive, and continues to involve long-time voice actors and OTR veterans in its ranks. Its predecessor, the Midwest Radio Theatre Workshop, was first hosted by [[Jim Jordan (actor)|Jim Jordan]], of ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' fame, and [[Norman Corwin]] advised the organization.

One of the longest running radio programs celebrating this era is ''The Golden Days of Radio'', which was hosted on the [[American Forces Network|Armed Forces Radio Service]] for more than 20 years and overall for more than 50 years by Frank Bresee, who also played "Little Beaver" on the ''[[Red Ryder]]'' program as a child actor.

One of the very few still-running shows from the earlier era of radio is a Christian program entitled ''[[Unshackled!]]'' The weekly half-hour show, produced in Chicago by [[Pacific Garden Mission]], has been continuously broadcast since 1950. The shows are created using techniques from the 1950s (including home-made sound effects) and are broadcast across the U.S. and around the world by thousands of radio stations.

Today, radio performers of the past appear at conventions that feature re-creations of classic shows, as well as music, memorabilia and historical panels. The largest of these events was the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention, held in [[Newark, New Jersey]], which held its final convention in October 2011 after 36 years. Others include REPS in Seattle (June), SPERDVAC in California, the Cincinnati OTR & Nostalgia Convention (April), and the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention (September).  Veterans of the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention, including Chairperson Steven M. Lewis of The Gotham Radio Players, Maggie Thompson, publisher of the ''Comic Book Buyer's Guide'', Craig Wichman of audio drama troupe Quicksilver Audio Theater and long-time FOTR Publicist Sean Dougherty have launched a successor event, [http://www.celebratingaudiotheater.org Celebrating Audio Theater – Old & New], scheduled for October 12–13, 2012.

Radio dramas from the golden age are sometimes recreated as live stage performances at such events. One such group, led by director [[Daniel Wakefield Smith|Daniel Smith]], has been performing re-creations of old-time radio dramas at [[Fairfield University]]'s [[Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts]] since the year 2000.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |first=Jan Ellen |last=Spiegel |title=We Interrupt This Play for a News Bulletin on the War |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2007-09-09 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/09peoplect.html?ex=1190001600&en=c2a8d60db4ac9e04&ei=5070 |access-date=2007-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701064723/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/09peoplect.html?ex=1190001600&en=c2a8d60db4ac9e04&ei=5070 |archive-date=2017-07-01 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Radio Dramas |work=[[Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts]] |publisher=Fairfield University |year=2007 |url=http://www.fairfield.edu/x15712.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813201521/http://www.fairfield.edu/x15712.html |archive-date=2007-08-13 |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-04-18}}</ref>

The 40th anniversary of what is widely considered the end of the old time radio era (the final broadcasts of ''[[Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar]]'' and ''[[Suspense (radio drama)|Suspense]]'' on September 30, 1962) was marked with a commentary on NPR's ''All Things Considered''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chimes |first=Art |title=Last Radio Drama |website=NPR.org |publisher=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1150876 |access-date=2010-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604025959/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1150876 |archive-date=2011-06-04 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A handful of radio programs from the old-time era remain in production, all from the genres of news, music, or religious broadcasting: the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]'' (1925), ''[[Music and the Spoken Word]]'' (1929), ''[[The Lutheran Hour]]'' (1930), the ''[[CBS World News Roundup]]'' (1938), ''[[King Biscuit Time]]'' (1941) and the ''[[Renfro Valley Gatherin']]'' (1943). Of those, all but the Opry maintain their original short-form length of 30 minutes or less. The ''[[WWVA Jamboree|Wheeling Jamboree]]'' counts an earlier program on a competing station as part of its history, tracing its lineage back to 1933.

Western revival/comedy act [[Riders in the Sky (band)|Riders in the Sky]] produced a radio serial ''[[Riders Radio Theater]]'' in the 1980s and 1990s and continues to provide sketch comedy on existing radio programs including the ''Grand Ole Opry'', ''[[Midnite Jamboree]]'' and ''[[WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour]]''.

===Elsewhere===
Regular broadcasts of radio plays are also heard in—among other countries—Australia, Croatia, Estonia,<ref>{{cite web |title=Raadioteater |language=et |publisher=[[Eesti Rahvusringhääling]] (formerly Eesti Raadio) |year=2015 |url=http://raadioteater.err.ee/raadioteater/avaleht |access-date=2015-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207105827/http://raadioteater.err.ee/raadioteater/avaleht |archive-date=2015-02-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, and Sweden. In the United Kingdom, such scripted radio drama continues on [[BBC Radio 3]] and (principally) [[BBC Radio 4]], the second-most popular radio station in the country, as well as on the rerun channel [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]], which is the seventh-most popular station there.