15 Minutes with Bing Crosby for radio as for recording, he's a cinch for ether popularity." The nationwide shows continued daily (except Sundays) on a sustaining basis until October 31, 1931 from station WABC in New York. Harry Von Zell was the announcer. Freddie Rich led the orchestra after the first week. Russ Columbo was broadcasting for NBC at 11:30 p.m. each night as competition for Bing with "Variety" noting "Scrap between NBC & CBS over Russ Columbo and Bing Crosby is getting warm." Crosby's popularity soon attracted a sponsor - the American Tobacco Company - and rather than Lucky Strike cigarettes, the company's president,
This Is Bing Crosby one of his old disks and to show his generosity, as well as good showmanship, playing an Ella Fitzgerald recording too. Crosby also did his own commercials, valiantly plugging frozen orange juice and doing a better job of it than announcer, Ken Carpenter. Met soprano, Dorothy Kirsten, wandered into the program to exchange a couple of words with Bing but didn’t sing anything, making the whole bit a bit silly. Otherwise, this is a pleasant ayemer." A few months later, Billboard magazine looked at the program too. "Whether Bing Crosby is as good a salesman as he is a performer