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,
The Bing Crosby Show (1954–1956) The Bing Crosby Show (1954–1956) The Bing Crosby Show was broadcast daily Mondays to Fridays and was of 15 minutes duration with Bing Crosby talking about all manner of different subjects and usually including three songs around the dialogue. During the summer of 1954 with radio audiences everywhere declining dramatically, Crosby decided not to continue with a major weekly radio show involving the expense of guest stars and a 22 piece orchestra. However, he was persuaded to continue in radio, albeit in a different and cheaper format. On November 22, 1954 ‘The Bing Crosby Show’ emerged on CBS at 9:15