"America's Town Meeting of the Air" was a radio program produced at the Hall for over twenty years, from 1935 to 1956. "Town Meeting" was the brain-child of George V. Denny, Jr., then the associate director of the Hall. Envisioned as a means of expanding the audience – first nationally, then internationally – for the programs held at the Hall which promoted the free exchange of ideas, the format of "Town Meeting" was a conversation among four speakers on a predetermined question. The series was launched on the NBC Blue Network on Memorial Day 1935. Although it began broadcasting on a single station with approximately 500,000 listeners, within three years, "Town Meeting" was carried by 78 stations and boasted 2.5 million listeners. "Town Meeting" also toured the United States and twelve cities on three continents. It won numerous awards.