The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Powers Gouraud
1950

Here's a broadcast made by The Ol' Night Owl, Powers Gouraud on WCAU Radio. His program was very popular and a mainstay at the station for decades.

From Thursday evening, July 9, 1942, Powers Gouraud speaks with "Uncle Miltie," Milton Berle. Berle would later get the nickname "Mister Television." At the time of this broadcast, Berle was just 3 days away from his 34th birthday. Milton was in town for his appearances at the old Earle Theater where he was headlining.

Some of Gouraud's broadcasts were live and others were transcribed on 16" transcription discs. Why? Because the people being interviewed would be on stage at the time of the broadcast. If you listen really carefully to this recording, the announcer at the beginning and end of the program sounds clearer while Gouraud and Berle have some distortion in their voices. We believe that this is because the announcer was at the WCAU studios while Gouraud and Berle were at a remote location.

The original source of this recording is from an old WCAU Radio (now WPHT) 16" transcription disc. In 1966, the audio was transferred to reel to reel audio tape. Our computers files are made directly off that reel to reel recording. That 1966 transfer tape is now part of the Broadcast Pioneers archives.

While this historic interview has been on our website for 13 years beginning in 2000, in January of 2013, we re-did the audio because today's technology is much superior to that of 2000. What you hear today is far better than what you heard previously. It is also now available, for the first time, in both Real Audio and Windows Media Formats. In our opinion, the Real Audio version is clearer.

Listen in Real Audio!
Listen in Windows Media!

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com