50s Pop Singers with Their Own TV Shows

The arrival, acceptance, and then dominance of television inthe 1950s was phenomenal. Commercial television broadcasting, initiated in 1947in the United States, signaled that a new medium would influence popular music.In 1948, only New York, Washington, and Philadelphia were networked to receivelive television, by 1949, the east and midwest were joined, and in 1951, thelink was completed to the west coast.

The arrival, acceptance, and then dominance of television in the 1950s was phenomenal. Commercial television broadcasting, initiated in 1947 in the United States, signaled that a new medium would influence popular music. In 1948, only New York, Washington, and Philadelphia were networked to receive live television, by 1949, the east and midwest were joined, and in 1951, the link was completed to the west coast.
The growth in the purchase of television sets was unprecedented. In 1948, fewer than 2% of US homes had a TV set-by the end of the decade nearly 90% of homes in the United States had a TV set. The fifties, often called the 'golden age of television,' presented live drama, live comedy, live music, and live variety offerings to an eager audience.

Music programs were a staple of television programming in the 1950s. During the first half of the decade network broadcasts in the early evening typically included a fifteen-minute national newscast followed by a fifteen-minute light entertainment program, usually a musical show, each weekday. CBS had Perry Como, Jane Froman, and Jo Stafford, while NBC had Dinah Shore, Eddie Fisher, and Tony Martin. Later in the fifties, local and national news programs expanded and began to dominate the early evening schedule and the music shows were extended to a half-hour, moved to prime time, and garnered even larger audiences. By the mid-fifties, top rated musical/variety shows were hosted by popular vocalists like Dinah Shore and Perry Como.

POPULAR 50s SINGERS WITH THEIR OWN NETWORK TV SERIES
(Evening broadcast times listed are Eastern Time, programs aired one hour earlier in the Midwest)

Andy Williams Show
Thursdays 9:00-9:30 (ABC) 1958
Tuesdays 10:00-11:00 (CBS) 1959

Dinah Shore Show
Tuesdays & Thursdays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1951-1957
Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Sundays 9:00-10:00 (NBC) 1957-1962

Coke Time with Eddie Fisher
Wednesdays & Fridays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1953-1957
Eddie Fisher Show
Tuesdays 8:00-9:00 (NBC) 1957-1959

Frank Sinatra Show
Tuesdays 8:00-9:00 (CBS) 1950-1952
Fridays 9:00-9:30 (ABC) 1957-1958

Frankie Laine Time
Wednesdays 8:00-9:00 (CBS) 1955-1956

Georgia Gibbs Million Record Show
Mondays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1957

Gordon MacRae Show
Mondays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1956

Guy Mitchell Show
Mondays 8:00-8:30 (ABC) 1957-1958

Helen O'Connell Show
Wednesdays & Fridays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1957

Jane Froman's USA Canteen
Tuesdays & Thursdays 7:45-8:00 (CBS) 1952-1955

Jaye P. Morgan Show
Wednesdays & Fridays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1956

Jo Stafford Show
Tuesdays 7:45-8:00 (CBS) 1954-1955

Jimmie Rodgers Show
Tuesdays 8:30-9:00 (NBC) 1959

Julius LaRosa Show
Mon, Wed, & Fri 7:45-8:00 (CBS) 1955
Saturdays 8:00-9:00 (NBC) 1956-57

June Valli/Andy Williams Show
Tues & Thurs 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1957

Kate Smith Evening Hour
Wednesdays 8:00-9:00 (NBC) 1951-1952
(also had a daytime show on (NBC) 1950-1954)

Nat King Cole Show
Mondays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1956
Tuesdays 10:00-10:30 (NBC) 1957

Pat Boone - Chevy Showroom
Thursdays 9:00-9:30 (ABC) 1957-1960

Patti Page Show
Saturdays 8:00-9:00 (NBC) 1956
Patti Page Olds Show
Wednesdays 9:30-10:00 (ABC) 1958-1959

Perry Como Show
Mon, Wed, Fri 7:45-8:00 (CBS) 1950-1955
Wednesdays 9:00-10:00 (NBC) 1955-1963

Polly Bergen Show
Saturdays 9:00-9:30 (NBC) 1957-1958

Rosemary Clooney (The Lux Show)
Tuesdays 10:00-10:30 (NBC) 1957-58

Steve Allen Presents the Steve Lawrence - Eydie Gorme Show
Sundays 8:00-9:00 (NBC) 1958

Tony Bennett Show
Wednesdays 9:00-10:00 (NBC) summer 1956 & 59

Tony Martin Show
Mondays 7:30-7:45 (NBC) 1954-1956

Vaughn Monroe Show
Tues & Thurs 7:30-7:45 (NBC) summer 1954 & 55

Vic Damone Show
Mondays 9:30-10:00 (CBS) 1956
Wednesdays 8:00-9:00 (CBS) 1957

Throughout the fifties television viewership grew and the four TV networks, ABC, CBS, Dumont, and NBC provided the only program options available. With the arrival of cable TV in the eighties and new TV networks in the nineties, audiences fragmented and the percentage of Americans watching any one individual TV program was never as high as it was in the fifties. By 2000, the top rated TV shows were considered extraordinarily successful if the ratings reached 20% of the viewing audience, by contrast 'I Love Lucy' ratings on CBS in the mid fifties often reached above 67% of the viewing audience, and in its early years Milton Berle's 'Texaco Star Theater' on NBC exceeded 94%.

More information on 1950s television, singers, and songs can be found at the content-rich website: 50sPopMusic.com and in the definitive reference book "Remembering 1950s EASY-POP Songs and Singers" by Daniel Niemeyer.