TheLiberty Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply asLiberty; sometimes referred to asLBS,Liberty Radio or theLiberty Radio Network) was a U.S.radio network of the late 1940s and early 1950s founded byGordon McLendon, which mainly broadcast live recreations ofMajor League Baseball games, by following the action via Western Union ticker reports. The sound effects were very realistic, and many listeners were not aware the broadcasters were not announcing the action live. At that time some major league teams and almost all minor league baseball clubs used recreations of their road games as an economy measure.
Founded in 1948, the network was mainly inTexas and thesouthwest but did have nineaffiliates inOregon, an outlet inLos Angeles, Seattle, and as of September 29, 1950,WHAV in Haverhill, Massachusetts. At one time, it had close to 500 radio stations on the line,[1] being second in size only to theMutual Broadcasting System.
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It carried various types of programs (for instance, late night band remotes were another feature carried by Liberty) but McLendon, known as the "Old Scotchman", and his daily ball game recreations off theWestern Union ticker provided the big money maker. The recreations used himself and future sportscasting stars such asLindsey Nelson andJerry Doggett.
It was a live, not recreated, game that provided McLendon and Liberty with their greatest career moment. The Scotchman himself was behind the Liberty mic at thePolo Grounds in New York on October 3, 1951, for the finale of the three-gameNational League play-off series between theNew York Giants andBrooklyn Dodgers.
Radio was still the more popular nationwide medium then. WithRuss Hodges' famous radio call limited to the Giants' network, McLendon's call is how most Americans heard the NL clincher, including GiantBobby Thomson's ninth-inning three-run homer into the left-field stands to win it for New York. Excerpts of the McLendon broadcast were highlighted in the 2001HBO documentaryShot Heard 'Round the World.
According toTime magazine articles of the era, McLendon only paid Major League Baseball$1,000.00 per year for the rights to broadcast the games, but in 1951, the leagues raised the price to $250,000.00 per year, and prohibited broadcasts in any city which had aminor league franchise and in thenortheastern andmidwestern United States.[2]
Sports were the lifeblood of Liberty. Restrictions on Major League Baseball broadcasts in minor league franchise areas, as well as bans onNational Football League broadcasts within a 75-mile range of league cities, were the one-two blow which ended the network. Since the baseball games were a major draw for both listeners and affiliates, theblackout was a disaster for the fledgling company, which had only posted modest profits during its first few years of operation. More than 100 stations left the network, and, faced with mounting debts, on May 16, 1952, the network ceased broadcasting.
Liberty also broadcastNBA games from roughly, the1950-51 through1951-52 seasons.[3]
In the mid-2000s, aSpokane, Washington-based broadcaster, the Mutual Broadcasting System (not related tothe former network), began using the Mutual and Liberty names on its two stations,KTRW AM 970 Spokane; andKTAC FM 93.9Ephrata, Washington. These stations have no connections with the original network, but present adult standards, nostalgia, and some Christian programming, using these names as part of the nostalgia-style branding.
Liberty went nationwide in October 1950, with 240 affiliates getting 10 hours of programs a day. At its peak, it had 458 affiliated stations.
