Stand by for News
MARCH 2, 2009 TAGS:
Numerically, Paul Harvey’s radio achievements are staggering. Bruce DuMont, the president of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, claims that “Paul Harvey was the most listened-to man in radio history.” From the 1950s through the 2000s, Harvey broadcast on around 1300 ABC affiliate radio stations, often twice a day. By some counts, he reached over 22 million listeners a week for almost six decades, starting in 1951.
Stylistically, Harvey’s achievements are equally impressive. From Rush Limbaugh to Howard Stern, Harvey’s signature blend of news, views and reviews set the stage for shock jocks of all political stripes.
Harvey was, of course, decidedly conservative. He was the “voice of the silent majority.” Famously, Harvey infused folksy conversational asides to his reporting of the day’s events and stories of the American heartland. But politics didn’t bind him to the form he mastered. Rather, he combined the political and the personal in the way your neighbor or your barber might, and broadcast that amiable tone to millions.
He doled out vitriol in equal measure too, particularly against communism and, in his later years, against the Clintons. But never through loud recriminations. Rather, he used his dry humor: the edges of a story always seemed to crumble into pithy one-liners.
Given how much time Harvey spent on the air, its not too surprising that another of his signature rhetorical tricks offered his voice a brief respite. Harvey would often pause at opportune moments to lend his opining dramatic tension (like a AM version of Harold Pinter). Radio orthodoxy would consider this type of behavior verboten, but Harvey made it part of his trick, keeping listeners tuned in.
Similarly, Harvey would incorporate his homespun style to advertisements on his show, narrating the function of one product or another with the zeal of a true consumer, which he often was. Not only did this keep listeners coming back, but it kept advertisers coming back too. In his heyday, Harvey raked in over 10 percent of advertising revenue for all ABC radio single-handedly.
A Salon.com piece from 2002 described Harvey as, "an astute dissector of current events, cultural phenomena and middle-American minutiae. But more than that, he is perhaps the finest huckster ever to roam the airwaves."
Eventually the radio commentariat Harvey helped birth took over some of his share of the conservative talk market, but Harvey soldiered on, arising at 3:30 AM each morning and arriving at his Chicago studios cleanly shaven and in a neat suit.
But that was after 50 years in the business. Beyond his achievements behind the microphone both obvious and esoteric (he is credited with coining the term Reagonomics and Guesstimate) Harvey’s sprite, Midwestern voice demonstrated a uniquely American pluckiness, like a Norman Rockwell drawing made of sound waves.
And like Harvey’s signature sign off, the caption of that drawing could be… “This is Paul Harvey, Have a good day."
--
Obit from the Chicago Tribune
Obit from the New York Times
NPR's Sunday Edition's coverage
Stylistically, Harvey’s achievements are equally impressive. From Rush Limbaugh to Howard Stern, Harvey’s signature blend of news, views and reviews set the stage for shock jocks of all political stripes.Harvey was, of course, decidedly conservative. He was the “voice of the silent majority.” Famously, Harvey infused folksy conversational asides to his reporting of the day’s events and stories of the American heartland. But politics didn’t bind him to the form he mastered. Rather, he combined the political and the personal in the way your neighbor or your barber might, and broadcast that amiable tone to millions.
He doled out vitriol in equal measure too, particularly against communism and, in his later years, against the Clintons. But never through loud recriminations. Rather, he used his dry humor: the edges of a story always seemed to crumble into pithy one-liners.
Given how much time Harvey spent on the air, its not too surprising that another of his signature rhetorical tricks offered his voice a brief respite. Harvey would often pause at opportune moments to lend his opining dramatic tension (like a AM version of Harold Pinter). Radio orthodoxy would consider this type of behavior verboten, but Harvey made it part of his trick, keeping listeners tuned in.
Similarly, Harvey would incorporate his homespun style to advertisements on his show, narrating the function of one product or another with the zeal of a true consumer, which he often was. Not only did this keep listeners coming back, but it kept advertisers coming back too. In his heyday, Harvey raked in over 10 percent of advertising revenue for all ABC radio single-handedly.
A Salon.com piece from 2002 described Harvey as, "an astute dissector of current events, cultural phenomena and middle-American minutiae. But more than that, he is perhaps the finest huckster ever to roam the airwaves."
Eventually the radio commentariat Harvey helped birth took over some of his share of the conservative talk market, but Harvey soldiered on, arising at 3:30 AM each morning and arriving at his Chicago studios cleanly shaven and in a neat suit.
But that was after 50 years in the business. Beyond his achievements behind the microphone both obvious and esoteric (he is credited with coining the term Reagonomics and Guesstimate) Harvey’s sprite, Midwestern voice demonstrated a uniquely American pluckiness, like a Norman Rockwell drawing made of sound waves.
And like Harvey’s signature sign off, the caption of that drawing could be… “This is Paul Harvey, Have a good day."
--
Obit from the Chicago Tribune
Obit from the New York Times
NPR's Sunday Edition's coverage
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