Title:

Father Coughlin

Type:

Commentary

Length:

60 minutes at its height

Broadcast history:

1926 WJR radio, Detroit

1926 - 1930 WMAQ radio Chicago; WLW radio Cincinnati

Oct. 5, 1930 - April 5, 1931 CBS. Sundays at 7 PM.

1931 - 1942 Private network and many independent stations.

Sundays.

Father Coughlin was called the "radio priest" but by the time he left the airwaves his name was almost

synonymous with the word demagogue. His first broadcast on WJR generated only five letters from listeners. Shortly after joining CBS his audience was in the millions. A 1934 poll showed him to be considered the most important person in America behind President Roosevelt. He began by attacking bankers, socialists, and the uneven distribution of income. He strongly supported FDR in the 1932 presidential election but, when an expected high administrative position in the administration failed to materialize, he broke with the President, calling him "the great liar and betrayer." Coughlin could work himself into a frenzy during a broadcast and could be heard pounding the pulpit in anger. He began attacking Congress, calling for its dissolution, and promoting anti-Semitism. In 1931, CBS attempted to censor one of his speeches. Coughlin used his next radio show to loudly berate the network on its own air. CBS promptly dropped him and he tried to move to NBC but that network refused him. He began building his private network, paid for by donations which were estimated at $500,000 per year.

By 1940, his audience had dwindled considerably. He finally left the airwaves after the Catholic Church set up a censorship board to examine his scripts prior to broadcast.

Source:

On the Air - John Dunning

The Big Broadcast 1920 - 1950 - Buxton and Owen