{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Pionerd","title":"Washburn-Crosby's High Stakes Experiment: How WCCO & Betty Crocker Built a Midwest Lifeline","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":778,"description":"SHOW DESCRIPTION: \nOn October 2, 1924, WCCO Radio went live across the Upper Midwest, transforming an unproven 500-watt hotel experiment into a 50,000-watt clear-channel utility that redefined regional identity. Born from the bankruptcy of WLAG, flour milling giant Washburn-Crosby took a high-stakes corporate gamble on the raw power of wireless radiotelephony, purchasing the silent station for $7,500 and funding a massive overhaul. At a time when radio was viewed as a fleeting trade-show gimmick, this visionary investment produced daytime radio’s first home economist, created the world’s first singing radio commercial, and built a 654-foot vertical radiator in Coon Rapids that bounced 830 AM across entire continents. On this episode of Pionerd: The Minnesota Edition, host Robert Thomas uncovers the dramatic century-long story of WCCO Radio, from the birth of Betty Crocker and the Wheaties Jingle to its legendary role as the emergency lifeline during the catastrophic 1965 tornado outbreak.\n\nKEY TOPICS & HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS:\nSilent Airwaves & The 1924 Takeover: The collapse of WLAG, Washburn-Crosby’s $7,500 asset purchase, and siphoning flour-milling profits into an unproven electromagnetic frequency to launch WCCO.\nThe High-Tech Airwave Experiment: World Fliers Commander Lt. Lowell Smith’s inaugural address, Blanche Ingersoll debuting the Betty Crocker Home Service Program, and betting on an invented persona to build listener loyalty.\nThe Wheaties Jingle & 50,000-Watt Power: Christmas Eve 1926 inside the Nicollet Hotel, four workingmen singing the world's first radio jingle to save a struggling cereal, and erecting the 654-foot Coon Rapids tower to secure clear-channel dominance on 830 AM.\nThe Signal That Span Continents: Bouncing 50,000 watts off the ionosphere into twenty-eight states and central Canada, Howard Viken picking up the broadcast at Guadalcanal, and Fortune magazine ranking Betty Crocker America’s second most famous woman.\nThe Lifeline in the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/TBzQA953XT-5pUk9GpM9Lck7NRVoPLOa3qejYqJMdT4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kMmRi/MTE5YzRmZTQ3ZjFk/ZjQ0OWUzODdkNGVm/MmVhMC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}