From Radio Adman to Radio Reformer: Senator William Benton's Career in Broadcasting, 1930–1960

Abstract

William Benton's career in radio began at his advertising agency, Benton & Bowles, founded in 1929. During the 1930s, radio's so-called “Golden Age,” Benton & Bowles was one of the major producers of network radio programs, including Maxwell House's Showboat and Town Hall Tonight. However, while heading one of the most successful radio advertising agencies, Benton approached NBC to argue that sponsor control of programming undermined radio as a medium and proposed an alternative business model. Frustrated with radio's direction, Benton left advertising and pursued careers in education (at the University of Chicago) and politics (in the Truman administration and the Senate). Benton oversaw the educational radio program The University of Chicago Round Table; founded an independent subscription radio service, Muzak, and the Voice of America; and vigorously promoted radio as an educational technology. Benton's efforts to reform broadcasting reflected both his experiences as a radio “adman” and his deep commitment to liberalism. His unusual career and willingness to challenge conventional wisdom may be instructive for us in a later era of technological change.