Springbok Radio

Springbok Radio was a South African radio station that operated from 1950 to 1985.

History

On 1 May 1950, the first commercial radio station in South Africa, Springbok Radio took to the airwaves broadcasting in both English and Afrikaans. This followed almost 5 years of intense investigation by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and after consultations with both Lord Reith of the BBC and the South African Government it was decided to introduce commercial radio in South Africa to supplement the SABC's existing public service English and Afrikaans networks.

The first voice heard on the air that morning was that of Eric Egan. Eric would be well remembered for his daily "Corny Crack" and catch phrase "I Looooveee Yoouuu". Many of the drama programmes during the 1950s were imported from Australia but as time moved on and more funding became available, Springbok Radio produced almost all of its programmes within South Africa through a network of independent production houses. However, in the eighties the SABC ended up killing off many of these independent production houses by producing most of the programmes itself.

In 1976 television was launched in South Africa and this was followed by television commercials in 1978. Commercial TV was the major factor in the demise of Springbok Radio, which closed on 31 December 1985.

List of Programmes

Springbok Radio's programme schedules reflected the White, primarily English-speaking, suburban lifestyle of the period, when many women were housewives. Weekday schedules broadly comprised a breakfast session (05:00 - 08:30), women's programmes (08:30 - 14:00), Afrikaans soap operas (14:00 - 16:15), teatime chat shows (16:15 - 16:45), children's programmes (16:45-18:15), dinnertime programmes (18:15 - 19:00), the main news bulletin (19:00 - 19:15), and family shows (19:15 - 24:00). Saturday programmes were generally light: music, sitcoms and quizzes. Sunday was more sedate: music, chat shows, requests for the armed forces (during the 1970s and '80s), news commentary and drama. Programmes included:

Children
* "The Casey Kids" (1960s)
* "Chappies Chipmunk Club"
* "Jet Jungle" (1973-1985) - "... most amazing man of our time ..."
* "My Pal Shep" (1960s)
* "Ricky Roper, Schoolboy Detective"
* "Superman" (1950-1957) - FROM AUSTRALIA
* "Tarzan, King of the Apes" (1950-1955) - FROM AUSTRALIA
* "The Air Adventures of Hop Harrigan" (1950-1957) - FROM AUSTRALIA
* "The Twilight Ranger" (1950-1953) - ORIGINALLY FROM AUSTRALIA
* "Luck of the Legion" (1979)
* "The BP Smurf Show" (1982-1985)

Comedy/variety
* "Father, Dear Father" (1974-1985)
* "Leave It to Van der Merwe"
* "Loudspeaker Show"
* "The Men from the Ministry" (1967-1985) - "... the bowler, briefcase and brolly brigade ..."
* "The Navy Lark" (1973-1985) - "... the craziest crew afloat ..."
* "Next Stop Makouvlei"
* "The Pip Freedman Show" (1968-1985)
* "Taxi" -"... the trials and tribulations of a Noo York taxi driver ..."
* "Next Stop Makouvlei" (1970-1974)
* "The Pip Freedman Show" (1967-1985)
* "Life with Dexter" (1967-1969) - FROM AUSTRALIA
* "The Goode Life" (1970-1971)
* "The Bloodhounds" (1975-1976)

Documentary
* "Call Back the Past" (1968-1982)
* "Cameos of the Holy Land" (1982-1985)

Drama
* "Death Touched My Shoulder" (1966-1970)
* "General Motors on Safari" (1965-1968)
* "High Adventure" (1973-1985)
* "Medical File" (1969-1973, 1975-1979)
* "Tales of Antiquity"
* "The World of Dick Francis" (1981-1984) - dramatised novels
* "The World of Hammond Innes" - dramatised novels

Drama: courtroom/detective/police
* "Address Unknown" - ... ORIGINALLY FROM AUSTRALIA
* "Consider Your Verdict" (1954-1985) - "... it's time for you to take your place on the jury ..."
* "The Epic Casebook" (1957-1985) - "... in which Inspector Carr investigates ..."
* "The Sounds of Darkness" (1967-1974) - "... Lee Masters, the blind detective ..."
* "Squad Cars" (1969-1985) - "... they prowl the empty streets at night ..."

Drama: espionage
* "The Avengers" (1972-1973)
* "My Name's Adam Kane"
* "The Man They Couldn't Kill"
* "Paul Vaga"

Drama: soap opera
* "Die Banneling"
* "From Crystal, With Love"
* "Dr Marius Hugo"
* "Die Geheim van Nantes" (1974-1975)
* "Die Indringer"
* "Liefdeslied" (1953-1959)
* "Die Mannheim Saga" (1982-1983)
* "Oupa Jasper"
* "Wolwedans in die Skemer" (1982-1983)

Drama: supernatural
* "Call of the Sea"
* "The Creaking Door" (1963-1970) - "... the creaking door is opening, so do come in ..."
* "Beyond Midnight" (1968-1969)
* "SF'68" (1968)

Games shows/quizzes
* "Castle Lager Key Game"
* "Check Your Mate" (1973-1985)
* "Eyes Right with Eyegene"
* "Hundred Thousand to Go"
* "More Miles with Mobil"
* "Number Please"
* "Pick a Box" - "... the money or the box? ..."
* "Quiz Kids"
* "Test the Team" (1954-1985) - "... the three wise men ..."cite book
last = McCormack
first = Dewar
title = The Perm Book of 'Test the Team'
date = 1994
pages = 226
publisher = Salty Print
location = Cape Town
isbn = 0620181656]
* "Twenty-One"
* "Venture" (1967-1985) - "... the exciting, dangerous quiz game ..."

Greetings/requests
* "Hospitaaltyd" - "... daar's 'n lied en 'n glimlag vir jou ..."

Interviews/chat shows
* "Guess Who with All Gold"
* "In Town Tonight" (later simply "Tonight")
* "Tea with Mr Green"

Music
* "Esmé's Music Album"
* "From the Bell Tower" - religious
* "Memories Are Made of This"
* "Mr Walker Wants to Play"
* "Pepsodent Platter Parade" - pop
* "Radio Jukebox"
* "Radio Record Club" - pop
* "The Springbok 4:30 Special" (1977-1985) - pop
* "Springbok Radio Top 20" - pop

News/current affairs
* "Deadline Thursday Night" - "... for your edification and your delight ..." (LATER "DEADLINE MONDAY NIGHT"
* "Top Level"
* "The World at Seven P.M." (1950-1985)
* "World News and Africa Survey"

Radio plays
* "Castle Playhouse" (later Playhouse 90) - "... from the stages and studios, producers and playwrights of the world ..."
* "Lux Radio Theatre" aka "Radio Theatre" (1950-1985) - "... the finest in radio drama ..."
* "Shell Theatre of the Air" (1950-1973)
* "Tuesday Theatre" (1973-1985)

Science fiction
* "The Mind Of Tracey Dark" (1974-1975)
* "No Place To Hide" (1958-1970) - "... the world's strangest investigator, Mark Saxon ..."
* "Strangers from Space" (1961-1963)

Show business
* "Springbok Spotlight" - "... you're right on the beam ..."

Women's interest
* "Midday Mirror"
* "Nestlé Greets The Bride"
* "So Maak Mens" (1957-1985)
* "Women's Forum"

pringbok Radio Preservation Society of South Africa

Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, this is a non-profit organisation which has collected and archived all sorts of material including sound recordings and photographs related to Springbok Radio. It currently houses the biggest sound recording archive of the station in the world and is an internationally recognized sound archive. The archive holds many original recordings on tape, reel to reel and transcription discs and also has many private off-air recordings of the station. The society is currently engaged in a restoration project, transferring the analogue recordings to a digital format. On 1 July 2008, this Society launched the Internet Radio Service of Springbok Radio, a service where many of the restored programmes can be heard.

References

External links

* [http://www.springbokradio.com The Springbok Radio Preservation Society of South Africa] .
* [http://pumamouse.com/radiosoundfiles.html The Pumamouse Website] .