On Apr 16, 2020, at 4:12 AM, Brian Kavanaugh via groups.io <brian@...> wrote:

(cross-posted from the distro group, since there still aren't that many people there)

OTRR certified The Weird Circle v2004 (3.35 GB on Windows/78 episodes) is available for download from Dropbox or OneDrive. Thanks to all those who made this collection possible.

 

These links will be available for 30 days.

 

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aa5ee00lr2q2yhu/AACqSJx3aPyvuyPMXFmzUL6Ta?dl=0

OneDrive: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Al5Sbh6lIkj5jak3nr-b1C30RGtH_A?e=ePfn5t

 

This series has been uploaded to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/OldTimeRadioResearchers

 

Series synopsis:

 

The Weird Circle was a syndicated 30-minute program produced by the NBC Radio Recording Division (NBCRRD). The first 26 episodes were offered for sale beginning in 1943 and were purchased by an initial 40 stations across the United States and Canada. The NBCRRD staff utilized classic mystery and suspense stories to create high quality radio dramas that, curiously, lacked any musical background for reasons that have never been entirely confirmed.

 

In January 1944 it was announced in trade periodicals that 13 new episodes would be reaching the market, bringing the total to 39 aired over 34 Canadian stations and 65 American stations. By the middle of that same year the program’s growth had doubled since its debut, both in the number of episodes to 52 and the number of stations over which it was broadcast to 82. In August 1944 an additional 13 episodes were released bringing the total to 65 and then the final batch of 13 shows were added in the spring of 1945.

 

Seven years after the final episodes were produced the series remained one of the most popular syndicate series for the RCA Recorded Program Service (the successor to the NBCRRD). Sale rates for the show in 1952 varied widely depending on station and market size, ranging from $3 to $150 per episode that year, down 25% due to increasing television competition. Industry sales reports indicate the popularity of mystery programs such as The Weird Circle was still increasing in the mid-1950s. As late as 1961 evidence shows the series was still being offered for sale to individual stations, more than fifteen years after the final episode was put on wax.

 

Revision History:

 

2004:

Many episode versions and upgraded encodes

New advertisement scans

Updated CD artwork

New series summary