South Africa was somewhat late to enjoy commercial radio broadcasting, due mostly to the relative isolation of the nation. There had been broadcasting at the
Africa’s southern tip beginning in 1923, and the government owned
South African Broadcasting Company was formed by parliament in 1936. The
SABC established services in all of the official languages of South Africa, although it was regularly accused of being a mouth-piece
for the ruling National Party, as well as furthering its Apartheid agenda.
In
1950, the SABC launched
Springbok Radio as a commercial broadcasting service to supplement the public service broadcasts of its
English and
Afrikaans language networks.
Springbok also generated cash for the radio service. Springbok was an incredibly successful commercial venture, and stayed that way much longer than dramatic radio was profitable in other parts of the world.
Lux Radio Theater was part of Springbok's line-up for all of the 35 years, except the last six months. Although the show had the same sponsor as the earlier
American show,
Lever Brothers, and the same name, it was a much different program. The Lux
Theater for American ears began with adaptations of plays and later popular
Hollywood movies.
Whenever possible, the original movie stars would appear in the broadcast, which would be performed live in front of a live audience (as well as broadcast live, perhaps a strange experience for movie actors!)
The South African Lux Radio Theater was more wide ranging for its story sources.
Popular plays from the
British stage, as well as
American, English, and
Australian novels were adapted to the hour long format. In fact a number of the early shows were rebroadcasts of Australian programs. The South African version of Lux Theater, being produced later in time, also benefits from better production and recording technologies.
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- published: 28 Jan 2015
- views: 66