Bill Stern Sports Newsreel log

Bill Stern Sports Newsreel

Updated 23-Mar-2005

Bill Stern's Sports Newsreel was heard on NBC from October 1937 through September 1953. It moved to ABC where it continued until June of 1956. Colgate was his longest sponsor, from October 1939 through June 1951, during which the show was known as the Colgate Sports Newsreel. The last few years of its broadcast life on ABC featured Budweiser, All-State Insurance and some other sponsors.

The show started out on Sundays, moving around the week until dropping into it's Friday night time slot in 1943 and stayed put for the next 8 years. After moving to ABC, the show became a feature every weeknight until the show's finish.

Not only great sports comentator, Stern's gift for storytelling made the Newsreel the hit it was. During the 15 minutes of each show, he offered extremely colorful (and many fanciful) stories dealing with sports and sportspeople. Never allowing the facts get in the way of a good story, he told not only of sports figures, but of presidents, actors, actresses, band leaders, and others not normally associated with sports. His hyperbolic vocal delivery was quite unique, and contributed greatly to the success of the series. One can still hear his style in some of the more colorful news commentators of today.

Every week he would have a famous guest appear for a short segment to either corroborate a story about themselves, tell a story of their own, or sit in while Stern was on vacation and tell stories from Stern's latest book of yarns. During the football season, he would broadcast from the city hosting the game of the week. Many times he'd have the home coach or a famous player from the home team's past as the guest.

This log concentrates on the Colgate years, mainly 1944 to 1950. (because I haven't found any other shows ;-)

There are about 157 episodes in circulation.

this background denotes missing blocks of shows with mismatch in date/show numbers

Date	Show Number	Guest	Next Week's Guest Comment
9/12/42	?	Harry James	Joe McCarthy (baseball season)
9/17	?	Joe McCarthy
10/24/42*	?	John Welshel	date announced (no guest announced)
4/17/43	?	Madeline Carroll	Lauritz Melchior
4/24	?	Lauritz Melchior

3/17/44*	231	Constance Bennett	Brace "Lone Ranger" Beemer St. Patrick's Day (no show # announced)
3/24	232	Brace Beemer
3/31	233
4/07	234
4/14	235
4/21	236
4/28	237
5/05	238
5/12/44*	239	J. Edgar Hoover	Fred Waring Sunday is Mother's Day
5/19	240	Fred Waring
		10 dates, 11 show numbers during this timespan
8/04/44	252	Ellery Queen	Gene Sarazin Bill is guest on Queen's show tomorrow
8/11	253	Gene Sarazin
8/18	254
8/25/44*	255	Dunninger	(no guest announced) Prince George, Duke of Kent, died 2 yrs ago
9/22	256		start of football season
9/29	257

2/23	278
3/02/45	279	Lawrence Tibbit	Jane Withers
3/09	280	Jane Withers
3/16	281
3/23	282
3/30/45*	283	Lena Horne	Milton Berle date announced Knute Rockne died 14 yrs ago tomorrow
4/06	284	Milton Berle
4/13	?
4/20/45	285	Larry McPhail	Henny Youngman (show 286 announced)
4/27/45	286	Henny Youngman	Paul Whiteman
5/04	287	Paul Whiteman
5/11	288
5/18	289
5/25	290
6/01	291
6/08	292
6/15/45*	293	Kathleen Windsor	Alan Jones Sunday is Father's Day
6/22/45	294	Alan Jones	Cab Calloway
6/29	295	Cab Calloway
7/06/45	296	HV Kaltenborn	HV Kaltenborn
7/13/45	297	HV Kaltenborn	HV Kaltenborn
7/20	298	HV Kaltenborn
7/27/45	299	Byron Nelson	Joan Edwards
8/03/45	300	Joan Edwards	Evelyn Keyes
8/10	301	Evelyn Keyes
8/17/45	302	Eddie Rickenbacker	Ty Cobb
8/24	303	Ty Cobb
8/31/45	304	Charlie Spivak	Arthur Murray
9/07	305	Arthur Murray
9/14/45	306	Brace Beemer	Quiz Kids
9/21	307	Quiz Kids
9/28	308
10/05/45	309	Pat O'Brian	Marilyn Maxwell
10/12	310	Marilyn Maxwell
10/19	311
10/26	312
11/02	313
11/09/45*	314	Tommy Dorsey	Jinx Falkenburg Notre Dame/Army tomorrow
11/16	315	Jinx Falkenburg
11/23/45	316	Frank Sinatra	Vivian Blaine
11/30	317	Vivian Blaine
12/07/45*	318	Joe Louis	Elsa Maxwell Pearl Harbor & date mentioned
12/14/45	319	Elsa Maxwell	Ezra "Henry Aldrich" Stone
12/21/45	320	Ezra Stone	Jack Benny
12/28/45	321	Jack Benny	Abbott & Costello
1/04/46	322	Abbott & Costello	George Raft (show 323 announced)
1/11	323	George Raft
1/18	324
1/25	325
2/01/46	326	Kay Kyser	Constance Bennett
2/08	327	Constance Bennett
2/15	328
2/22	329
3/01/46	330	Linda Darnell	Jack Carson
3/08/46	331	Jack Carson	Jinx Falkenburg
3/15	332	Jinx Falkenburg
3/22/46	333	Babe Ruth	Bonita Grandville
3/29/46*	334	Bonita Grandville	Bobby Jones (show 333 announced) Knute Rockne died 15 yrs ago this week (3/31/31)
4/05	335	Bobby Jones
4/12/46*	336	Xavier Cugat	Jack Dempsy FDR died 1 year ago
4/19	337	Jack Dempsy
4/26	338
5/03	339
5/10	340		(miscalled show number, see 370)
5/17	341		(miscalled show number, see 371)
5/24/46	342	Lucille Ball	Jimmy Dorsey
5/31	343	Jimmy Dorsey
6/07/46	344	Eddie Anderson	Dave Ellman
6/14/46	345	Dave Ellman	Robert Ripley
6/21/46	346	Robert Ripley	Orson Welles
6/28/46	347	Orson Welles	Pat O'Brian, George Raft, John Garfield sub next 3 weeks
7/05	348	Pat O'Brian sub
7/12	349	George Raft sub
7/19	350	John Garfield sub
7/26	351
8/02/46	352	Joan Edwards	Dinah Shore
8/09/46	353	Dinah Shore	Vivian Blaine
8/16/46	354	Vivian Blaine	Cab Calloway
8/23/46	355	Cab Calloway	Mischa Auer
8/30/46	356	Mischa Auer	Sammy Kaye
9/06/46*	357	Sammy Kaye	Ann Rutherford Sat 8/24 was 2 weeks ago
9/13/46*	358	Ann Rutherford	Drew Pearson Friday 13th story
9/20/46	359	Drew Pearson	Red Grange
9/27	360	Red Grange
10/04/46*	361	Connie Mack	Lizbeth Scott World Series starts Sunday
10/11/46*	362	Lizbeth Scott	Roddy McDowell date mentioned
10/18/46	363	Roddy McDowell	Gene Autry 7th anniv show
10/25/46	364	Gene Autry	Lou Little
11/01/46*	365	Lou Little	Jimmy Crowley ND/Navy game
11/08	366	Jimmy Crowley
11/15/46	367	Mickey Rooney	Frank Leahy (no show # announced)
11/22	368	Frank Leahy
11/29/46*	369	Elmer Layden	Sammy Baugh ND/USC game tomorrow
12/06/46*	370	Sammy Baugh	Guy Lombardo Tomorrow is Dec 7, 5 years after Pearl Harbor (show 340 announced)
12/13/46*	371	Guy Lombardo	Jeff Cravat Tulane/So Cal game next week today is Friday 13th, (show 341 announced)
12/20/46*	372	Jeff Cravat	Eddie Cantor (no show # announced) last show before Christmas
12/27/46*	373	Eddie Cantor	Kay Kyser (no show # announced) last show of 1946, back in 2 weeks
1/03/46*		no show
1/10	374	Kay Kyser
1/17/47	375	Morton Downey	Rudy Vallee
1/24/47	376	Rudy Vallee	Bucky Harris
1/31/47	377	Bucky Harris	Spike Jones
2/07/47	378	Spike Jones	Frankie Frisch
2/14/47	379	Frankie Frisch	Woody Herman
2/21/47	380	Woody Herman	Toots Shore
2/28/47*	381	Toots Shore Bob Smithtus	Martha Vickers date mentioned
3/07/47*	382	Martha Vickers	Barney Ross
3/14	383	Barney Ross
3/21		?? no show ??
3/28		?? no show ??
4/04/47*	384	Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson, Beau Jack	Dizzy Dean Sunday is Easter (4/06/47) from Augusta Georgia for the Master's Open
4/11/47*	385	Dizzy Dean	Vivian Blaine (date mentioned) FDR died 2 yrs ago tomorrow Leo Durocher banned from bball this week
4/18	386	Vivian Blaine
4/25	387
5/01	388
5/09/47*	389	Earl Sande	Eddie Arcaro Sunday is Mother's Day (5/11/47) Saturday is The Preakness
5/16/47	390	Eddie Arcaro	Craig Wood
5/23/47	390	Craig Wood	Pauline Betz this episode number was miscalled but remained uncorrected sliding all following episodes
5/30/47*	391	Pauline Betz Mrs. Lou Gehrig	Eddie Dyer today is Memorial Day Lou Gehrig died 6 yrs ago next Monday (6/2/41)
6/06	392	Eddie Dyer
6/13/47*	393	Roy Rogers	Perry Como, Jimmy Braddock Father's Day on Sunday
6/20/47	394	Perry Como	Harold Russell
6/27	395	Harold Russell
7/04/47*	396	George Jessel	Bob Feller 4th of July mentioned
7/11/47	397	Bob Feller	Gov. Dwight Green of Illinois
7/18	398	Gov. Dwight Green
7/25/47	399	Eddie Cantor subs	Frank Sinatra subs
8/01/47	400	Frank Sinatra subs	John Garfield subs
8/08/47	401	John Garfield subs	(no guest announced)
		3 dates, 12 show numbers during this timespan
9/05/47	414	Paul Whiteman	Lena Horne
9/12	415	Lena Horne
9/19	416
9/26/47	417	Babe Dedrickson	Bucky Harris football starts tomorrow -- Back in 2 weeks
10/03/47		no show
10/10/47	418	Bucky Harris	Gene Autry world series is on
10/17/47*	419	Gene Autry	Hildegard 8th anniversary show (no show # announced)
10/24/47	420	Hildegard	(no guest announced) (no show # announced)
10/31/47*	421	Frank Leahy	Mrs. Knute Rockne Notre Dame/Navy & Halloween announced Notre Dame/Army next week (show 422 announced)
11/07/47*	422	Eddie Rickenbacker Mrs. Knute Rockne	Lou Little Notre Dame/Army
11/14	423	Lou Little
		4 dates, 5 show numbers during this timespan
12/19/47*	429	Bobby Riggs Jack Kramer	George Jessel 4 shopping days before Christmas
12/26	430	George Jessel
1/02/48*	431	Ronald Reagan	Eddie Cantor date mentioned
1/09/48	432	Eddie Cantor	Kay Kyser
1/16	433	Kay Kyser
1/23	434
1/30	435
2/06	436
2/13	437
2/20	438
2/27	439
3/05	440
3/12	441
3/19	442
3/26	443
4/02/48	444	Jack Dempsy	Gus Lesnovich
4/09	445	Gus Lesnovich
4/16/48	446	Canada Lee	Slapsie Maxie Rosenblum next week baseball season opens
4/23/48	447	Maxie Rosenblum	Tony Martin Drake Relay next week
4/30/48	448	Tony Martin	Jane Froman Kentucky Derby tomorrow
5/07/48	449	Jane Froman	Fred Waring
5/14/48	450	Fred Waring	Jim Thorpe
5/21/48	451	Jim Thorpe	Sonja Hennie
5/28	452	Sonja Hennie
6/04		?? no show ??
6/11		?? no show ??
6/18		?? no show ??
6/25		?? no show ??
7/02/48	453	John Garfield subs	F.Sinatra, W.Powell, Errol Flynn announced for next 4 weeks
7/09	454	Frank Sinatra subs
7/16/48	455	William Powell subs	Jimmy Stewart subs
7/23/48*	456	Jimmy Stewart subs	Olympics start next week (no guest announced)
7/30	457
8/06	458
8/13	459
8/20	460
8/27/48	461	Dick Powell	(no guest announced)
9/03	462
9/10	463
9/17	464
9/24	465
10/01	466
10/08	467
10/15/48	468	Rex Harrison	(no guest announced)
10/22	469
10/29	470
11/05	471
11/12	472
11/19	473
11/26/48	474	Frankie Carle	Primo Carnera
12/03	475	Primo Carnera
12/10	476
12/17/48	477	Marie Macdonald	Barbara Anne Scott
12/24	478	Barbara Anne Scott
12/31/48	479	George Raft	Eddie Cantor
1/07/49	480	Eddie Cantor	Ike Williams
1/14	481	Ike Williams
1/21/49	482	Horace Heidt	Jerry Colona
1/28/49	483	Jerry Colona	Hoagy Charmichael
2/04/49	484	Hoagy Carmichael	Bill Beck pres of Cleveland Indians
2/11	485	Bill Beck
2/18/49*	486	Casey Stengel	Rudy Vallee Monday was Valentines day
2/25	487	Rudy Vallee
3/04/49	488	Zachary Scott	Paul Whiteman
3/11	489	Paul Whiteman
3/18/49	490	Susan Hayward	Ford Briggs, National League president
3/25	491	Ford Briggs
4/01	492
4/08	493
4/15/49*	494	Jesse Owens	Edward Arnold FDR died this week (show 493 announced)
4/22	495	Edward Arnold
4/29	496
5/06	497
5/13	498
5/20/49	499	Ida Lupino	Linda Darnell, Babe Dedrickson
5/27	500	Linda Darnell Babe Dedrickson
6/03/49*	501	Mrs. Lou Gehrig	Monty Stratten Gehrig died this week
6/10	502	Monty Stratten
6/17/49	503	Connie Mack	Guy Lombardo
6/24	504	Guy Lombardo
7/01	505
7/08	506	William Powell
7/15/49	507	Frank Sinatra subs	Pat O'Brian subs
7/22/49	508	Pat O'Brian subs	Ronald Ragan
7/29/49	509	Ronald Reagan subs	Tex & Jinx subs (Stern ill)
8/05	510	Tex & Jinx subs
8/12/49*	511	Tex & Jinx subs	Dizzy Dean next week's date mentioned
8/19/49	512	Dizzy Dean	Jackie Robinson
8/26	513	Jackie Robinson
9/02/49	514	Herbert Hoover	Eddie Dyer
9/09/49	515	Eddie Dyer	Ben Hogan
9/16	516	Ben Hogan
9/23		?? no show ??
10/01/49*	517	Richard "Pancho" Gonzales	Al Jolson Tulane/Georgia Tech
10/07/49*	518	Billie Burke	Al Jolson middle of world series, Mich-Army game
10/14	519	Al Jolson
10/21	520
10/28/49*	521	Red Grange Bob Zuppke	Peter Lawford Illinois/Mich game
11/04/49*	522	Peter Lawford	Frank Leahy Notre Dame/Mich State game
11/11	523	Frank Leahy
11/18/49	524	Doak Walker	4 Horsemen
11/25/49*	525	4 Horsemen	Grantland Rice Notre Dame/USC game Army/Navy game
12/02/49*	526	Grantland Rice	Tony Martin, Shirley Temple Notre Dame/Southern Methodist
12/09	527	Tony Martin Shirley Temple
12/16	528
12/23/49*	529	Joe Louis	Morton Downey tomorrow is Christmas Eve
12/30/49*	530	Morton Downey	George Raft retrospective of 1939 to present Cotton Bowl next week, Rice & N.Carolina partial show, starts at "Reel 3" (7:14 min)
1/06	531	George Raft
1/13/50	532	Boris Karloff	Sammy Kaye
1/20/50	533	Sammy Kaye	Edward Everett Horton
1/27	534	Edward Everett Horton
2/03/50	535	Tommy Heinrich	Bobby Feller
2/10/50	536	Bob Feller	Sonja Hennie
2/17/50	537	Sonja Hennie	Jimmy Dorsey
2/24	538	Jimmy Dorsey
3/03/50	539	General Carlos Romulo	Kirk Douglas
3/10/50	540	Kirk Douglas	George Raft
3/17	541	George Raft
3/24	542
3/31	543
4/07/50*	544	Jack Carson	Eddie Cantor Easter is Sunday
4/14	545	Eddie Cantor
4/21	546
4/28	547
5/05	548
5/12/50*	549	Larraine Day	Ted Williams Mother's Day on Sunday
5/19/50	550	Ted Williams	Jackie Robinson
5/26/50	551	Jackie Robinson	Joe DiMaggio
6/02	552	Joe DiMaggio
6/09	553
6/16/50*	554	Shelly Winters	Ben Hogan Father's Day on Sunday
6/23	555	Ben Hogan
6/30	556
7/07/50	557	Franchot Tone subs	Basil Rathbone start of 4 week vacation
7/14/50	558	Basil Rathbone subs	Boris Karloff
7/21	559	Boris Karloff subs
7/28/50	560	Frederick March subs	(no guest announced)
8/04	561
8/11	562
8/18	563
8/25	564
9/01	565
9/08	566
9/15	567
9/22	568
9/29	569
10/06	570
10/13/50*	571	Ann Sheridan	12th Anniversary Show Oklahoma/Texas
10/20/50*	572	12th Anniversary Show	Indiana/Notre Dame (no guest announced)

6/29/51	606	Last show for Colgate

Bold entries with full date are in my collection
dates with '*' are confirmed dates from show content

Thanks to:
    - Jay Hickerson's "Ultimate History Guide"
    - John Dunning's "On The Air"
    - Lou Genco
    - Jim Widner
    - Eizabeth Keiser
for information not found in the shows themselves.

Dates with college games mentioned have been verified by the school's website where possible. Where not possible, thanks to
- James Howell's Historical Scores - Alphabetically by Team
- Soren Sorensen's College Football 19xx Games for compiling an unbelievable number to game scores!

Compiled by
Feel free to send me any send any additions, corrections, comments. Logs Page.