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George Washington Trendle born July 4, 1884 in Norwalk, Ohio, was a Detroit, Michigan lawyer and businessman, best known as the producer of the Lone Ranger radio and television programs. George W. Trendle died at age 87 on May 10, 1972 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan from a heart attack. For the United States holiday, the Fourth of July, see Independence Day (United States). ...
1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
The Lone Ranger was an early, long-running radio and television show based on characters created by George W. Trendle of Detroit, Michigan and developed by writer Fran Stryker of Buffalo, New York. ...
Movie Theaters
During the 1920's, George W. Trendle was a Detroit, Michigan lawyer who had established a reputation as a tough negotiator, specializing in movie contracts and leases.
Trendle became involved in the Detroit area entertainment business in 1928, when local motion picture theater owner John H. Kunsky offered Trendle 25 per cent ownership in exchange for his services. Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ...
John H. Kunsky born 1875 ? was a Detroit area businessman who made his fortune by investing in movie theatres. ...
Kunsky had been an early investor in Nickelodeons beginning in 1905. In 1911, he built the first movie theater in Detroit. It was the second movie theater in the nation. By 1928, he owned twenty movie theaters, including four of the largest first-run theaters in Detroit. Nickelodeon is an early 20th century form of small, neighborhood movie theaters in which admission was obtained for a nickel. ...
Kunsky was being driven out of the theater business, when Adolph Zukor acquired the Detroit area film exchange known as the Cooperative Booking Office and began pressuring local theater owners to sell out to Paramount. Trendle negotiated to sell Kunsky's theatres for six million dollars. Zukor transferred the theaters to a Paramount subsidiary named United Detroit Theatres. In 1948, Paramount's monopoly became the focus of an antitrust suit initiated by the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP). Cukor Adolf (Adolph Zukor) (January 7, 1873–June 10, 1976) was the founder of Paramount Pictures Studios, and one of the greatest film moguls of all time. ...
Look up Paramount on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Paramount can refer to: Paramount, California, a city in Los Angeles County Paramount Pictures, a motion picture company Paramount Records, a record label United Paramount Network (UPN), a television network in the United States, owned by Viacom Inc. ...
The early title for what would become United Artists. ...
As part of the deal, Trendle and Kunsky were required never to reenter the movie business in Detroit.
However, Zukor apparently recognized Trendle's talents and hired him to manage the Paramount theaters in Detroit. Trendle is credited as "having built" the historic Alger Theater which opened August 22, 1935 on Detroit's east side. Trendle was fired from the United Detroit Theatres for "negligence" in 1937.
Radio and Television Stations Trendle and Kunsky formed the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company in 1929, after purchasing Detroit radio station WGHP. The radio station's call letters were changed to WXYZ. It has been suggested that WXYZ-AM be merged into this article or section. ...
Trendle was the President and Kunsky was the Vice President of the company. Trendle was active as the station manager. Kunsky is rarely mentioned, except as co-owner.
WXYZ was initially affiliated with the Columbia Broadcasting System but became an independent station within a year. Trendle's partner Kunsky legally changed his name to King in 1936 and the 'Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company' became the 'King-Trendle Broadcasting Company'. CBSs first color logo, which debuted in the fall of 1965. ...
In 1931, Kunsky-Trendle acquired WASH and WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The two stations merged facilities, including studios and transmitters but retained both station licenses. WASH was on the air from 8am to Noon, and WOOD from Noon to Midnight. WOOD-WASH became an NBC Red affiliate in 1935. King and Trendle decided to drop the WASH license in 1942, keeping the WOOD identification. Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ...
WOOD is a pair of radio stations in Grand Rapids, Michigan owned by Clear Channel on the frequencies of 1300 AM and 105. ...
In 1946, the newly formed American Broadcasting Company purchased the King-Trendle Broadcasting Company and its radio stations for $ 3.65 million dollars. This sale was for the broadcast facilities (including WOOD, WXYZ and the Michigan Regional Network), but did not include ownership of Trendle's radio programs. The FCC approved ABC's purchase on July 18, 1946. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ...
Trendle entered into a new partnership with long term business associates H. Allen Campbell and Raymond Meurer. The Trendle-Campbell Broadcasting Company was formed in 1946 and started radio station WTCB in Flint, Michigan. The new radio station went on the air April 26, 1946 with a four tower 1000 watt broadcast array. The call letters were later changed to WTAC. In 1953, they added UHF television station WTAC-TV affiliated with ABCTV and DuMont. The TV station went out of business less than a year later because too few TVs at the time were equipped to receive UHF channels. The radio station has changed owners several times and its call sign was changed to WSNL in 1997. The station is currently owned by The Christian Broadcasting System. A flint nodule from the Onondaga limestone layer, Buffalo, New York. ...
WHYT is a non-commercial, contemporary Christian FM radio station licensed to serve Goodland Township and Imlay City, Michigan. ...
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ...
DuMont Televisions Logo The DuMont Television Network was an American television network, beginning operation in 1946. ...
Another Trendle-Campbell radio station (WPON) went on the air in December 1954. The station was located in Pontiac, Michigan with studios in the Waldron Hotel in downtown Pontiac. Trendle and Campbell were reportedly still in charge of station operations in the late 1960's. In 1987, WPON's transmitter was moved from Pontiac to Walled Lake. The station is currently owned by Southfield-based Birach Broadcasting and has a talk and oldies format. This article concerns the automobile; for the Native American leader, see Chief Pontiac, for other uses see the disambiguation page. ...
Penny Pinching The Kunsky-Trendle business venture began at the start of the Great Depression and Trendle took many cost cutting moves that earned him a reputation as a penny-pincher.
According to Dick Osgood, in his book Wyxie Wonderland: An Unauthorized 50-Year Diary of WXYZ Detroit, he was assisted in this by H. Allen Campbell.
Campbell was an advertising salesman for the Hearst organization, whom Trendle hired to find sponsors for his radio programs. Campbell is credited with signing Silvercup Bread as the first sponsor for the Lone Ranger series. This was a big account and helped to bring the show to nationwide syndication. Apparently, Campbell's contributions to the business were significant. He continued working for Trendle for the next twenty years, and eventually became one of Trendle's business partners.
Campbell reportedly kept a set of books to show employees that the company was losing money and could not afford to pay higher salaries.
Trendle and Campbell often responded to employee requests for salary increases by downplaying their value to the company and threatening to fire them. This threat was particularly effective during the Depression.
Trendle specified the music on WXYZ shows should always be non-copyrighted classical so the music was free. This is the reason that the William Tell Overture was adopted as the Lone Ranger theme and The Flight of the Bumble Bee became the theme for the Green Hornet show. The overture to the opera William Tell, especially its high-energy finale, is a very familiar work composed by Gioacchino Rossini. ...
Creating New Programs In June 1932, Trendle decided to drop the network affiliation to operate WXYZ as an independent station. His station would produce its own radio drama series and broadcast locally produced music programs, rather than pay for syndicated programs. Jim Jewell was hired as the station's dramatic director and supplied the actors from his own repertory company, the "Jewell Players". Free-lance radio writer Fran Striker was hired to write many of these programs. The earliest dramatic radio series included Thrills of the Secret Service, Dr. Fang, and Warner Lester, Manhunter. Striker wrote many of the scripts and eventually became head of WXYZ's script department. 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...
Fran Striker (1903 – September 4, 1962) was an American writer for radio and comics, best known for his contributions to The Lone Ranger. ...
Late in 1932, Trendle began discussing ideas to create a new radio series with a cowboy as the hero. He wanted a mysterious hero who would have the same type of appeal as Zorro or Robin Hood. The target audience included children, so Trendle insisted on a wholesome hero with high moral standards. Violence and romance were to be minimized. Trendle worked out the basic concept of a masked vigilante - a lone Texas ranger with a big white horse in staff meetings with Jim Jewell and studio manager Harold True. Then it was turned over to Fran Striker to flesh out the details and provide the scripts. His contributions included silver bullets and an indian companion. The result was The Lone Ranger, which began broadcasting January 30, 1933 on WXYZ and the seven other stations of the Michigan Regional Network. 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...
Zorro (sometimes with the definite article : El Zorro), Spanish for Fox, is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega (originally Don Diego Vega), a fictional nobleman and master swordsman living in Spanish-era California. ...
Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham. ...
This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...
The Lone Ranger was an almost immediate hit. In May, a free popgun was offered to the first 300 listeners to send a written request and the station received nearly 25,000 replies. In July, the Lone Ranger made a public appearance at a park and a crowd estimated at 70,000 gathered.
Trendle recognized the value of the Lone Ranger and forced Striker and Jewell to sign over all rights. Along with the legal rights, Trendle claimed credit as the 'creator' of the Lone Ranger. Trendle and his partners kept most of the profits from radio syndication, movie rights and merchandising, while Striker and Jewell were given little more than their salaries.
By the the beginning of 1934, the show was syndicated to WGN, Chicago and WOR, Newark. Other stations soon followed. The live broadcasts were transmitted over telephone lines to the other stations. When the Mutual Broadcasting System was created in 1934, WXYZ became a charter member and the Lone Ranger program was featured on the Mutual Network. Although WXYZ dropped out to join NBC Blue about a year later, contractual obligations kept The Lone Ranger on Mutual until 1942. It then switched to the NBC Blue Network, which became ABC in 1943. The popularity of the series rapidly grew and it was eventually heard on 249 radio stations nationwide. 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...
WGN is the callsign of two broadcast stations in Chicago, Illinois, both owned by the Tribune company. ...
WOR is the callsign currently used by one broadcaster in New York, New York, and formerly used by two others: WOR AM WOR-FM is now WRKS-FM WOR-TV is now WWOR-TV This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise...
The Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. ...
In order to service a nationwide audience, the live broadcast was performed three times, once for each time zone. Beginning in February, 1938, the third performance was also recorded on a transcription disk for later broadcast on stations that did not have a live connection to the network.
In 1936, The Green Hornet was added to the roster of WXYZ programs. The Green Hornet was a modern day masked crime fighter, named Britt Reid and was descended from the Lone Ranger's nephew Dan Reid. He was assisted by his oriental chauffeur Kato, who used martial arts. Fran Striker wrote most of the scripts for the series. The Green Hornet (above) and Kato (below). ...
In 1937, Trendle licensed Republic Pictures to produce a movie version of The Lone Ranger. Trendle was not happy with changes that were made in the movie adaptations and hired attorney Raymond Meurer to oversee licensing of the franchise.
In 1938, Trendle requested his writing staff to create an adventure series featuring a dog as the hero. Writer Tom Dougall created Challenge of the Yukon, a series about Sergeant Preston of Mounties and his Husky named King. Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Challenge of the Yukon was a long-running radio series that began on Detroits station WXYZ (as had The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet). ...
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or Mounties; French, Gendarmerie royale du Canada, GRC) is both the federal police force and the national police of Canada. ...
Husky is a general term for several breeds of dogs used as sled dogs. ...
In 1939, Striker created Ned Jordan Secret Agent for WXYZ. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
In 1949, Trendle hired former MGM film producer Jack Chertok to produce The Lone Ranger television series. Trendle was credited as executive producer. 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ...
MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ...
Jack Chertok born July 13, 1906 in Atlanta, Georgia – was a film and television producer, perhaps best know to modern viewers as producer for the 182 black and white episodes of The Lone Ranger and as executive producer of the series My Favorite Martian . Beginning in the mid-1930s...
In 1950, Trendle began producing Bob Barclay - American Agent. Bob Barclay was an undercover agent for the U.S. Government, with a cover identity as a news correspondent. Trendle received complaints from the U.S. Government because the stories sounded too much like actual cases. The American press also complained that the series was hurting the real life situation of William Oatis. Oatis was a reporter being held on espionage charges in Czechoslovakia. The series was cancelled at the end of its first season.
In July 1954, Trendle sold the rights to the Lone Ranger to the Wrather Corporation for $ 3 million. The radio series ceased at that time, but the television series continued until 1957 with Jack Wrather as the new executive producer. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
From 1955 to 1958, the radio program Challenge of the Yukon was adapted for television as Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. The series was produced by Trendle-Campbell-Meurer Inc. during its first two seasons, but was sold to Jack Wrather Productions in 1957. 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon refers to both a television series that ran in the United States from 1955 to 1958, and the title of a song written and performed by Ray Stevens. ...
Sources - Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507678-8
- Osgood, Dick (1981). Wyxie Wonderland: An Unauthorized 50-Year Diary of WXYZ Detroit.Ohio: Bowling Green University Press.
- Bisco, jim (2005). Buffalo's Lone Ranger: The Prolific Fran Striker Wrote the Book on Early Radio.Western New York Heritage, Vol 7, Number 4, Winter 2005.
- J Brian III. "HI-YO SILVER" The Saturday Evening Post - October 14, 1939
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