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"The World's Greatest Radio Station"
Music > Gene
Rayburn
Veteran radio and television broadcaster Gene Rayburn recently recalled his days in Baltimore when he got everyone at his station to join ARA (no "T" then). The year was 1941. If the station fired him for union activity, he figured he could get another job for his $35 a week.
After organizing his own station, Rayburn "was so proud of that initiative, that I organized every station in town. I moved on and eventually ended up at WNEW in New York where the base pay was very high by my standards: $45 a week. But we also got commercial fees: eight cents a spot. If you did 100 spots a week, you'd end up with $53!"
After WWII, Rayburn returned to WNEW, became shop steward and worked with the New York Local to improve the situation. It wasn't easy. The station manager at the time was tough and had a temper. "It was no unusual to hear her screams, directed at Local Executive Ken Groot, echo through the office corridors. Ken sat calmly, a slight smile on his face, repeating he demand. Progress was slow. Over a period of years, we got up to $65 a week and 12-cents a spot! Our biggest problem was that the unit wanted to fold every time they heard the station manager scream.
"At WNEW we were paid every Friday, so late each Friday morning our wives would gather on the sidewalk in front of 501 Madison Avenue and wait for us to come down from the 14th floor and give them our paychecks. Most of them had spent their last nickel on the subway to get there. It sounds difficult and it was. But remember, we were young. Our youthful enthusiasm enabled us to gloss over the economic difficulties. We enjoyed each other's companionship, we socialized and laughed a lot. But most of all, we loved our work, said Rayburn.
Rayburn and Finch - Late 1940s
Newspaper ad for WNEW 's "Anything Goes." morning show starring Gene Rayburn & Dee Finch. The ad ran Oct. 24, 1948 in the New York Journal-American. A reprint which hung in Rayburn's home in Mamaroneck, NY, was used in a Rayburn display at the time of one of his Emmy nominations.
TV.com
Gene Rayburn was born on December 22nd, 1917 in
Christopher, Illinois. His father died when he was an infant,
and his mother re-married to Milan Rubessa, whose name Gene
took, thus becoming Eugene Rubessa. Gene graduated from
Lindbloom Highschool in Chicago and attended Knox College in
Galesburg, Illinois before moving to New York City in hopes
of becoming an opera singer. Upon ariving in New York, his
first job was a page for NBC. On January 1st, 1940 Gene
married Helen Ticknor, and they had their only child Lynn on
October 5th, 1942.
Teamed by WNEW with Dee
Finch
After a few years in the Air Force during World War II,
training other recruits, Gene found a job in radio hosting a
new genre of "morning drive" radio with Jack Lescoulie and
Dee Finch on WNEW. In 1954, Gene became an announcer and
sidekick to Steve Allan on the original The Tonight Show,
which became a huge success and boosted Gene's career. From
there Gene hosted a variety of gameshows, including Make the
Connection and Tic-Tac-Dough.
On December 31st, 1962, Gene began hosting the show that
ultimately made his mark in history, The Match Game, which
aired on NBC. The original version lasted until 1969, and
then in 1973 a new version began on CBS, the most popular
version to date, which Gene hosted with his signature long
thin microphone. Gene hosted this new, more creative version,
until its end in 1979, along with a nightly version of the
same show, Match Game PM, which lasted all the way until
1981. While hosting the various incarnations of Match Game
Gene also made other various television appearances, which he
continued to do until shortly before his death in 1999.
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