GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Westerns were once one of Hollywood’s most popular genres. And while the cowboy motif draws from a lot of southwest culture, it also has roots in Michigan.
This week will mark 90 years since the radio debut of “The Lone Ranger” — a show developed and produced by the team at Detroit’s WXYZ-AM.
The program’s first broadcast was aired on January 30, 1933, on WXYZ and its Michigan Regional Network, including WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids and WKZO in Kalamazoo. But the story starts years before, when WXYZ station management decided to drop its partnership with the Columbia Broadcast System — now known as CBS — and focus on developing its own content.
THE WILD WEST OF RADIO
George W. Trendle was the man at the top at WXYZ. The former lawyer had bought the radio station in 1929 along with his business partner, John Kunsky, and immersed himself in the broadcasting world, taking over as the station manager.
Trendle was considered an extremely frugal man — something that didn’t always play well with his employees but was also a likely factor in the station’s survival during the Great Depression. While not directly noted, it may have been one of the reasons WXYZ dropped its affiliation with CBS in 1932 and concentrated on producing its own content.