page_title: Judith C. Waller
section_title: Continued growth
hierarchical_section_title: Judith C. Waller / Station management / Continued growth
caption_attribution_description: Publicity photo of Freeman Gosden (left) and Charles Correll preparing to dig into a cake for the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the radio program Amos 'n' Andy on NBC. Gosden was the voice of Amos and Kingfish, while Correll was the voice of Andy.
context_page_description: Judith Cary Waller was an American broadcasting pioneer. Despite the fact that she knew nothing about radio at the time, she became the first station manager of Chicago radio station WMAQ when it went on the air in 1922. She is believed to be the first female radio station manager in the United States. During her tenure as station manager, Waller was responsible for obtaining broadcast rights for Chicago Cubs home games for WMAQ and for hiring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Amos 'n' Andy after they left WGN radio over syndication rights. Waller tried to interest the CBS radio network in the program with no success. NBC brought the program to its Blue Network three years before its purchase of WMAQ in 1931.
  Waller was also responsible for the long-running discussion program University of Chicago Round Table on radio. The program began at WMAQ; it was then heard on the NBC Radio Network for over twenty years.
context_section_description: WMAQ continued to grow. After moving to the 670 kilocycles frequency, the station shared it with station WQJ until 1927 when the Daily News was able to lease the other station. The station also gained its first commercial advertiser in the same year. By 1928, the station was on the air for 20 hours each day and had a staff of 50 people. In early 1928, Waller was contacted by a pair of actors who were looking for another station to broadcast their radio program. Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll were on WGN radio with a popular local program called "Sam 'n' Henry." Gosden and Correll did not renew their contract with WGN because the station was unwilling to grant them syndication rights for their program.
  The asking price for Gosden and Correll and their announcer, Bill Hay, was $25,000 per year, along with their right to syndicate their radio show. Since this was more than WMAQ's annual operating budget, Waller had to consult with Walter Strong at the Daily News. Gosden and Correll performed their act in episode form, similar to a serial film; the exception was that the episodes were heard daily instead of weekly. She felt that the expense for their services was justified and would mean profits for WMAQ in the long run when the program was syndicated. Strong was in agreement; the contracts were signed and Gosden and Correll re-worked some of their act. Since WGN owned the title Sam 'n' Henry, the new radio program was called Amos 'n' Andy and it aired on WMAQ for the first time in March 1928.
  The program was a great success both locally and in markets where it was syndicated. Still, Waller felt it should be aired nationally on a network. Since WMAQ was a Columbia Broadcasting System affiliate at the time, she traveled to New York to try to interest the network in broadcasting the show. Years later, Waller recalled that she was told the network already had the Two Black Crows. When she tried to explain that Amos 'n' Andy was not musical but a story told in segments, she was asked if she thought such an act could be heard on the network every weekday. After Waller answered "yes", she was then told to go back to Chicago because she knew nothing about radio. After it had been put into syndication, NBC began monitoring developments regarding the program. The program was signed and made its debut on the Blue Network on August 19, 1929; NBC paid a record $100,000 for the first year of broadcast rights.
caption: Gosden and Correll celebrate Amos 'n' Andy's 10th anniversary on the air, 1938
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