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The radio station WKBW
broadcast a modernized version of the 1938 War of the
Worlds radio drama. There were 3 variants to this broadcast:
- 1968 - The original and longest of the
broadcasts. Sandy Beach was the disc jockey in the open.
- 1971 - Jackson Armstrong was the DJ at the
beginning of this broadcast. This version was edited down to 63
minutes from the 1:18 original.
- 1973 - Shane "The Cosmic Cowboy" was the
opening DJ and the rest of the broadcast identical to the 1971
version.
- 1975 - By far the weakest of the versions.
Amateurish editing done to eliminate on-air talent no longer with
the station.
All of the cast members were actual news reporters for the radio
station. Initially, a script was written for the news reporters to
act out. Upon hearing the rehearsals, though, it was evident that
the news reporters were not adept at scripted radio acting.
In place of a script, Jeff Kaye wrote an outline based on the
events that were to occur. The news reporters were then asked to
describe the events as they would covering an actual news story.
The results were much more realistic for its time, and this was the
process used for the actual broadcast.
Despite an exhaustive advertising campaign by WKBW for this
show, several people were still convinced upon listening to it that
the events unfolding in the show were genuine. Although the public
concern over the legitimacy of the broadcast was not as great as in
1938, creator Jeff Kaye and director Dan Kriegler feared that they
were going to lose their jobs as a result of the broadcast. Jeff
Kaye claims he actually submitted his resignation, certain that he
was going to be fired the next day. However, no one involved in the
broadcast was fired and the resignation was not accepted.
It is claimed that, because of the broadcast, FCC regulations
involving radio dramas that mimic live broadcasts were altered to make airing
these types of radio dramas more difficult in the future.
The 1968 original broadcast is considered notable amongst
enthusiasts of both radio drama and the War
of the Worlds franchise for the following reasons:
- Originality. Up until this point, most radio
renditions of the 1938 broadcast were simply script re-readings
with different actors or had minor variations to account for
significantly different geographical locations. The WKBW version
disregarded the script entirely to modernize the story and
reporting techniques for its time.
- Shock Value. It was a generally-conceived
notion before the broadcast that a mass hoax, even one as
unintentional as the original broadcast, could never be duplicated
again by a lone radio broadcast. The rise of television as a
preferred news medium was a factor in this notion that radio could
no longer produce such a drastic response from its audience. The
fact that the WKBW broadcast could unintentionally re-create that
response on a smaller scale surprised many people and garnered a
lot of post-broadcast attention on the radio station. In this way,
it was a successful marketing gimmick.
External
links
Bibliography
- Gosling, John. Waging the War of the Worlds.
Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland, 2009 (paperback, ISBN
0786441054).
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