CBS found itself in an interesting situation with Suspense in the final months of 1947. Roma Wines, the sponsor of the program for over five years, ended its association with the show and turned its attention to other programs. Often, this would have meant the cancellation of any other program, but the network recognized that Suspense, thanks largely to producer William Spier’s ability to put together excellent stories with top name stars, was still viable as a program and a favorite with fans. Because of this, CBS decided to continue the program until a new sponsor could be found. Not only that, but there was such faith in the show that a daring change was made at the beginning of 1948.

 

January 3, 1948 was both a new night for Suspense and a new format for the program as well. Each episode was now an hour, which on the surface, gave Spier and his team of actors and writers and others a larger, longer stage to play on. While this was true, expanding to an hour also doubled the workload, the expectations, and, most important to CBS, the money being spent. Hour long shows are a rarity in old time radio, primarily because of the cost and the amount of work that had to go into them, but CBS did not give up quickly, even going as far as bringing on Robert Montgomery, a popular actor at the time, as host and even sometimes player to beef up some episodes.

 

CBS deserves credit for being willing to take such risks with a program, even one as popular at the time as Suspense, but in the end the hour-long format simply didn’t make sense financially. With the last sixty-minute episode airing in May, Suspense returned to radio in the summer, back on its original Thursday night with thirty minute episodes once again, and a new sponsor Autolite.

 

Twelve top quality episodes of mystery, thrills, chills, action, and adventure in Suspense, Volume 25, restored to Sparkling audio quality by Radio Archives.