Old Time Radio

Old Time Radio is still around. You just have to know where to find it. The fact that it's old, in no way makes it any less enjoyable then it was the day it was broadcast.

Way before the days of television, there was radio. Just as people today gather around their TV sets, families once came together in their homes to listen to radio shows.

There were all types of shows to enjoy, such as mystery, horror, adventure, drama, comedy, westerns, musical variety, news and sports. At one time, these prime time radio shows were every bit as popular as today's TV shows are now.

Are you tired of all the junk that passes for entertainment on TV these days? Are you sick of all the silly new reality shows that seem to come out almost weekly now?

If this sounds like you, you'll be interested to know that there is a way for you to still enjoy high quality entertainment. I'm talking about Old Time Radio.

What Is Old Time Radio?

Old Time Radio (OTR for short) refers to shows that were broadcast on the radio in the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. It is also known as the "Golden Age of Radio". These shows were professionally written and directed and starred the biggest actors of their day. They where made in a long ago time where quality still mattered. The stories were well thought out, interesting and very entertaining.

The Hobby Of Old Time Radio

Many people just like to listen to these great old radio shows to enjoy them as people did when they were first aired, but to others, it's also their hobby.

There is an aspect of Old Time Radio that appeals to collectors. When you find a series you really enjoy, it's fun to go out and try to find all the shows still in existence for that particular series.

For me, it was like that with my favorite series "Father Knows Best". I really enjoyed the first show I listened to in this comedy series and made an effort to obtain every episode of it I could find. Every time I would find a really good show, I would buy or download the complete set if I could find it. Like most people, I've had many hobbies in my lifetime, but collecting Old Time Radio shows has been one I've really enjoyed and stuck with over the years.

Where Do Old Time Radio shows Come From?

Fortunately for us, many kind hearted people took the actual tape reel recordings and converted them to other formats that were more accessible. They were often put on audio cassettes and traded among other OTR fans or made available through mail order catalogues.

Where To Find Old Time Radio Shows

Before the advent of the Internet, people wanting to hear old time radio shows had no choice but to buy them through the mail on audio tape cassettes. This format was not compressed, unlike today's digital media files. Only a couple of shows would fit on each tape.

But now with the Internet and the invention of the .mp3 compressed digital audio file, OTR is available to everyone. The .mp3 format is now the standard way to share OTR shows on disk and over the Internet. Since they are compressed, many shows will fit on one CD or DVD. They are also small enough to download quickly over the Internet.

There are many websites that sell OTR disk sets online. There are also websites that offer Old Time Radio shows for download directly from their website.

Some people like to buy the disk sets and collect them. Others like the lower cost option of downloading them online and storing them on their computer.

There are many websites that offer OTR shows for free download. There are also membership sites that charge a monthly fee to access their collection.

Get The Most OTR For Your Money

I believe the best way to get the most amount of shows for your money is to join an Old Time Radio club like ours. No monthly fees. Everyone who makes a donation of ten dollars or more gets full access to all of the shows in our collection.

Here's how it works. Everyone chips in a little money. We buy the disk sets and put them online on our server. We all share the shows together. This is way cheaper then if we all tried to buy all the shows ourselves. It's been working out great for over seventeen years now. We currently have over 49,500 shows online. All club members are able to download the shows in .mp3 format to their computer or listen to them online if they wish.

Another nice feature of our club is that many members like to donate shows from their personal collections to share with the other club members. They send me the disks or upload them to our server and they go in the online collection for everyone to enjoy. Many of these shows are not available for download on other websites.

Our club has been around since 2007 and we have many, many happy members who like to share their favorite hobby with as many people as possible. If this sounds like something you may enjoy, we invite you to visit our website Old Time Radio Theater and take a look.