Longest-running network broadcast

The very first episode of Music and the Spoken Word – a 30-minute radio and TV programme consisting of classical music, hymns and spoken verse – was broadcast on 15 July 1929. It has been transmitted every week since, for eight-and-a-half decades, making it the world’s longest-running network broadcast. As of 16 December 2014, a total of 4,449 episodes had been broadcast. It is produced in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Although Music and the Spoken Word was initially transmitted to just 30 radio stations, it is now distributed worldwide, via radio, TV, cable and the internet. Four different narrators have hosted the programme over the years. In 2004, the programme was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.