The Big Story
Feature Assignment (script date) The Majczek Case [James McGuire Chicago Times] (Script us
5 Feb 1946 · 27 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
← The Handover
1947–1955 on radio · NBC
The Big Story
A real reporter, a real case, and a five-hundred-dollar cheque every week.
The Big Story is the ancestor of every reconstruction show on television now, and it ran on both media at once for most of its life, with the Pall Mall sponsorship carried across. The format's honesty was its selling point — the reporter was named, the paper was named, the cheque was real — and it survived the transfer to pictures better than almost anything else here, because the appeal was the case rather than the voice.
- On radio
- Radio from 2 April 1947
- On television
- Television from 16 September 1949
- The overlap
- Both versions ran until 1955, and ended within months of each other
50 recordings · New York
NBC network broadcasts and transcriptions held by the Internet Archive; several carry the reporter and paper in the title. Public domain (US network broadcast, copyright not renewed); no Creative Commons or non-commercial terms apply.
19461
19474
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
19484
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Pt1ONLY HateBetweenBrother&Sister [StLouisGlobeDemocrat AlbertBHendry] UPG
30 Jun 1948 · 15 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
19495
The Big Story
16YrOldMisfitKillsOutOfFear [AlAaronson LouisvilleCourierJournal] UPGRADE
5 Jan 1949 · 29 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Liquidating Partnership (Jigsaw Crime) [Joseph Werges, Arkansas Gazette]
26 Jan 1949 · 27 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Bitterest Man On the Earth [JulianCHouseman, RichmondNewsLeader] UPGRADE
8 Jun 1949 · 29 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
The Loneliest Man On Earth [Ray Sprigle, Pittsburgh Post] #14 FROM DISC
12 Oct 1949 · 27 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Three Gold Coins Spell Death #22 [Nolan Bulloch, Tulsa Tribune] UPGRADE
14 Dec 1949 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
19506
The Big Story
Murder and a Frustrated Father [Sam Melnick, Kansas City, United Press]
4 Jan 1950 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Shot Gun & Fatal Accident [Bill Griffiths, Youngstown Vindicator] #52
12 Jul 1950 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Puritan Morality and Violent Death [Albert I Prince, Hartford Times] UPGRADE
18 Oct 1950 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Killer With Mind Of Little Boy [TR Johnson, Salt Lake City Tribune]
29 Nov 1950 · 22 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
19513
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
MoreTragicThanMurder #90 (dead mother in trunk) [VirgilHill,HiawathaKS]
25 Apr 1951 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
19522
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Hot Lead Catches a Cold Blooded Killer [Miami Herald, William H Adams]
8 Oct 1952 · 24 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
19531
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
19543
The Big Story
Too Terrible to Be Believed [Arthur Mielke, Washington Times-Herald] UPGRADE
27 Jan 1954 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
Undated recordings21
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_47-10-15_029_The_Bobby-Sox_Kid_from_Bayonne_[Dorothy_Kilgallen]
17 Jan 2026 · 29 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_48-07-07_067_The_Woman_Who_Was_a_Witch_[George_Cleveland_Bullette]_pt_2_onl
13 Dec 2025 · 14 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_49-06-08_115_The_Bitterest_Man_On_the_Earth_[Julian_C_Houseman]
22 Nov 2025 · 29 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_49-10-12_133_The_Loneliest_Man_On_Earth_[Ray_Sprigle]
15 Nov 2025 · 27 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_50-01-04_145_Murder_and_a_Frustrated_Father_[Sam_Melnick]
8 Nov 2025 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_50-01-11_146_Gambling,_Divorce_and_Murder_[Frank_McCulloch]
1 Nov 2025 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_50-10-18_186_Puritan_Morality_and_Violent_Death_[Albert_I_Prince]
18 Oct 2025 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_50-12-06_193_Paul_Grays_Missing_Wife_[Bernard_Beckwith]
4 Oct 2025 · 26 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_51-04-04_210_Poker_Game_Ends_In_Death_[William_E_Doherty]
27 Sep 2025 · 24 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_52-03-19_260_Friendly_Betrayal_[Alan_Cowperthwaite]_aka-To_Avenge_a_Murder
20 Sep 2025 · 29 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_53-02-04_299_The_Three_Gangsters_[Don_Morrisey]_aka-The_Biggest_Catch
13 Sep 2025 · 25 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.
The Big Story
Big_Story,_The_54-03-24_345_A_Witness_to_Violence_and_Death_[John_Cahlan]
6 Sep 2025 · 24 min
The Big Story, NBC. Recording held by the Internet Archive; public domain.