Ruth Lyons

Ruth Lyons, born Ruth Evelyn Reeves on October 4, 1905, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was a radio and television broadcaster and Broadway performer who died on November 7, 1988. She is credited with pioneering the daytime television talk show format. Her parents, Margaret Keturah Henry Reeves and Samuel Spencer Reeves, were both musicians; her father also worked as a travel agent and taught music at the University of Cincinnati. The family was closely knit and religiously active, with many relatives living nearby and much of their social life centered on the local Presbyterian church.

Lyons demonstrated an early inclination toward performance and music. Her first appearance before an audience came in a grammar school play, and by age twelve she had written and produced her own musical. During World War I she participated in Red Cross fundraising and helped entertain patients at local hospitals. At East High School she edited the yearbook, composed a school musical, accompanied the Dance Club on piano, and served as president of the Kalidasa Club. At the University of Cincinnati she again wrote the school musical, joined Delta Delta Delta sorority, and oversaw the humor section of the college yearbook. She ultimately left her college studies to focus on music, taking piano lessons at the College of Music of Cincinnati and working a job selling sheet music.

Her stage career brought her to Broadway between 1926 and 1928, where she appeared in three productions: The Mulberry Bush, Night Hostess, and The Judge's Husband.

Lyons entered radio through an appearance as an accompanist on WMH in 1925, followed by a regular position as pianist on WSAI beginning that same year. In 1928 she joined WKRC full-time as a pianist, organist, and music librarian. Her first on-air hosting role came about by chance when the station's only female host called in sick and Lyons was asked to fill in; the program's sponsor preferred her approach and she was hired permanently. She hosted Woman's Hour at WKRC and later wrote a new song each week for her program Your Sunday Matinee. Bandleader Paul Whiteman, a guest on the show in 1938, offered to purchase some of her original compositions on the condition that they be published under his name; Lyons declined. During the Great Flood of 1937, she remained at the station around the clock, sleeping at her desk between broadcasts, and her on-air appeals to listeners resulted in $56,000 in donations to the Red Cross — at the time the largest sum raised for disaster victims through such efforts. Her work during the flood led to her appointment as WKRC's program director.

In 1942, Crosley Broadcasting recruited Lyons away from WKRC with an offer ten dollars higher than her existing salary. She moved first to WSAI, bringing fourteen sponsors with her, and later to WLW. Hulbert Taft, head of Taft Broadcasting, later acknowledged that the ten-dollar difference had ultimately cost his company millions in advertising revenue, as Lyons's programs generated more than a million dollars annually in ad revenue for Crosley. At WSAI she hosted Petticoat Partyline, a program with a format similar to Woman's Hour. Though the station required hosts to work from written scripts, Lyons abandoned that practice after one week and returned to spontaneous conversation; rather than facing discipline, she was called into the station manager's office and offered a position at WLW. At WLW she hosted Consumer's Foundation, a program in which participants tested advertised products and reported their findings, and was paired with co-host Frazier Thomas. That program evolved into Your Morning Matinee, a music and entertainment show aimed at female listeners. After Crosley purchased New York City radio station WINS in 1946, the program was also broadcast there for two years. Lyons continued hosting until 1951, when her doctor advised her to reduce her workload. In 1943, when her husband fell ill with scarlet fever and the couple was quarantined at home, Crosley installed broadcast lines and equipment in their residence so Lyons could continue her programs without interruption.

Her most influential program, The 50 Club, originated on WLW Radio on February 5, 1946. The concept was Lyons's own: fifty women were invited each day to a live, one-hour broadcast luncheon. Despite her reservations about working in television — she disliked the heat of the studio lights and the constant presence of cameras — the show made its television debut on WLWT in May 1949, eventually becoming known as the 50/50 Club. Lyons is widely regarded as an accidental inventor of the daytime television talk show format, having built a broadcasting presence comparable in scale to that of contemporaries such as Arthur Godfrey.