Vocal Hierarchies in Early Australian Quiz Shows, 1948–71: Two Case Studies

Abstract

This article examines the complexities involved in transferring content and genre from one media platform to another by emphasising the shifting, fragile yet stabilising part that sound can play in such a transformation. Early television is often labelled as a period of 'radio with pictures', and this intriguing designation directs our attention to this 'moment' of changeover. This analysis explores the parameters of sound in television's displacement of radio as the primary broadcasting medium in Australia in the 1950s. We focus in particular on the role of the human voice (host, audience and contestants) in two early quiz shows - Wheel of Fortune and Pick-a-Box - that began on radio and were both successfully remade as television programs.