Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light before 1975) is an American
radio and television soap opera. It is listed in Guinness World
Records as the longest-running drama in television in American
history, broadcast on CBS for 57 years from June 30, 1952, until
September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio from 1937
to 1956. With 72 years of radio and television runs, Guiding Light is
the longest running soap opera, ahead of General Hospital, and is the
fifth-longest running program in all of broadcast history; only the
American country music radio program Grand Ole Opry (first broadcast
in 1925), the BBC religious program The Daily Service (1928), the CBS
religious program Music and the Spoken Word (1929), and the Norwegian
children's radio program Lørdagsbarnetimen (1924â€"2010) have been on
the air longer.[a]Guiding Light was created by Irna Phillips and
Emmons Carlson, and began as an NBC Radio serial on January 25, 1937.
On June 2, 1947, the series was transferred to CBS Radio, before
starting on June 30, 1952, on CBS Television. It continued to be
broadcast on radio until June 29, 1956. The series was expanded from
15 minutes to a half-hour during 1968 (and also switched from
broadcasting live to pre-taping around this same time), and then to a
full hour on November 7, 1977. The series broadcast its 15,000th CBS
episode on September 6, 2006.On April 1, 2009, CBS announced the
cancellation of Guiding Light after a run of 72 years (15 on radio and
57 on television) due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes
on August 11, 2009, and its final episode on the network aired on
September 18, 2009. On October 5, 2009, CBS replaced Guiding Light
with an hour-long revival of Let's Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady.
radio and television soap opera. It is listed in Guinness World
Records as the longest-running drama in television in American
history, broadcast on CBS for 57 years from June 30, 1952, until
September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio from 1937
to 1956. With 72 years of radio and television runs, Guiding Light is
the longest running soap opera, ahead of General Hospital, and is the
fifth-longest running program in all of broadcast history; only the
American country music radio program Grand Ole Opry (first broadcast
in 1925), the BBC religious program The Daily Service (1928), the CBS
religious program Music and the Spoken Word (1929), and the Norwegian
children's radio program Lørdagsbarnetimen (1924â€"2010) have been on
the air longer.[a]Guiding Light was created by Irna Phillips and
Emmons Carlson, and began as an NBC Radio serial on January 25, 1937.
On June 2, 1947, the series was transferred to CBS Radio, before
starting on June 30, 1952, on CBS Television. It continued to be
broadcast on radio until June 29, 1956. The series was expanded from
15 minutes to a half-hour during 1968 (and also switched from
broadcasting live to pre-taping around this same time), and then to a
full hour on November 7, 1977. The series broadcast its 15,000th CBS
episode on September 6, 2006.On April 1, 2009, CBS announced the
cancellation of Guiding Light after a run of 72 years (15 on radio and
57 on television) due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes
on August 11, 2009, and its final episode on the network aired on
September 18, 2009. On October 5, 2009, CBS replaced Guiding Light
with an hour-long revival of Let's Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady.
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