YUSA Program Schedule & Guide

(Members Only Copy)

(What follows is a complete explanation of how the station operates and how to read the program grid. If you already know these things, you can skip to the bottom to view the program grid.)

About Yesterday USA Radio

Bill Bragg (the man with a million friends) founded The National Museum Of Communications in 1979 and Yesterday USA in 1983. The purpose of YUSA is to preserve the history of radio broadcasting and to tell the world about the museum. YUSA is the official worldwide voice of the non-profit, tax exempt museum, and is on the air via satellite, cable TV and on the Internet. The station broadcasts public domain Old Time Radio shows and vintage music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is available free of charge to all. YUSA is operated by an all volunteer staff; no one receives a salary of any kind. The station is funded entirely by contributions from listeners and anonymous donors. In order to receive YUSA you must have either a C-Band backyard satellite system (not the new RCA DSS system), be served by a cable TV system that carries YUSA, Low Power FM stations that carries our signal or have access to the Internet via a 486 computer equipped with a modem and sound card.

How And Where To Tune In

C-Band Backyard Satellite Dish Owners: Tune to the audio sub-carrier of WGN. (Do not confuse C-Band with the new RCA DSS 18 inch dishes.)

• WGN: G5, Tr. 7, 6.8 narrow band

Cable Television Subscribers: YUSA is offered as an audio service on public access Channel 13B of TCI Cablevision in Dallas, TX, and on many other cable systems throughout North America. Yesterday USA is free to cable TV companies, so if your system does not carry YUSA, send us $1.20 in postage to receive our free guide "How to Get Old Time Radio Shows on Cable TV". Then, contact your local cable TV system.

INTERNET USERS: YUSA program audio is also available live on the internet any where in the world. Using a 486 or better computer, equipped with a modem and a sound card, YUSA can be heard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our members only area also features a live OTR chat room, and has links to many other OTR web sites around the world.  Click here to go to the available broadcasting streams.

How To Contact YUSA

YESTERDAY USA RADIO NETWORKS
2001 Plymouth Rock Drive
Richardson, Texas 75081-3946, USA

Email: bill@yesterdayusa.com
Information: (972) 889-YUSA
Fax: (972) 889-2FAX
Call-in Line #1: (972) 889-TALK
Call-in Line #2: (972) 889-BILL
Internet homepage & audio via Internet: www.yesterdayusa.com

How The Station Works

YUSA founder, Bill Bragg, produces 16 ninety minutes program cassettes every 2 weeks. These 16 tapes are loaded into our automation system, and a computer plays the tapes in the proper order per the program schedule grid. The station operates on Eastern time and the tapes play continuously in a different order daily, from 12:01 AM until 11:59 PM during each 2 week period. Then, the process begins again for another 2 week period. The 2 minute break at 11:59 PM Eastern time allows our equipment to re-cue and prepare for the next day of operation. The 16 ninety minute cassette tapes contain 24 hours of program material, and they air once each day in the Eastern time zone with the following exceptions:

• Monday thru Thursday: Only 14 tapes will air due to the Bill Bragg morning and nightly live show.

• Friday: Only 15 tapes will air due to the Friday Night Live Show with Frank Bresee and Walden Hughes.

• Saturday: Only 14 tapes will air due to The Twilight Zone Radio Drama's and Red Stegall's Cowboy Corner Show w/ Walden Hughes.

• Sunday: Only 15 tapes will air due to  Walden's Sunday night live show.

A normal broadcast day is from 12:01 AM to 11:59 PM Eastern time. The 52 weeks of the year are divided into "periods" of 2 weeks each. Therefore, each week of the year is either "Week One" or "Week Two". Since January 13th 1997 was the beginning of a Week One and January 20th, 1997 was the beginning of a Week Two, you can count forward from these dates to determine if the current week is a "Week One" or a "Week Two". 16 new program tapes are loaded into our system at 10:30 AM Eastern time on each Monday of "Week One". The 16 tapes, plus all live shows and special presentations equal 68 hours of new program material in a typical 2 week period. The remaining 268 hours during a typical 2 week period contain repeats of the various 16 tapes, allowing the listener to re-listen and record their favorite shows. All live shows and special presentations air only once, so always listen in or record them! Due to the time differences, this format will vary slightly in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones. Listen to Tape #1 and the Sunday night live show for station information and the titles of the old radio shows contained on tapes #2 thru #16. Then, consult a copy of the program grid to determine a convenient time to listen to your favorite programs.

About Our Live Shows And Special Presentations

The 16 ninety minute tapes air several times each, during every 2 week period. Each time a live show or special presentation airs, you will hear something new and different! These shows & specials are listed as letters of the alphabet, in the "grid" boxes. There are also numbers that are listed within the "grid" boxes that contain the letters. In the event of a technical difficulty with live shows or special presentations, a tape (per the number) will air instead. Remember, every live show or special presentation is unique, so listen to or record all of them! The descriptions of these shows & specials, along with a list of the alphabet letters that accompany them are contained in the next paragraph. Please note that the Complimentary Program Schedules (printed on yellow paper or downloaded from the public section of our homepage) contain a "grid" listing the air times for Tape #1 only. Interested persons should follow the instructions in the "How to Support the Station" section to obtain a complete schedule and list of all 16 tapes.

B = The Bill Bragg Nightly Live Show: YUSA founder Bill Bragg and Mike Handy comes your way with 90 minutes of vintage music & trivia. There are guest appearances from Frank Bresee in Hollywood and from the late Edward R. Murrow & Gordon McLendon and many others! Bill also plays OTR shows from the master disks which allows the listener to hear and record a first generation copy of a rare recording from the past, and Mike Handy plays assorted OTR sometimes way into the night. Join Bill, Kim and Mike LIVE Monday thru Thursday.

T = Experience one of television’s greatest science-fiction series, "The Twilight Zone"® - fully dramatized for AUDIO! "The Twilight Zone"® Radio Dramas feature a full cast, music and sound effects and today’s biggest celebrities in modern audio dramas of creator Rod Serling’s classic scripts. Hosted by Stacy Keach, "The Twilight Zone"® Radio Dramas will keep you glued to the edge of your seat!

C = Red Steagall's Cowboy Corner and Walden Hughes: Texas Cowboy Red writes poems about cowboy life and sings songs. The program is aired weekly thru the US. Walden Hughes fills out the time with celebrity interviews and OTR shows.

S = The Sunday Night Live Show: Bill and Kim Bragg bring you 3 hours of station information and fun. They announce the contents of the 16 program tapes, read all fan mail and interview stars from the golden days of radio, movies and TV. Satellite & cable TV listeners can call in live on either 972/889-TALK or 972/889-BILL. Faxes are accepted via 972/889-2FAX and email can be sent in Contact Info. Internet listening members can click on our live chat room and send messages while they listen in real time, via any 486 (or better) computer that is equipped with a modem and sound card. Postponed due to Bill's work schedule.

How To Support The Station And Receive A Program Schedule

YUSA does not provide program schedules to the general public! Instead, we distribute schedules only to those persons who donate the time, service or equipment that is necessary to keep the station on the air. Schedules are also available to all listeners who pledge monetary support to our efforts. Please choose the area of support that best fits into your budget. Your pledge is non-binding and you may cancel at anytime. Pay by the month, quarter, semiannually or yearly, and make your checks payable to Yesterday USA or use your credit card.

All pledgers will receive access to a password protected area of the Internet homepage which contains: A complete listing of titles & air dates of all programs currently on the air, quick links to most OTR related sites on the Internet, online monthly newsletter, and access to the Sam Grossman Memorial Chatroom!

Tips For Using The "Program Grid"

1. Always use a program grid designed for the time zone in which you reside!

2. Listen to tape #1 to obtain the titles of the old radio shows on tapes #2 through #16, or choose a DJ from the "YUSA On Air Personalities" list at the bottom of this page.

3. Scan the program grid for your time zone and determine a convenient time to listen to and/or record your favorite tape, LIVE show, or special presentation.

4. Occasionally, the end of a tape will be cut off prematurely. This is the result of a variance in the cycles per second supplied by the power company, a variance in the accuracy of the motors in our tape machines, the amounts of tape that are installed on the cassettes by TDK and/or the nature of our automation system.

Tips For Listening And Info On How To Quickly Record All Programs

Listeners in all 4 time zones can record all 16 tapes in sequential order (#1-#16) by recording from 12:01 AM Eastern Time until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on a Friday of any Week Two. To hear most program tapes in a different sequential order daily, listen for a 9 hour period beginning at 9:00 AM Eastern Time, 8:00 AM Central Time, 7:00 AM Mountain Time, or 6:00 AM Pacific Time. Listeners in the Eastern & Central time zones can hear all 16 tapes plus Bill's nightly live show by tuning in from 6:00 PM to Midnight Eastern time or from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM Central time, Monday through Friday of any Week One period. Don't forget Bill's nightly live show during the TWO Week  period, Red Steagall's Cowboy Corner w/ Walden Hughes, The Sunday night live show on the weekends! Listeners in the Mountain & Pacific time zones will need to tune in each night, Monday through Friday of both Week One and Week Two from 8:30 PM to 1:00 AM Mountain Time or from 7:30 PM to Midnight Pacific time, in order to hear all 16 tapes and Bill's nightly live shows. 

Yesterday USA On-Air Personalities

Program Grids

• Eastern Time Zone
• Central Time Zone
• Mountain Time Zone
• Pacific Time Zone