Sponsored programmes were the popular medium for advertising in the early days of radio broadcasting. Advertising became increasingly important to cover the cost of the Athlone transmitter.

The first sponsored programme, featuring Euthymol toothpaste, was broadcast on 31 December 1927. Through the 1930s, Independent Newspapers sponsored 'Slumber Hour', PJ Carroll, makers of Sweet Afton cigarettes, sponsored 'Sweet Afton Varieties', The Savoy Cocoa Company sponsored the 'Savoy Minstrels', and The Blackrock Hosiery Company, 'Rock Revellers'. 'The Irish Hospitals' Sweepstakes' programme, sponsored by the Irish Hospitals' Trust to promote the sale of tickets for the Irish Sweepstake, and 'The Walton's Programme', sponsored by the Dublin music shop of that name, became among the best-known and longest-running sponsored programmes.

Listen here to the closing sequence of "The Irish Hospitals' Sweepstakes" programme.

The photograph accompanying this clip shows a draw for the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstakes during the 1950s.

© RTÉ Stills Library 1991/011

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