This thesis aims to analyse Argentinean radio broadcasting in the 1950s and especially how this medium issued the so-called radio theatre that the audience received in their everyday life. More precisely it is investigated how radio theatre in the 1950s is remembered today, both by listeners who took part in these broadcasts and how it is remembered in the media. Of special interest is what is articulated as specific about its form and how radio theatre was integrated in and changed everyday life. The audience was not only able to receive radio theatre but was also able to contribute with their own stories.

Argentina was one of the pioneering countries in the field of broadcasting, performing its first radio broadcast on August 27, 1920, in the city of Buenos Aires. The Argentinian radio broadcasting was a place of entertainment, information, social and political discussions. One of the main changes in Argentina radio broadcasting happened in 1929 in Buenos Aires. This change was influenced by the first broadcast of radio theatre. In the beginning, radio plays were about stories of “gauchos” (in English cowboys) and folklore, provoking enthusiasm amongst the audience. Argentina radio theatre continues to develop with the introduction of gender-oriented goals which became significant successful. The radio play began to cover the whole family`s interest. Argentina radio theatre caused a significantly change in its audiences’ customs throughout the country.

This thesis research has adopted the Media Memory studies theories and is based on Bertolt Brecht’s theory of radio as well as McQuail`s audience theory. Additionally, this study is situated and looked at in a wider framework of previous research conducted by Barfiel, Hilmes & Loviglio, Brandt and Crook. To reach the objective of this study, 17 semi- structured qualitative interviews have been conducted with Argentinians who lived in different cities and listened to radio plays during the 1950s. The results of this research project demonstrate that nowadays, radio theatre audiences from the 50s reflect on and feel nostalgic about the way they used to listen to radio dramas in those days. More specifically, about waiting for the broadcast to start, gathering with the family around the radio set, or talking to friends or relatives about the episode of the day. In addition, radio play audiences reflect positively on the opportunity to meet in person the actors of the radio plays when they were on tour in Argentina. Moreover, this study illustrates that nowadays, Argentinian media also remember radio theatres through publishing articles that refer to them.