Frequently Asked Questions

OTR MicrophoneHere are some of the questions to which we think you'll want answers. If you have additional questions not addressed here please contact us.

How can I contact you? Is there a real live person I can call on?

Sure... please check on the contact page for our contact info.

What is your Privacy Policy

Simply said, we won't sell, give, rent, loan, purvey, transfer, hawk, lease, or otherwise transfer any of your information to anyone else - EXCEPT - in order to process your payment. We will only send information that you give us to the credit card processor or PayPal, as you choose. We hate spam and much as you do and won't ever sell, rent, loan, et cetera, your email address - EVER.

How much does it cost to join?

We have multiple ways to access the shows. The simplest is our recurring membership plan for $7.95 per month. We also offer FTP access to our shows. To learn more about FTP come to our FTP page.

Remember, you can cancel your membership whenever you wish.

What kind of download speeds can I expect?

Vintage Radio Shows.com is hosted at one of the worlds best connected internet facilities. Equinix East is a facility near Dulles, Va. (home of America Online) and our servers are feet away from those of Google, AOL media streamers and other famous internet companies that require speed, speed, speed. Test our bandwidth by downloading a free show on our samples page.

How do I add the shows I've downloaded to iTunes/iPod?

This page shows the files being added to iTunes.

I am getting errors when using Internet Explorer?

Don't use Internet Explorer. No, really, we recommend using a standards compliant browser like Firefox, a free alternative to Internet Explorer.

If you must use IE then try the following:
Change your Internet Explorer browser settings to allow "cookies":

  1. Click Tools -> Internet Options -> Privacy.
  2. Click Advanced, and turn on Override Automatic Cookie handling. Under 1st party and 3rd party cookies, click Accept for both.
  3. Check the box for Always allow session cookies.
  4. Click OK.
  1. If you still have problems, use this set of steps:
  2. Click Tools -> Internet Options -> Privacy.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Type in "www.vintageradioshows.com" in the Address of Website box.
  5. Click Allow. This will put "www.vintageradioshows.com" in the list of allowed sites to store cookies.
  6. Click OK.

For Internet Explorer versions 5.5 and higher:
From the browser menu, select Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level > Scripting/Active Scripting, and set to Enable

Is the payment system secure - will someone be able to intercept my credit card info?

Our payment facilitator is the top credit card processing organization in the industry and receives top marks for safety and security. We are never given your credit card information as the actual payment process takes place at these company's sites and securely encrypted.

What is a recurring membership?

A recurring membership means that you don't have to worry about your membership expiring unbeknownst to you. You may cancel at any time by login on to your account and clicking a button.

How do I cancel?

Visit your member information page and click on the 'cancel' link to cancel. Don't worry, you'll be able to continue downloading until your subscription term expires.

Can I pay by check?

Yes. PayPal will allow you to pay by check, however, your check will need to clear before we can activate your account, usually about 3-4 business days.

Which Credit Cards do you accept?

You can use following credit cards: Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express and eCheck.

What is my monthly download allotment?

You can download all the shows you like.

Do I need special software to play these radio shows?

Modern operating systems contain built in software to play mp3 files and most browsers support playing these files from within your 'internet window'. If you need other software there are may audio players that you can download for free from numerous download sites Download.Com. We recommend iTunes software from Apple.

How about the Videos, how do I play those?

Our video collection has been converted to the mp4 standard which produces higher quality movies with smaller file sizes. If you experience difficulties playing our video files download the free Quicktime player. Please visit the Quicktime download page and follow the simple install instructions.

Do the shows have ID3 tags to help identify them?

Most of the files have minimal ID3 tag information (an ID3 tag is part of the file which give information about the file to audio software programs and for collectors). Since most of the information about the file is in the title it is redundant to place it in the ID3 tag as well. For example, this file from the Bob Hope Show:

Bob_Hope_Show.1949.12.06_Guests_Jack_Benny_Doris_Day.mp3

This tells us the show - The Bob Hope Show, the broadcast date - December, 12 1949, and the guests - Jack Benny and Doris Day.

Can I burn these MP3s to disk after I download them?

Of course, as long as you have the correct software and a cd burner.

I have a dial-up modem... can I use what I have or should I wait until I get a faster connection?

There is no doubt that a fast internet connection is a great aid for any use of the internet. While these files are on average about 4 megabytes - not that large by today's standards, they will take some time to download with a 28.8 modem. If you have a dial-up connection try downloading a few sample shows on our samples page to test the speeds and see if you can live with the performance before you sign up.