# Famous Hoaxes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-hoaxes/52707>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 1, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-hoaxes/52707 "2001-02-01T13:32:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-hoaxes/52707/61 "2001-02-11T19:21:59Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> People did have favorite shows which they tuned to at specific times, and in this case (I haven’t verified this story) the highly popular Charlie McCarthy Show was on on another station. But that night the C.Mc. show was unusually slow or dull, and listeners began to sweep the dial for something else. That’s supposedly why so many people missed Welles’ introduction and caught only the fake newscast portion of the show.

Then as now, people “channel surfed” during the commercial breaks. Most listeners were tuned to Charlie McCarthy but when the first ads came one, they spun the dial. Unfortunately, at that particular time the War of the Worlds broadcast had finished its credits and was just arriving at some of its most dramatic scenes. So a large number of listeners tuned in at the worst possible time to be fooled.

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