The Lux Radio Theater was the most important dramatic show in radio.
           It had the biggest stars, the highest budgets, the most acclaim. It
           had a full hour and, during its heyday, Hollywood's most prominent
           film director as host. It had an austere sound, almost solemn. As  
           Tune In noted in 1943: when Cecil B. DeMille opened the broadcast with his weekly "Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen," it almost sounded like "This is God, speaking from heaven."           
The show had arrived in Hollywood in 1936, luring Marlene Dietrich and ClarkwGable to its microphones and drawing an audience that was estimated as high as 40 million people. (Dunning-Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio)