“Stay tuned”
Radio listeners and television viewers are often told to “stay tuned (to this station)” for the next program or for breaking news reports. The used of “stay tuned” dates to the 1920s.
Radio listeners in the 1940s were told to “stay tuned” for war news. One newspaper writer wrote on December 29, 1941: “Famous last words: Stay tuned to this station.”
“Stay tuned” has had a broader meaning (outside of radio and television) of “stay alert” or “pay attention” to developments.
A similar broadcasting saying is “Don’t touch that dial!”
Wiktionary: stay tuned
Etymology
From the operation of dial-tuned radio receivers.
Verb
to stay tuned
1.(idiomatic, informal) To not tune to another broadcast radio station or television channel.
Don’t touch that dial! Stay tuned for more Make-Believe Ballroom after a word from our sponsors.
2.(idiomatic, usually as imperative) Pay attention for future developments about the topic.
Wikipedia: Stay Tuned
Stay Tuned may refer to:
. Stay Tuned (film), a 1992 American film directed by Peter Hyams; Stay Tuned (soundtrack)
. Stay Tuned (TV series), a Canadian comedy television series
. Stay Tuned (Sharon, Lois & Bram album)
. Stay Tuned (Chet Atkins album), 1985
(Oxford English Dictionary)
tuned, adj.
Having one’s radio or television tuned (in) to a particular station; esp. in imp. phr. stay tuned, go on listening to this station.
1956 Amer. Speech 31 258 Stay tuned for Roy Neal and his program.
1970 Wall St. Jrnl. 15 June 1/1, 13 million American homes are tuned in via ABC-TV to a previously taped episode of Mr Welk’s 15-year-old show.
19 December 1924, Daily Times(Harrison, AR), “Bristow, Okla., to open new radio station,” pg. 4, col. 2:
I wish that, through the columns of your paper, you would invite the people of Harrison to tune in on us and to stay tuned in for the greatest radio party in history.
24 February 1927, Oregonian (Portland, OR), pg. 8, col. 4:
This development of radio speechmaking offers wonderful opportunities to politicians—if the audience will stay tuned in.
16 May 1930, Oregonian (Portland, OR), “KGW to Broadcast Election Returns,” pg. 14, col. 1:
The first returns will be announced over KGW beginning about 8:30 o’clock. Those who stay tuned in to The Oregonian’s station will therefore be kept posted with accurate news hot off the griddle virtually until midnight.
27 January 1934, Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal-World, “Ella Cinders” comic strip by Bill Counselman and Charlie Plumb, pg. 7, col. 2:
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT SHE MEANS BUT IT SOUNDS INTERESTING! LET’S STAY TUNED IN!
Google Books
Favorite Huey Long Stories
By Hugh Mercer Blain
Baton Rouge, LA: O. Claitor
1937
Pg. 11:
Tell ‘em to tune in, an’ stay tuned in.
Google Books
The Invasion from Mars:
A study in the psychology of panic
By Hadley Cantril
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
1940
Pg. 98:
“There was nothing we could do about it and they told us to stay tuned in. It seemed most important to follow them.”
29 December 1941, Portsmouth (OH) Times, pg. 11, col. 5:
Famous last words: Stay tuned to this station.
Google Books
Inherit the Wind
By Maxeda Ferguson Von Hesse
New York, NY: W. Morrow & Co.
1943
Pg. 193:
“Storm warning. The next report will be broadcast in ten minutes. Stay tuned to this station. Calling all ships. Hurricane.”
Google Books
June 1944, The Rotarian, “We’re Getting Along,” pg. 8, col. 1:
The world is doomed! Stay tuned to this station!
Google Books
The New Yorker
Volume 20, Part 3
1944
Pg. 18:
“Stay tuned to this station — stay tuned to this station — stay the hell tuned to this station.”
OCLC WorldCat record
The avengers. Stay tuned
Author: Patrick Macnee
Publisher: [1969-02-24]
Edition/Format: Film : Film Visual material : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Stay tuned for the next depression; brought to you by the government.
Author: William R Dobslaw
Publisher: [Mishawaka, Ind., Freedom of the Press] 1973.
Edition/Format: Book : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Stay tuned : a concise history af american broadcasting.
Author: Christopher H Sterling; John M Kittross
Publisher: Belmont, Calif. : Wadsworth, 1978.
Edition/Format: Book : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Stay tuned : an inside look at the making of prime-time television
Author: Richard Levinson; William Link
Publisher: New York : Ace Books, ©1981
Edition/Format: Book : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Chet Atkins, C.G.P., stay tuned
Author: Chet Atkins
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Columbia, 1985.
Edition/Format: Musical cassette : Cassette recording : Popular music : No Linguistic Content
OCLC WorldCat record
Stay tooned : cartoons
Author: Rhonda Dicksion
Publisher: Tallahassee, Fla. : Naiad Press, 1993.
Edition/Format: Book : English : 1st ed
New York (NY) Times
Clinton Advises, ‘Stay Tuned,’ Despite Campaign’s Recent Rough Weeks
By KATE PHILLIPS
Published: December 15, 2007
DES MOINES — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday would not rule out running campaign advertisements that criticized her opponents by name, telling journalists to “stay tuned” to what her campaign had planned.