Howard Culver (June 4, 1918 - August 4, 1984) was an American radio and television actor, best known as hotel clerk Howie Uzzell during the entire run of TV's "Gunsmoke". On radio he starred in the title role of the Western adventure series "Straight Arrow", which aired on Mutual from May 6, 1948 to June 21, 1951.
The TV show "Gunsmoke" first aired in 1949.
It's never mentioned when the TV show aired, only when the radio show aired. It's difficult because a similar statement with different year is contained within the passage.