April 11 In Radio History

In 1921...KDKA-AM became the site of the first live sporting event to be broadcast on Radio. It was a boxing match featuring Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.


In 1929...KLO-AM, Ogden, Utah began broadcasting.

KLO originally signed on in the mid-20s as KFUR. Its current calls came about in the 1930s in honor of Mt. Lomond located near Ogden. KLO was the flagship of the Interstate Broadcasting Corporation, later the Intermountain Network.

Today, KLO is a Talk station at 1430 AM with power of 25Kw-D, 5 Kw-N


In 1964…The Beatles set another music industry record by having 14 songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100.




In 1973...Norm N. Nite did his first show on WCBS-FM, New York, New York. Nite was instrumental in bringing the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland.


In 1985...WJMK-FM, Chicago, Illinois held its "Rock 'N' Roll Reunion."

A year earlier WJMK "Magic 104" flipped to oldies. Initially, it was similar to what RKO's 103.5 WFYR was playing, except that WJMK played more '50s and early '60s music. WJMK initially also played '70s and '80s music along with a new song every hour. By early 1985, all songs released after 1972 were dropped.

The station focused primarily on songs released between 1964-1969 with a good amount of '50s music as well. In 1991, the station's moniker was changed from "Magic 104" to "Oldies 104.3".

WJMK dropped the moniker "Oldies 104.3" by 2001, and returned to their former moniker "Magic 104.3".

In 1998, they began to add more '70s music to the format. In 1999, with new competition from the new "Jammin Oldies format of WUBT "The Beat", WJMK added a few disco songs and more '70s and early '80s songs to the playlist.

After WUBT dropped Jammin' Oldies for CHR in 2001, WJMK continued with their oldies format, though they modified the playlist over the years, dropping older music in favor of more recent material. In 2003, the station once again changed monikers, going from "Magic 104.3" back to "Oldies 104.3" and began airing Dick Bartley's syndicated "Rock and Roll's Greatest Hits" to Saturday nights (which they'd drop at the beginning of June 2004 to return the 70s show "Saturday Night 70s"). By the winter of 2004/05, the station dropped the "oldies" moniker and became known as just "104.3 WJMK".

Today, WJMK is playing Classic Hits branding as  'K-Hits'.


In 1986...KXA-AM in Seattle WA changes call letters to KRPM


In 1991...New York's "Museum of Broadcasting" changed its name to the "Museum of Radio & Television"


In 1991...Scott Shannon started at WPLJ 95.5 FM.  WPLJ had been struggling since its glory days of the mid 1980s, and Shannon became program director and morning drive co-host. At the outset, the station's direct rival was Z100, and used the slogan "Mojo Radio," downplaying the WPLJ call letters, but the approach was eventually changed. Shannon created a Top 40 format that was geared more toward the adult contemporary audience, brought in co-host Todd Pettengill (from WFLY Alabany NY) to form "The Big Show," and the WPLJ call letters were re-emphasized.


In 1992…America's first commercially-licensed radio station, 50,000-watt KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh, replaced its 72-year-old music format with news, talk and information.


In 2007...the cable simulcast of Don Imus' nationally syndicated radio show was canceled by MSNBC after Imus became embroiled in a controversy over racial comments made about the Rutgers women basketball team.