June 27 Radio History

In 1907...John McIntire was born in Spokane.

John McIntire - 1941

He was best known for replacing Ward Bond, upon Bond’s sudden death, as the star of NBC-TV’s western Wagon Train from early 1961 to the series’ end in 1965. He also replaced Charles Bickford, upon Bickford’s death in 1967, as ranch owner Clay Grainger on NBC-TV’s The Virginian for four seasons.  A graduate of USC, McIntire began acting in radio in the early 30’s on the syndicated Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher, where he met his future wife, Jeanette Nolan. McIntire worked on countless Suspense CBS radio programs from the early 1940s, as well as scores of other shows. He was a key announce voice on the CBS program The March of Time.

He died on January 30, 1991 from emphysema and lung cancer, at age 83.


In 1949…Gene Autry recorded "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." The record sold 2.5 million copies the first year and eventually sold a total of 9 million.

Gene Autry

In 1956...Clarence Henry released "Ain't Got No Home" to Radio. It became his first hit song.



In 1995...Former WMMS engineer William Alford is sentenced to 10 days & $1,000 fine for cutting feed during Howard Stern's broadcast on WNCX  from Cleveland.

Among the most notorious broadcasts of The Howard Stern Show occurred on June 10, 1994.  Stern had arrived on the Cleveland airwaves less than two years earlier, and in that time took his syndicated program on rival WNCX from an Arbitron ranking of thirteen to number one.  As promised, Stern held a party for his fans on the streets of Cleveland – a "Funeral" for his local rivals, much like similar events held in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia – and broadcast it nationwide.

During the now infamous broadcast, WMMS engineer William Alford snipped a broadcast wire used for the Stern show's satellite feed.  Stern continued on with the program over a phone line as engineers worked to quickly patch together the severed broadcast wire. Alford was subsequently caught, arrested and later sentenced to ten days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Station management initially claimed that Alford acted alone, however WMMS Promotions Director Heidi Klosterman – working under the name Heidi Kramer – later pled guilty to a felony charge of attempted disruption of a public service and a misdemeanor of receiving stolen property; Greg Smith, a former Klosterman colleague, pled guilty to a misdemeanor of breaking and entering.

In 2005...WRAL 101.5 FM became the first commercial station in North Carolina and only the second commercial station in the nation to utilize the "multicasting" cababilities of HD Radio technology to broadcast multiple high definition digital channels.