August 25 Radio History

➦In 1949…NBC Radio debuted the sitcom "Father Knows Best," which ran for four years before making the transition to television in 1954. Robert Young was the only cast member to continue with the show on TV.

Dick Clark

➦In 1962...The radio bug bites Dick Clark again - as he announces plans to record a “syndicated” radio series for top-40 stations.

The two-hour programwould be broadcast five days a week and would be produced and distributed byDick Clark Radio Productions and Mars Broadcasting Inc.

Dick Clark says the show will feature artist interviews and records and will be taped at MarsBroadcasting in Stamford, Conn. Clark was a Disc Jockey at WFIL Radio in Philadelphia when he landed the job as host  of TV's “American Bandstand.

➦In 1962...Fred Wolf celebrates 12 years as the morning man on Detroit’s WXYZ 1270 AM

He started with the station in 1950 and stayed until 1965 when he left the after refusing to play some rock and roll records.


➦In 1962...Paul Sherman, 1010 WINS, New York replaced Bob (Bob-A-Loo) Lewis on the outlet’s Saturday and Sunday “Freedomland” remote broadcasts. Lewis was days away from joining rival 77 WABC


➦In 1966...WNBC 660 AM New York canceled the syndicated “Joe Pyne Show” after debuting last March. Billed as “fist-in-the-mouth” radio, WNBC gives no reason for the cancellation

R. Peter Strauss

➦In 1966...R. Peter Straus, president of radio station WMCA 570 AM New York - appears on aprogram on rival station - WNEW 1130 AM. He was interviewed by Richard Doan on a weekly series titled “The Truth About Radio.”

Straus was told that he probably was one of those broadcasters “who peddles rock ‘n’ roll all day and who refuses to call it by that name,” that maybe he was ashamed of the practice. Mr. Straus denied he was ashamed and asserted that WMCA programmed for the largest possible audience so that its commercials and community messages ofsubstantive content would be exposed to the largest number of people. Straus that if the most popular music next year were say Chamber music or Chinese madrigals “we will be playing them".

➦In 1971....Former 93 KHJ Los Angeles night DJ Humble Harve Miller,who affirmed his guilt in court, is sentenced for a term of five years to life for killing his wife, Mary.  He pled guilty to second-degree murder – the unlawful killing of a human being with malice, but without premeditation on Aug 2. His seven-year marriage was described as “stormy and tempestuous” and Mrs. Miller as “domineering and literally a witch.” Miller could be paroled in as little as 3 ½ years.

➦In 1977....It was announced Record executive Irving Azoff would be serving as executive producer on a movie called “FM.” Azoff will coordinate the soundtrack – to include a blend of rock standards, current hits and original compositions written for the movie and take charge of a live rock concert which will be filmed for inclusion in the film.



The movie is about the going’s on  - at a major market FM rock music station and the music business.

➦In 1989...Former WMCA 570 AM talk host Alan Colmes is now doing mornings at classic rock WZLX Boston.

➦In 1989...KLOS Los Angeles morning show hosts Mark and Brian do a no-no. Equipped with hidden mics, they took listeners on an aural Graceland tour for the 12th anniversary of Elvis’ death, but they were caught. Graceland says you’re not supposed to be broadcasting from the premises. They called the duo incredibly rude and distasteful.


➦In 1994...Radio stations across the country started experimenting with Digital Audio Tape (DAT). Unlike a CD, DAT allows a user to record in crystal-clean digital.


➦In 1994...Rush Limbaugh was not amused with a parody by the ABC sketch comedy show – “She-TV.” The premiere show – cast member Nick Bakay does a parody of the newly married Limbaugh in which he joked abut Limbaugh’s wedding being performed by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Limbaugh has filed a complaint with ABC. Limbaugh says the skit made him out to be racist.


➦In 1999...KLOS Los Angeles apologized for a Mark & Brian stunt after they announced plastic gardening tools called “Black Hoes” would be given out.

➦In 2009...Glenn Beck returned to Fox News Channel after a vacation with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist.

A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and Colorofchange, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago.

While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.