➦In 1988...95.5 FM NYC switched call letters back to WPLJ. The WPLJ call-sign returned after one year as WWPR, on December 21, 1988, when research indicated that listeners still identified the station as WPLJ.
➦In 1996...Barry Gray died (Born July 2, 1916). He was an influential radio personality, often labeled as "The Father of Talk Radio".
 |
| Barry Gray |
Rival station WOR also saw the attraction of the talk format, and Gray worked an overnight shift there from 1945 to 1948 or 1949, interviewing everyone from Al Jolson to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. He also broadcast for WMGM from the Copacabana night club in the late 1940s. In addition during 1947 he hosted the New York-based show Scout About Town for the Mutual Broadcasting System, during which he would present an Award of the Week to popular stars of the stage such as Mitzi Green and Morey Amsterdam.
Gray broadcast on WMIE-AM radio from three Miami Beach nightclubs, the Copa Lounge, Danny and Doc's Jewel Box and the Martha Ray Club nightly in the fall of 1948 and into 1949 before he left the Miami area under some pressure. Gray bopped someone from his audience with his microphone,and this happened on the air. The impact was audible and the impact had been preceded by hot words of anger.
 |
| Barry Gray WMCA |
After WMCA changed to an all-talk format in 1970, Gray was again fully in his element. By the 1980s he had shifted from a late-night to a mid-day slot at the station.
Gray left WMCA in 1989 when it dropped its talk format, and went to work slightly up the dial for a return to WOR where he enjoyed national syndication. By the time of his death, his show was considered to be politically conservative.
➦In 2017...Sportscaster Dick Enberg, whose “Oh my!” calls rang familiar with so many sports fans, suffered a fatal heart attack at age 82. During the course of his 60 year career he called games and matches for CBS, NBC, ESPN, as well as UCLA Bruins basketball, Los Angeles Rams football, and California Angels and San Diego Padres baseball.
.png){kind=logo}
