Miami County, Ohio Common Pleas Court Judge Jeannine Pratt granted WLW 700 AM radio personality Lisa M. Wells, 38, treatment in lieu of conviction on Monday.
Wells appeared with attorney Bryan Penick for the hearing and entered a plea of guilty to four counts of fifth degree felony aggravated drug possession and OVI.
According to the Troy Daily News, Wells said the experience “has been eye-opening for me” after Judge Pratt denied her ILC last August. She told Judge Pratt she appreciated the opportunity to seek ILC again.
Wells said she completed an in-patient treatment program, attends NA/AA meetings three times a week and submitted her treatment plan to the court last January. Her attorney requested her treatment plan and records to be sealed.
Pratt accepted Wells guilty plea for OVI and placed her on community control for two years. She ordered Wells to continue her treatment plan, undergo an alcohol and drug assessment, abstain from drugs and alcohol, attend meetings and to complete 40 hours of community service and submit monthly reports of her treatment plan to the parole office.
Veteran sportscaster Neil Macrae, known for a Vancouver broadcasting career that spanned decades, has died, according to the CBC.
The radio personality worked at CKNW 980 AM in Vancouver for nearly 30 years before his retirement in 2012. The station said he passed away on last Thursday at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer.
His former sports director JP McConnell said he was "absolutely shocked" by Macrae's death.
"[It's] very tough to think and talk about it — We shared 30 years together off and on at [NEWS 1130] and [CKNW] and I loved every minute of it ... He was a true talent," McConnell told CBC News in an email.
Macrae was known for his candid, fiery on-air spats — most famously taking on former Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke in 1998.
In 1914...singer/actress Frances Langford was born Frances Newbern in Lakeland Florida. Her fame began as the longtime vocalist (& skit player) on Bob Hope’s radio shows, her many USO tours with Hope, and her role as Blanche Bickerson opposite Don Ameche in The Bickersons, radio’s favorite battling couple. She died from congestive heart failure July 11 2005 at age 89
In 1922...WAAB, Baton Rouge, Louisiana became the first station in the United States to have call letters that began with "W".
In 1938...after seven years of singing in the evening on the radio, Kate Smith began a new daily noontime quarter-hour talk show on CBS.
In 1996...the Howard Stern Radio program debuted on KJFK-FM, Austin, Texas.
Don Imus
In 2007...Don Imus called the Rutgers women basketball team "nappy-headed hos". The comment erupted into a firestorm of condemnation which a week later led to him being fired from his nationally syndicated radio show.
On April 4, 2007, during a discussion about the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, Imus characterized the Rutgers University women's basketball team players as "rough girls," commenting on their tattoos. His executive producer Bernard McGuirk responded by referring to them as "hardcore hos". The discussion continued with Imus describing the girls as "nappy-headed hos" and McGuirk remarking that the two teams looked like the "jigaboos versus the wannabes" mentioned in Spike Lee's film, School Daze; apparently referring to the two teams' differing appearances.
After outrage from the initial reports, Imus dismissed the incident as "some idiot comment meant to be amusing". He also stated that "nappy-headed hoes" is a term that rap artists use to refer to African-American women.
He said: "That phrase [nappy-headed ho] didn't originate in the White Community. That phrase originated in the Black community. Young Black women all through that society are demeaned and disparaged and disrespected by their own Black men, and they are called that name in Black hip hop."
In response to mounting public censure, Imus issued a statement of apology:
I want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team, which lost to Tennessee in the NCAA championship game on Tuesday. It was completely inappropriate and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry.
On April 9, Imus appeared on Al Sharpton's syndicated radio talk show, Keepin' It Real with Al Sharpton, to address the controversy. Sharpton called the comments "abominable", "racist", and "sexist", and repeated his earlier demand that Imus be fired. Imus said, "Our agenda is to be funny and sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far. Here's what I've learned: that you can't make fun of everybody, because some people don't deserve it."
The Rutgers basketball team held a news conference at which coach C. Vivian Stringer stated that the team would meet with Imus to discuss his comments. Several of the players expressed their outrage over his remarks. Team captain Essence Carson said Imus' remarks had "stolen a moment of pure grace from us".
On April 11, 2007, Steve Capus of NBC News, announced that MSNBC would no longer simulcast Imus in the Morning, effective immediately. The next day, CBS Radio canceled Imus in the Morning, effective immediately. CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves stated:
From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent. There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision. Moonves had met with Sharpton and Jesse Jackson shortly before the announcement was made.
iHeartMedia has announced the return of veteran programmer Jeff Kapugi as SVP/Programming for its clusters in Washington DC and Baltimore.
Kapugi most recently was Program Director for CBS Radio Country WUSN US 99.5 FM in Chicago.
iHM stations in Baltimore include: Gospel WCAO 600 AM, Top40 WZFT 104.3 FM, Adult Hit WQSR 102.7 FM and Country WPOC 93.1 FM
The Washington Cluster consists of: AC WASH 97.1 FM, Classic Rock WBIG 100.3 FM, Top40 WIHT 99.5 FM, Country WMZQ 98.7 FM and Alternative WWDC 101.1 FM
Kapugi previously spent nearly two decades at then Clear Channel working up through the ranks at 93.3 WFLZ Tampa and then in St. Louis where he helped launch CHR “Z107.7” KSLZ and finally Washington/Baltimore where he served as OM and PD of CHR “Hot 99.5” WIHT.
He left the company in 2008 to join Randy Michaels as Chief Operating Officer at Tribune Interactive before returning to radio in 2010 as PD of CBS Radio’s two St. Louis music stations and then in 2012 joining WUSN and becoming CBS’ Vice President of Country Programming. Kapugi exited CBS in December 2016.
In his new role Kapugi will succeed Meg Stevens to allow her to focus on her duties as Executive Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia’s Northeast Division. Stevens had supplanted Kapugi as OM of Clear Channel Washington when he departed in 2008.
Salem Media Group has announced that Washington, DC VP/GM David Ruleman plans to retire at the end of June 2017. In addition to his Washington leadership role, Ruleman has served for many years as a Regional Vice President of Operations with current oversight of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, and DC.
David Ruleman
Ruleman began his career in 1968 as a broadcast journalist, news anchor and news director. Between 1973 and 1986, he was Vice President of Palomar Broadcasters and President of Radio Del Rey. Ruleman joined Salem putting KPRZ-AM on the air in San Diego in 1986 and remained General Manager until 1992. Salem purchased WAVA-FM in 1992 and Ruleman has served as Vice President and General Manager of the growing cluster for the past 25 years. In 2001 he provided leadership as Salem added three channels on XM Satellite Radio. Sirius XM Satellite Radio continues to carry Sirius XM 131, Family Talk, Salem's exclusive Christian Teaching and Talk channel.
During the past 31 years since joining Salem Ruleman has provided operational oversight during the acquisition more than of 20 stations in nine markets including those in the Washington DC cluster. "It has been a privilege to serve with outstanding professionals at every level. They are the best of the best in the communications industry. It has been an honor to serve ministries, churches and clients and I am grateful to have been able to play a small part in the development and growth of this life changing organization known as Salem Media Group."
Tom Moyer
Edward G. Atsinger III, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "David Ruleman is in many respects one of the 'founding fathers' of Salem Media. His passion and impact for Salem in San Diego led to our decision to put him in Washington DC when we acquired WAVA, our most expensive acquisition at the time. He has been there ever since and has done a tremendous job in one of the most influential cities in the world, our nation's capital. Dave's daily presence will be missed, but the legacy of his leadership will last into future generations of leaders for Salem."
In light of his retirement, Ruleman announced the promotion of WAVA Station Manager Tom Moyer to General Manager of the Washington DC cluster including WAVA-FM and AM, Sirius XM 131, AM 1260 The Answer and AM 1250, WWRC effective April 1.
Ruleman commented, "Tom Moyer has been a part of the growth of our operations in DC from the beginning and has earned the respect of national and local leaders. There is no better or more qualified person to lead the Salem Media DC team into the future than Tom." Moyer was with Mutual Broadcasting and then WABS before joining WAVA as an Account Executive shortly after the station was acquired in 1992. He was promoted to Sales Manager within the first year, and became Station Manager of WAVA-FM and AM in 2006, gradually assuming more responsibility for the other stations including Sirius XM 131, Family Talk.
iHeartMedia Sacramento announced today the debut of KQJK 93.7 FM The River, the River City’s New Classic Rock. The station launched at 12:01 a.m. on April 3, 2017.
93.7 The River will broadcast music from an array of classic rock icons, including Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Queen, Journey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana and Northern California’s own Green Day. The station will also feature longtime Sacramento personalities The Dog & Joe Show, Monica Lowe and Derek Moore as well as nationally syndicated personality and former Motley Crue member Nikki Sixx.
The station previously aired Jack variety hits.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring 93.7 The River to the River City,” said Curtiss Johnson, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Sacramento. “93.7 The River is built on The Dog & Joe Show, a destination morning show with two wildly creative and beloved personalities, a redefined take on Classic Rock for 2017 and a passion and commitment to community we’ve embraced and called home for many years. 93.7 The River, a radio station uniquely crafted for Sacramento.”
KQJK 93.7 FM (25 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
“Having a new station like 93.7 The River built around your show is a rush few get to experience in their careers,” said Craig “Dog” Stalians. “Joe and I are humbled and flattered to be able to work with the insanely talented people at iHeartMedia Sacramento at a rock station that is uniquely Sacramento, right down to the station name. It’s going to be epic.”
Jason Aldean extended his reign Sunday night as the Academy of Country Music's top entertainer, while Miranda Lambert made history with a record-breaking eighth Female Vocalist of the Year win on a night of spectacle and surprise in Las Vegas, according to The Tennessean.
“I can’t even believe I can say that,” Lambert said of breaking Reba's McEntire’s longstanding record in the category. “I’m really so thrilled that I can still help lead the charge for women in this business at any level, songwriters, anybody behind the scenes, managers, whatever it is. I’m just thrilled I can keep pushing forward and making a way for other women to do the same thing. I’m really humbled by it.”
Lambert also picked up her fifth Album of the Year win with her double album “The Weight of These Wings."
Thomas Rhett, another of the evening's top winners, was left virtually speechless after accepting awards for Song of the Year with “Die a Happy Man” and Male Vocalist of the Year.
“I don’t have a whole lot of words except for everyone in this category are my idols,” Rhett said after receiving the second award. “Everyone in this category shaped the artist that I am. I try and be the best singer I can. This is a very humbling, humbling experience.”
The 52nd ACM Awards were again co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley — this time from Las Vegas’ new T-Mobile Arena, which allowed for larger stages and an even bigger audience.
It was the first of three performances over the three-hour show for top nominee Urban who later wowed with a soulful version of his twice-nominated “Blue Ain’t Your Color.” Through tempo and artful guitar work, Urban nimbly sewed his last No. 1 into his current single, “The Fighter” for a fun and flirty performance with duo partner and new label mate Carrie Underwood.
Duos and collaborations were a theme of the evening. McEntire and Christian music star Lauren Daigle performed the single “Back to God.” And Brett Eldredge sparked a collaboration of a different kind, incorporating the cast of Las Vegas’ critically acclaimed acro-cabaret variety show “Absinthe” into his performance of “Somethin’ I’m Good At.”
Lambert didn’t have a band much less a duo partner when she backed herself on acoustic guitar for brave and emotional performance of “Tin Man” that was easily one of night’s best.
The full list of winners
Entertainer of the Year: Jason Aldean
Male Vocalist of the Year: Thomas Rhett
Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
Vocal Duo of the Year: Brothers Osborne
Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town
Album of the Year: "The Weight of These Wings," Miranda Lambert; Producers: Frank Liddell, Eric Masse, Glenn Worf; Record Labels: RCA Nashville, Vanner Records
Songwriter of the Year: Lori McKenna
New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year: Brothers Osborne
New Female Vocalist of the Year: Maren Morris
New Male Vocalist of the Year: Jon Pardi
Single Record of the Year: Florida Georgia Line, "H.O.L.Y." Producer: Joey Moi; Record Label: Big Machine Label Group
Vocal Event of the Year: Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw, "May We All;" Producer: Joey Moi; Record Label: Big Machine Label Group
Song of the Year: "Die a Happy Man," Thomas Rhett; Songwriters: Thomas Rhett, Sean Douglas, Joe Spargur; Publishers: EMI Blackwood Music Inc (BMI), Cricket On The Line (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI), Eastman Pond Publishing (BMI), Music of Big Deal (BMI), Nice Life (BMI), Frederic And Reid Music (BMI), BMG Platinum Songs (BMI), Brodsky Spensive Publishing (BMI)
Video of the Year: "Forever Country," Artists of Then, Now and Forever; Director: Joseph Kahn; Producers: Nathan de la Rionda, Jil Hardin, Charleen Manca, Joanna Carter, Chandra LaPlume, Sarah Trahern, Damon Whiteside
It was a busy weekend for Westwood One! In celebration of the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards, more than 100 Country artists came by our Westwood One Backstage at the ACM Awards Radio Row event at the Lucky Live Lounge at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Cumulus Media and Westwood One are the official national radio partners for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards.
Top Country superstars and new emerging talent – including Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, Michael Ray, Jason Aldean, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins, and more – plus the Backstreet Boys -- engaged with 30 of America’s top Country stations, TuneIn, and Radio Disney and with Westwood One Backstage at the ACM Awards exclusive brand partner activations for Ace Hardware; Advance Auto Parts; Dynamic Solutions; Grainger; Outnumber Hunger, an initiative of General Mills; and Ply Gem.
In addition, Westwood One Backstage at the ACM Awards featured exclusive private backstage performances from Curb Records superstars Lee Brice, Mo Pitney, and Jerrod Niemann, who performed tonight, Broken Bow recording artist Walker McGuire, who performed last night, and Valory Music’s Delta Rae, who kicked off backstage orientation Thursday night.
Each of the major cable news channels -- CNN, Fox News and MSNBC -- bragged about their audience gains during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Across the board, just how much more cable news did Americans watch?
According to a new Nielsen report, adults over 18 watched 27.1 billion minutes of cable news in 2016, a 44% spike over the 18.8 billion minutes in 2015. That jump was largely responsible for an 18% overall increase in news consumption across all media, including broadcast news, radio and smartphone news.
The Wall Street Journal reports adult news consumers spent nearly 6.5 hours a week watching national cable TV news in 2016 -- up nearly an hour-and-a-half from 2015, and an hour and 45 minutes from the last presidential election cycle in 2012, reports Nielsen.
Older viewers watch much more cable news. It accounts for 11.6% of TV viewing for people over 50, but just 2.5% for people 18 to 34.
Glenn Enoch, senior vice president of audience insights at Nielsen, attributed the uptick to a barrage of news headlines in 2016, including topics such as the presidential election, Syria, refugees, Brexit, Zika and terror attacks. “Americans responded by watching, listening to and reading more news -- a lot more news,” he wrote in the report.
After cable news, the next most consumed type of news media in 2016, in terms of total minutes per week, was local broadcast. Radio consumption was up slightly compared with the same period of 2015, while local TV news was flat.
According to Nielsen, n fact, both smartphone and radio news experienced increases from 2015 to 2016 in both reach and time spent in every age demographic the report looked at. For example, radio news in the portable people meter (PPM) markets reached 27.1% of all adults (18+) in the average week, up from 26.3% in 2015. These adults also spent an average of nearly five-and-a-half hours listening to news weekly, 14 minutes more than in 2015. And smartphone news consumption was also up among adults, reaching over 27% of adult 18+ in the average week in 2016, up from 23.6% in 2015.
(Reuters) -- Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and his employer have made payouts totaling about $13 million to five women to settle claims of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
O'Reilly said in a statement that he has been unfairly targeted because of his public prominence.
"In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline." O'Reilly, host of "The O'Reilly Factor," the network's biggest star, added, "I have put to rest any controversies to spare my children."
Fox News declined to comment.
"While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O'Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility," Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, the parent company of Fox News, said in a statement. "Mr. O'Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News."
NY Times graphic
The report follows heightened scrutiny of the workplace climate at Fox News, the top-rated cable news network and unit of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. Founding Chairman Roger Ailes left the company last year after sexual harassment allegations.
The five women who have received settlements either worked for O'Reilly or appeared as guests on his program, the New York Times reported. Two of the five settlements were previously known.
The largest settlement was a payout of $9 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit former Fox News producer Andrea Mackris brought against O'Reilly in 2004, according to the New York Times.
Two settlements were reached last year after Ailes' departure, the newspaper said.
Fox News anchor Laurie Dhue accused O'Reilly and Ailes of harassing her, but not sexually, and Juliet Huddy, a regular guest on O'Reilly's show, accused O'Reilly of pursuing a sexual relationship with her and trying to hamper her career after she rejected his advances, the newspaper reported.
Roger Ailes
Fox News last year agreed to pay $20 million to settle a harassment suit by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson on behalf of Ailes, who denied any wrongdoing.
The NY Times reports representatives for 21st Century Fox would not discuss specific accusations against Mr. O’Reilly, but in a written statement to The Times the company acknowledged it had addressed the issue with him.
“21st Century Fox takes matters of workplace behavior very seriously,” the statement said.
“Notwithstanding the fact that no current or former Fox News employee ever took advantage of the 21st Century Fox hotline to raise a concern about Bill O’Reilly, even anonymously, we have looked into these matters over the last few months and discussed them with Mr. O’Reilly. While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O’Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility. Mr. O’Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News.”
According to legal experts, companies occasionally settle disputes that they believe have little merit because it is less risky than taking the matters to trial, which can be costly and create a string of embarrassing headlines.
Playball! It's the first fullday of opening games for MLB and a good time to revisit one of comedy's funniest routines ever.
Comedian Bud Abbott once stated the famous Abbot & Costello routine 'Who's On First' was taken from an older routine called "Who's The Boss?", a performance of which can be heard in an episode of the radio comedy program It Pays to Be Ignorant from the 1940s.
After they formally teamed up in burlesque in 1936, he and Costello continued to hone the sketch. It was a big hit in 1937 when they performed the routine in a touring vaudeville revue called "Hollywood Bandwagon".
In February 1938, Abbott and Costello joined the cast of The Kate Smith Hour radio program, and the sketch was first performed for a national radio audience that March. The routine may have been further polished before this broadcast by burlesque producer John Grant, who became the team's writer, and Will Glickman, a staff writer on the radio show. Glickman may have added the nicknames of then-contemporary baseball players like Dizzy and Daffy Dean to set up the routine's premise.
Here's the routine from an un-dated Abbott & Costello NBC radio show. Routine starts at marker 21:15...
This version, with extensive wordplay based on the fact that most of the fictional baseball team's players had "strange nicknames" that seemed to be questions, became known as "Who's on First?" Some versions continue with references to Enos Slaughter, which Costello misunderstands as "He knows" Slaughter. By 1944, Abbott and Costello had the routine copyrighted.
Abbott and Costello performed "Who's on First?" numerous times in their careers, rarely performing it exactly the same way twice. They did the routine for President Franklin Roosevelt several times.
An abridged version was featured in the team's 1940 film debut, One Night in the Tropics. The duo reprised the bit in their 1945 film The Naughty Nineties, and it is that longer version which is considered their finest recorded rendition. They also performed "Who's on First?" numerous times on radio and television (notably in The Abbott and Costello Show episode "The Actor's Home", widely considered the definitive version). Here it is...
In 1956 a gold record of "Who's on First?" was placed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Georgia Radio Hall of Fame morning jock and Kennesaw State University senior development officer Warren “Rhubarb” Jones died of a heart attack Sunday afternoon. He was 65.
Funeral home owner Tammy Miller of the Miller Funeral Home in Tallapoosa confirmed the news to Rodney Ho at ajc.com Sunday afternoon.
Jones, affectionately called “Rhuby” by his friends, was a morning host at country station WYAY 106.7 FM from 1985 to 2008.
“He wasn’t a radio jock,” said Steve Mitchell, who was his producer for three years and then his program director at Y106. “He was a big personality. He was instant friends with everybody he met. It didn’t matter if it was the governor of Georgia or some little kid who had leukemia. He had this big ol’ heart.”
Keith Connors, who now works in radio in Tampa/St. Petersburg, was one of Jones’ early radio show co hosts on Y106 in the late 1980s. “If he was having fun, I knew the listeners were having fun,” he said.
Jones also had a special connection with the country artists he got to know over the years. Connors remember being at the CMA Awards in 2000 when Brad Paisley won the New Artist Award, then called the Horizon Award. In front of Connors, Paisley took a crumpled Post It note out of his pocket. On it, was a note Jones had written a year earlier predicting that Paisley would win that award.
A year later, Jones entered the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.
Soon after Jones was laid off at Eagle on February 29, 2008, he began working at Kennesaw State University as a media instructor, then a development officer. He said he always had a “Plan B” as his radio career was winding down, taking classes at Shorter Univesrity in preparation for his new career in education.
Singer Rosie Hamlin, who led the 1960s group Rosie and the Originals, has died aged 71, according to nme.com.
Hamlin shot to fame as the lead singer of the group, who found their greatest success with the 1960 single ‘Angel Baby’. The singer wrote the song aged just 14 while still an independent artist, and, despite the song’s timeless quality, was initially unable to find a label willing to distribute the single.
“We had trouble landing a record deal,” Hamlin recalled in her online biography. “We couldn’t even get an appointment with any of the labels. So we took one of our 45’s to Kresge’s Department Store in San Diego – they had listening booths in their music section where you could preview records before you bought them. We asked the manager to play our record and see if he could sell it in his store.”
A distributor from Highland Records then heard the song and took control of the single’s masters, handing Hamlin the songwriting credits as she was the oldest member of the group. The song peaked in the top five of the US Hot 100 chart in January 1961.
John Lennon later called ‘Angel Baby’ one of his “all-time favourite songs” and would go on to cover the track (where he said “Send my love to Rosie, wherever she may be” in its introduction).
The Originals disbanded soon after the release of ‘Angel Baby’, and Hamlin left the music industry in 1963 after recording an album with her husband Noah Tafolla.
In 1939...Mr. District Attorney was heard for the first time on NBC radio. The serial about the “champion of the people” was originally a 15-minute nightly program. In June of ’39, the program went to a half-hour weekly format. Pictured is Jay Jostyn who played the title role from 1940-52, when Mr. District Attorney became a syndicated TV show.
In 1942...People Are Funny was first heard on NBC radio. Art Baker was the show’s first host. Art Linkletter took over the popular program on radio in 1943 and later moved it to television. In 1948…"The Louisiana Hayride" premiered on radio station KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana, with the Bailes Brothers, Johnny and Jack, the Four Deacons, the Tennessee Mountain Boys featuring Kitty Wells, the Mercy Brothers, Curley Kinsey and the Tennessee Ridge Runners, Harmie Smith, the Ozark Mountaineers, and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys performing on the first show, broadcast live from Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium. Admission was 60 cents for adults, 30 cents for children, and remained so for the next 11 years.
In 1949...the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis started their own weekly 30-minute show on NBC radio. It never really caught on, because Lewis’ brand of physical comedy was much more suited to a visual medium. In 1949...KQW-AM, San Francisco, California changed its call letters to KCBS-AM.
Charles Herrold
KCBS has its roots in the experiments of San Jose engineer Charles "Doc" Herrold as far back as 1909, making the broadcaster a leading contender for the title of oldest continuously broadcasting station in the United States and possibly the world.
Herrold used a variety of different radio call signs in the early days, including FN, SJN, 6XF and 6XE. In the very beginning, Herrold used a simple greeting like "San Jose calling."
That greeting and the initial FN sign (which was an inverted abbreviation of "National Fone") reflected the fact that he had been partially working on the idea of a radiotelephone.
On December 9, 1921, Herrold received a commercial license under the callsign KQW. It was the 21st licensed radio station in the United States and the 11th in the state of California.
However, the "arc-phone" Herrold had been using for over a decade had to be scrapped. It would only work at wavelengths above 600 meters, and all radio stations were restricted to 360 meters (roughly the equivalent of 833 kHz). He quickly created a replacement, using a tube-like transmitter drawing power from San Jose's streetcar lines. However, he never recovered financially from the loss of his arc-phone, and was forced to put the station on the market in 1925. After initially giving an option to a civic foundation, he sold it to the First Baptist Church of San Jose. Herrold stayed on as a technician for the station he had created for a few years, but died in obscurity in 1947.
There is at least one authentic broadcast recording chronicling this early history. On November 10, 1945, KQW presented a special program called "The Story of KQW," commemorating Herrold's early broadcasts. It includes a brief recorded statement by Herrold, just before his 70th birthday. During the introduction to the program, a KQW announcer explains that the program was produced to mark the 25th anniversary of the broadcasting industry as well as the 36th anniversary of KQW. The announcer then goes on to say that KQW was the first radio station in the world to operate on a regular schedule. The major events in Herrold's work are then dramatized.
In 1926, station manager James Hart bought KQW's license and facilities, eventually buying the station itself in 1930. A series of power boosts brought the station's effective radiated power to 5,000 watts by 1935. It served as the San Jose affiliate of the Don Lee Broadcasting System from 1937 to 1941; during the time, that it was owned by Julius Brunton & Sons, the station's operations being co-located with KJBS at 1470 Pine Street in San Francisco.
However, in 1942 CBS offered to move its San Francisco affiliation to KQW after KSFO (560 AM) turned down CBS' offer to buy the station. KQW jumped at this offer, having been without a source of network programming for over a year. CBS moved its affiliation to KQW later that year, with an option to buy the station outright. KJBS Broadcasters then sold the station and KQW moved to a lavish CBS-owned studio at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. For all intents and purposes, it became a San Francisco station, though it continued to be licensed in San Jose.
At the end of World War II, KQW found itself in a battle with KSFO for its longtime home on 740 AM, the last Bay Area frequency that was authorized to operate at 50,000 watts. When CBS affiliated with KSFO in 1937, it cut a deal with KQW to swap frequencies with KSFO, which would then boost its power to 50,000 watts. The change was awaiting Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval when World War II broke out.
By 1945, however, KQW had become San Francisco's CBS affiliate, and CBS was obviously not about to give up the advantage of having the last 50,000-watt frequency in the Bay Area. While the FCC granted the frequency to KSFO, its owners, Associated Broadcasters, later decided to concentrate on plans for its new television station, KPIX-TV (channel 5). Eventually, Associated Broadcasters traded 740 back to CBS in return for KPIX getting the CBS television affiliation for the Bay Area.
CBS exercised its option to buy KQW in 1949, changing the calls to KCBS (the KCBS callsign predates the use on the CBS-owned television station (then KNXT) in Los Angeles by over 30 years, and KCBS-FM there as well). The station also officially changed its city of license to San Francisco after seven years. In 1951, KCBS signed on at 50,000 watts for the first time from an elaborate multi-tower facility in Novato originally intended for KSFO. However, the station is a class B station, not a Class A (clear-channel).
In 1968, KCBS became one of the first all-news stations in the country. However, it already had a long history in news dating back to World War II, when it was the center of CBS' newsgathering efforts in the Pacific Theater.
In 1956...Elvis Presley makes the first of what would be two appearances on NBC-TV's Milton Berle TV Show performing "Hound Dog" "Money Honey" and "Blue Suede Shoes" via live remote on the flight deck of the USS Hancock docked in San Diego. The show is seen by 40 million people around the US, approximately one-fourth of all TV sets. (Later in the show, Elvis plays "Blue Suede Shoes" again, this time with "Uncle Miltie" joining in as the King's "brother Melvin.")
In 1959…The British Broadcasting Corporation banned the Coasters' recording of "Charlie Brown" because of its reference to "spitballs." The ban was lifted two weeks later.
In 1974...Murray the K departed WNBC 660 AM NYC. He had joined NBC in 1972 for the weekend NBC Monitor and also for a regular evening weekend program on WNBC radio. Although it was low-key, Murray's WNBC show featured his own innovative trademark programming style, including telling stories that were illustrated by selected songs, his unique segues, and his pairing cuts by theme or idiosyncratic associations.
In 1978...Mutual Broadcasting System moved the "Larry King Show" from Miami to Washington, D.C.
In 2014…WBT Charlotte and WSPA Spartnburg radio host Arthur Smith died at age 93. Smith was also noted for his "Feudin' Banjos" (1955), which was also recorded by Lester Flatt. It was revived as "Dueling Banjos" and used as a theme song in the popular movie, Deliverance (1972). Released as a single, it became a hit, played on Top 40, AOR, and country stations alike. It reached the Top Ten and hit #1 in the US and Canada. Because he was not credited in the film for the song, Smith sued Warner Brothers, and gained a settlement. His name was added to the film credits for his piece, and he received a share of royalties.
In 2015...listeners heard the final broadcast for WLW 700 AM morning host Jim Scott who retired from radio after nearly 50 years on the air in the Queen City.
