May 23 In Radio History

In 1926...Christian broadcaster, Wilbur Nelson, was born. Best known as host of "The Morning Chapel Hour".  He was  pioneer religious broadcaster, passed away on August 22, 2003, in Laguna Woods, California, at the age of 92.

Nelson, who founded the nationally syndicated daily radio ministry, The Morning Chapel Hour, in March of 1944, was an evangelical renaissance man who excelled as a pastor, preacher, broadcaster, author, tenor soloist, song writer, choral conductor, and trombonist.



In 2005...Baltimore newsman Bob Lopez died of Lung Cancer. He had been part of the WIYY-FM (98 Rock) morning show for 27 years.

Joining the station in 1978, Lopez participated in 13 morning radio shows during his 27 years at the station. He was known for his humor, thoughtful opinions, and dogged liberal views.

 For the last part of his career, he was part of the "Kirk, Mark & Lopez" or "KML" morning show, along with Kirk McEwen and Mark Ondayko, with whom he worked for seven years. He also hosted the Sunday Lopez, a Sunday morning talk show where he discussed politics and listeners called in to express their views.

Lopez was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2004, having been a smoker for several decades, starting at age 12.  He died at the age of 52.



In 2012...Personality Hal Jackson - WMCA, WLIB, WNJR, WWRL, WBLS died at the age of 96.

Jackson began his broadcasting career as the first African-American radio sports announcer, broadcasting Howard’s home baseball games and local Negro league baseball games.

In 1939, he became the first African American host at WINX/Washington with The Bronze Review, a nightly interview program. He later hosted talk show, a program of jazz and blues on WOOK-TV.

Jackson moved to New York City in 1954 and became the first radio personality to broadcast three daily shows on three different New York stations. Four million listeners tuned in nightly to hear Jackson’s mix of music and conversations with jazz and show business celebrities.

In 1971, Jackson and Percy Sutton, a former Manhattan borough president, co-founded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC), which acquired WLIB — becoming the first African-American owned-and-operated station in New York.  The following year, ICBC acquired WLIB-FM, changing its call letters to WBLS ("the total BLack experience in Sound").

In 1990, Hal Jackson was the first minority inducted into the National Association of Broadcaster's Hall of Fame. In 1995, he became the first African-American inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.  He was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 2003. In October 2010 he was named a "Giant in Broadcasting" by the Library of American Broadcasting.