June 27 Radio History

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.





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.


In Media Confidential one year ago...

R.I.P.: Soul Singer Bobby Womack Is Dead: Click Here