November 27 Radio History

In 1901...early radio sportscaster Ted Husing was born in the Bronx NY.

For CBS he covered events as diverse as boxing, horse racing, track and field, regattas, seven World Series, tennis, golf, four Olympic Games, Indianapolis 500 motor racing, and especially college football, where he laid down much of the structure of football play-by-play that is still used today.

Husing died of a brain tumour Aug. 10 1962 at age 60.


In 1926...radio station KXL in Portland, Oregon began broadcasts with a licensed power of 50 watts. Today, the calls are KXTG and airs sports talk at 750 AM.  KXL-FM airs news/talk on 101.9 FM.


In 1960...the CBS Radio Network canceled "Have Gun Will Travel".


In 1962...In London, the Beatles recorded their first BBC radio session, performing "Twist and Shout," "Love Me Do," and "P.S. I Love You." The tracks aired later on the BBC program "Talent Spot."


In 1975...Bill Winters WCBS 101.1 FM personality passed.

Bill Winters

Winters worked in Tampa Bay in the early to mid 1960’s, first at WALT (mid-days) in 1963-64, and then WLCY. He also went on to work at Miami’s WQAM. During his short career, he held down shifts at some pretty impressive stations, including wakeup duty beginning in early 1968 at WPOP Hartford. There, he achieved the station’s highest Pulse ratings ever and, as a pivotal member of its “BOSS”ketball team, once broke two toes during a benefit game.

During a year out to serve with Uncle Sam, Bill worked part-time at WFBS in Spring Lake, NC, and then returned to mornings at WPOP. This time, he was billed as “The Big Kahuna – World Champion Surfer and 14th Degree Black Belt with Red Strikers.”

Early in his career, Bill worked at some fairly small stations, paying his dues at WCEC, WFMA-FM, and WEED AM/FM, all in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, WGAI Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and WHAP Hopewell, Virginia. Later stops (and bigger stations) included WKYC Cleveland, CKLW Detroit, WCAO Baltimore, WBZ Boston, WCBS-FM New York (mid-days), and WIBG Philadelphia.

Bill’s career was cut short when he died in 1975 at the age of 35.





In 1979...Chuck Leonard did his last show at WABC.


In 1981...The British Phonographic Industry, with support from musicians including Elton John, 10cc, Gary Numan, Cliff Richard, and the Boomtown Rats, placed ads in British newspapers claiming "Home taping is wiping out music."


In 1984...long time St. Louis Radio personality, Jack Carney, died. He is best remembered for his stints at WIL and KMOX.

Jack Carney

Carney took his first radio job in New Mexico and moved from job to job at small stations throughout the southwest early in his career. Carney then became a rock n’ roll disc jockey serving up the hits to teens in Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Boston.

Carney’s first job in St. Louis came on WIL Radio from 1958-1960. While at WIL, Carney came up with his alter ego character “Pookie Snackenburg.” Carney was lured away from WIL to work for a short time at WABC Radio/New York.

Carney’s second stint in St. Louis was at KMOX where he established a following and his place in the community. Taking over the morning spot from Jack Buck in 1971, Carney was an instant hit.

During his KMOX years, virtually every celebrity that passed through St. Louis stopped by to say hello to Jack Carney.Carney’s show on KMOX was a fixture in St. Louis for 13 years. Jack Carney died of a sudden heart attack at age 52.

Jack Carney was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2001.


In 2006...Sportscaster (Cleveland Browns, WJW-TV)/radio sports talk host (WTAM, WERE) Kenneth "Casey" Coleman, Jr., son of play-by-play announcer Ken Coleman and a broadcaster in Cleveland for almost 30 years, died of pancreatic cancer at 55.

iHM Wins GAMCO 'Piggy-Bank' Suit

iHeartMedia Inc. won dismissal of Gamco Asset Management’s claims that the biggest U.S. radio-station owner shortchanged investors by improperly diverting revenue from its billboard-advertising unit.

According to Bloomberg, Gamco couldn’t make the case that iHeart media executives violated legal duties to shareholders by selling assets and moving funds from its Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings business to repay the parent company’s debts, a Delaware judge ruled.

The fund, founded by billionaire investor Mario Gabelli, couldn’t show iHeart officials “extracted a unique benefit” by paying down debt with the advertising unit’s funds that “came at the expense” of other Clear Channel investors, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Joseph Slights concluded in Wednesday’s ruling.

In its lawsuit, Gamco, which owns almost 10 percent of Clear Channel’s shares, targeted an agreement that automatically routes some of Clear Channel’s business revenues to iHeart, saying it hampers opportunities and operations. It also focused on Clear Channel asset sales that allegedly provided iHM with benefits denied to other investors.

iHM has scrambled to stay current on more than $20 billion in debt accumulated in 2008, when the company was acquired by private equity giants Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. Almost $8.5 billion of the debt is slated to come due over the next three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Slights found that because Gamco settled similar claims against iHeart in 2013, the fund is barred from relitigating complaints about agreements concerning revenue handling and asset sales.

The judge also ruled that iHeart directors’ decisions to use Clear Channel funds to repay the parent company’s debts fell within the realm of their business judgment and weren’t a violation of legal duties they owed to investors.

R.I.P.: Former St. Louis Radio Host Onion Horton

Onion Horton

Legendary St. Louis media personality Richard “Onion” Horton died Thursday, Nov. 24 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Horton’s son Allen Horton announced his father’s passing via Facebook.

For more than three decades, Horton’s commanding voice – speaking on a myriad of topics – could be heard over the airwaves of St. Louis radio. His career as an outspoken and distinct voice in radio – black radio in particular – actually began in print, according to the St. Louis American.

In the 1970s, St. Louis American Sports Editor Morris Henderson was as enamored with Horton as everyone else who took part in the engaging conversations at Luther’s Barbershop. He thought if Horton’s views could be transferred to a broader audience by way of a column, it would be a hit with readers. Henderson was right.

The column’s success allowed Horton to transition to talk radio personality. His career spanned three decades at several stations – including KMOX 1120 AM, KKSS, KATZ and WESL.

He’s perhaps best known for his decade-long run at WGNU 920 AM, where he hosted a daily morning drive time show starting in the mid-1980s.

November 26 Radio History

Eric Sevareid

In 1912...CBS newsman & commentator Eric Sevareid was born in Velva, North Dakota.

At the age of 18, Sevareid entered journalism as a reporter for the Minneapolis Journal, while a student at the University of Minnesota in political science. He continued his studies abroad, first in London and later in Paris at the Sorbonne, where he also worked as an editor for United Press. He then became city editor of the Paris Herald Tribune. He left that post to join CBS as a foreign correspondent, based in Paris; he broadcast the fall of Paris, and followed the French government from there to Bordeaux and then Vichy, before leaving France for London and finally Washington.

He was one of a group of elite war correspondents dubbed “Murrow’s boys” because they were hired by pioneering broadcast newsman Edward R. Murrow. Sevareid was with CBS for 38 years.

He died of stomach cancer July 9, 1992 at age 79.


In 1933...singer Robert Goulet was born Stanley Applebaum  in Lawrence, Mass,  but within months his family moved to Northern Alberta.

He worked as disk jockey on Edmonton’s CKUA for two years and was a semi-finalist on CBC TV’s “Pick the Stars” in 1952.  He spent a summer at Vancouver’s Theatre Under the Stars.  In 1955 he became a regular on CBC TV’s Cross Canada Hit Parade. He was awarded a Grammy as the best new artist of 1962.  His best-selling album was the million-selling 1964 release “My Love Forgive Me,” which reached No. 5.

Goulet died awaiting a lung transplant Oct. 30 2007 at age 73.

In 1945...the daily radio program, “Bride and Groom”, debuted on the NBC Blue network. It is estimated that 1,000 newly-wed couples were interviewed on the program before it left the airwaves in 1950.




In 1962…At EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, the Beatles recorded "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why." "Please Please Me" was a re-recording of the song in a more uptempo style after producer George Martin told the band that their original ballad version was "too bloody boring for words."  Also on this day in 1994, the first Beatles record ever to be played on radio fetched more than $23K at an auction in London. It was a world record price for a commercially produced record. The recording of “Love Me Do” was played by Radio Luxembourg in 1963.


In 1969…At EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon spent the afternoon mixing the Beatles songs "What's The New Mary Jane" and "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" with the intention of releasing them as the two sides of a Plastic Ono Band single. When this plan fell through, "Number" was released as the b-side of the Beatles' "Let It Be" single, making this the last time John Lennon was in the studio working on a Beatles song.

In 1970...George Harrison became the first Beatle to earn a #1 solo hit as "My Sweet Lord" climbed to the top.  The 5th Dimension was second with "One Less Bell to Answer".  The previous #1 "The Tears of a Clown" from Smokey Robinson & the Miracles was third, followed by Dawn's "Knock Three Times" and "Black Magic Woman" from Santana.

The rest of the Top 10:  The former #1 "I Think I Love You" from the Partridge Family, the Supremes remained at #7 with "Stoned Love", Chicago wouldn't budge with "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", Brian Hyland was still at #9 after 17 weeks with "Gypsy Woman" and Badfinger finished the list with "No Matter What".


In 1973…Elton John released the single "Step Into Christmas."


In 1979...Dan Ingram did his first morning show at 77 WABC after many years as the afternoon drive personality.


In 2003...longtime Washington, D.C. Radio broadcaster, Eddie Gallaher, died at age 89. He worked at stations including WTOP-AM, WASH-FM, and WWDC-AM.

Gallaher (dcrtv photo)

Gallaher's career in Washington began on WTOP-AM in 1947. Gallaher stayed on the air in one market for 53 years, working at two other stations before retiring in 2000.

"Eddie Gallaher was certainly one of the premier, if not the premier disc jockey, here in Washington," said Ed Walker. Walker and "Today"show weatherman Willard Scott were the "Joy Boys" on a rival morning program that ran on WRC-AM in Washington from 1955-1972.

Gallaher spent 21 years at WTOP, where celebrities passing through the  nation's capital made sure to stop by his studio.

When WTOP switched to a news and talk format in 1968, Gallaher moved to WASH-FM, then, in 1982, to WWDC-AM where he stayed until retiring in December 2000.


In 2009…Paul McCartney told a BBC interviewer that his concerts are a way of helping him "revisit" other members of the Beatles and his late wife Linda. "If I'm doing songs by the Beatles, I obviously remember the sessions when we recorded. Similarly with John and Linda - in a way you're kind of in contact with them again and it's sad, it's emotional."

Jian Ghomeshi

In 2014…After surrendering to Toronto police, former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one of choking in a sexual assault investigation. The CBC had fired the 47-year-old broadcaster a month earlier amid sexual misconduct allegations against him and what the company termed  "graphic evidence" that he had physically injured a woman.

After a trial in February 2016, the judge acquitted Ghomeshi of all charges saying there was insufficient evidence to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Toronto Radio: Former CHUM Studios Demolished

Recently demolished, the mid-town building at 1331 Yonge St. was the station's home OF 1050 chum-am for 50 years until 2009 and played host to musical visitors as diverse as Paul McCartney, Elton John, Frank Zappa, Supertramp, the Bay City Rollers and the Osmonds.

Phil Stone, one of the disc jockeys on CHUM, previously described the day it switched to a rock'n'roll format on May 27, 1957.

"I was in the meeting room when they brought in a tape from a U.S. Top 40 rock'n'roll station, explaining that this new format was going to revolutionize CHUM," said Stone.

"There was dead silence. One of the ad salesmen started crying. Another staff member who had just put a down payment on a new home went to the bathroom and threw up."

The change in format turned out to be a winner for CHUM, which quickly became the top-rated station in Toronto. CHUM's operations, and its iconic neon sign, are now located at its downtown Toronto headquarters on Richmond Street.

"We still listen to CHUM-FM here at the office," says Sean Teperman, chief executive officer at Teperman, the company that carried out the demolition.

"But with the sign removed and the radio personalities relocated, there wasn't much to be said about the building — there wasn't any heritage value to the structure itself."

According to dailycommercialnews.com, the property is now owned by Aspen Ridge Homes. The developer purchased the property in 2008 for $21.5 million and relocated some of its offices to the building. The new 11-storey condo, dubbed The Jack, is being designed by Quadrangle Architects and will feature 153 units.

CHUM AM was founded by four Toronto businessmen, including Al Leary, a former sportscaster, who had been the station manager at CKCL for 14 years. CHUM received its licence in late November 1944 to operate a station with 1000 watts. CHUM launched as a dawn-to-dusk radio station on 28 October 1945, with John H.Q. "Jack" Part, an entrepreneur in the business of patent medicines, as its president. The station, then operating from studios in the Mutual Street Arena, broadcast a format typical of the late 1940s, with a combination of information, music, and sports.

CHUM was taken over in December 1954 by Allan Waters, a salesman from Part's patent medicine business. Waters' first major move was to secure a licence for 24-hour-a-day broadcasting for CHUM, along with a power increase to 5,000 watts.

Less than three years after Waters acquired the station, and soon after bringing the new full-time transmitter online, a major programming change was made. On May 27, 1957, at 6 AM, Waters switched the station to a "Top 50" format that had proven itself popular in some U.S. cities; Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" was the first song played. While the station was rising to the top of the popularity ratings in Toronto in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it also built yet another new transmitter in Mississauga, Ontario (a few miles west of the current Toronto city line) along the Lake Ontario shoreline, and raised its power once again to its current 50,000 watts around the clock.

CHUM 1050 AM (50 Kw, DA2)

CHUM became well known for its zany contests. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was contests such as 'The Walking Man', where listeners had to spot CHUM's mystery walking man using only clues given out on the air. The 1970s' "I Listen to CHUM" promotion had DJs dialing phone numbers at random and awarding $1,000 to anyone who answered the phone with that phrase.

The CHUM Chart was, for many years, the most influential weekly Top 40 chart in Canada and has been hailed as the longest-running continuously published radio station record survey in North America.

Today the station airs sports talk.

ESPN Lost Two Million Subscribers in Fiscal 2016

ESPN lost about two million subscribers last year, marking the lowest number of subscribers for the sports powerhouse since 2005, according to a Walt Disney Co. filing issued Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal reports ESPN had 90 million subscribers at the end of the 2016 fiscal year ended Oct. 1, according to Disney’s annual report. It was another year of gradual decline for the network, which had about 100 million subscribers in 2010.

The subscriber figures, which are estimated by the Nielsen ratings company, don’t take into account ESPN distribution deals with services that provide its programming over the internet. ESPN has struck several deals with such services, including Hulu and DirecTV Now.

Investor concerns about customers “cord-cutting” their cable-television subscriptions and leading to a fall in ESPN sign-ups has weighed on quarterly earnings at the world’s largest media company since August 2015, when Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said “some subscriber losses” were hitting the network.

The declines have been especially pronounced in the last three years. In 2013, ESPN had 99 million subscribers. It lost four million in the year after that, and was down to 92 million in 2015.

Earlier this month, declining income at ESPN weighed on Disney’s fourth-quarter results. Operating income for Disney’s cable networks segment, which includes ESPN, fell 13% to $1.45 billion. A 13% fall in ESPN ad revenue contributed to the slump.

Read More Now (Paywall)

Report: Russian 'Fake News' Helped Donald Trump

The flood of “fake news” this election season got support from a sophisticated Russian propaganda campaign that created and spread misleading articles online with the goal of punishing Democrat Hillary Clinton, helping Republican Donald Trump and undermining faith in American democracy, say independent researchers who tracked the operation, reports The Washington Post.

According to the Post's story, Russia’s increasingly sophisticated propaganda machinery — including thousands of botnets, teams of paid human “trolls,” and networks of websites and social-media accounts — echoed and amplified right-wing sites across the Internet as they portrayed Clinton as a criminal hiding potentially fatal health problems and preparing to hand control of the nation to a shadowy cabal of global financiers. The effort also sought to heighten the appearance of international tensions and promote fear of looming hostilities with nuclear-armed Russia.

Two teams of independent researchers found that the Russians exploited American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment, as an insurgent candidate harnessed a wide range of grievances to claim the White House. The sophistication of the Russian tactics may complicate efforts by Facebook and Google to crack down on “fake news,” as they have vowed to do after widespread complaints about the problem.

There is no way to know whether the Russian campaign proved decisive in electing Trump, but researchers portray it as part of a broadly effective strategy of sowing distrust in U.S. democracy and its leaders. The tactics included penetrating the computers of election officials in several states and releasing troves of hacked emails that embarrassed Clinton in the final months of her campaign.

“They want to essentially erode faith in the U.S. government or U.S. government interests,” said Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who along with two other researchers has tracked Russian propaganda since 2014. “This was their standard mode during the Cold War. The problem is that this was hard to do before social media.”

Read More Now (Paywall)

Tampa Radio: Bubba Needs More Discovery Time

This week lawyers for WBRN 98.7 FM and Syndicated peronsality Bubba The Love Sponge filed for an extension in the $1M lawsuit filed against him and his Bubba Radio Network by Nielsen Audio.

Nielsen has accused Bubba of ratings tampering in Tampa and his atorneys claim the ratings firm has "dumped" almost 75,000 documents on his legal team.  They say they need more time to examine them properly in order to mount a defense during a January 2017 trial.  They also allege Nielsen is not playing fair because documents were not organized or labeled in any way.

Bubba is asking the court for a 30-day extension of the discovery cutoff, which is December 9, until January 9, 2017. His legal team claims that many documents were labeled confidential without regard for whether they are or not. Additionally, they claim that Nielsen redacted several of the documents without providing a privilege log.

Bubba is also blaming Nielsen for not giving him adequate time to complete depositions, evaluate the redactions and to prepare and file motions regarding its discovery requests. Plus, they claim that due to the document dump, expert witnesses have not been provided adequate time to form their opinions and compile their reports.

On September 21, 2015, Nielsen Audio confronted Beasley Media, owned of WBRN, with all of its evidence that Bubba's attempted to distort the ratings. Beasley responded by suspending Bubba's live show for 8 days on WBRN-FM, although it continued to air Bubba's broadcasts on its other stations,

Nielsen Audio says in the filing that it had also incurred significant out-of-pocket costs and expenses as a direct result of fefendants' acts. To eliminate any conceivable bias in favor of WBRN-FM, Nielsen Audio de-listed Beasley's station WBRN from its September 2015 and October 2015 Reports.

DC Radio: WMMJ Moves Vic Jagger To Mid-days

Vic Jagger

Radio One's WMMJ  Majic 102.3 FM has announced Victoria “Vic Jagger” Davis as the new midday host, effective Monday, November 28, 2016.

Vic Jagger, from The Russ Parr Morning Show, will utilize her talents to entertain listeners with “VJ in The Midday” and a happy hour mix at noon, weekdays from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm.

Born and raised in Washington, DC, Jagger holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media Arts (TV Production) from the University of the District of Columbia.

She began her radio career in 2003 with Radio One and the Russ Parr Morning Show as assistant producer and part-time personality. In 2008, Jagger was promoted to full-time on-air personality; creating popular character voices, parodies and giving her take on hot topics and national headliners. Jagger’s ambition has garnered her much success over the years; being named program and music director for Russ Parr’s syndicated weekend countdown “On the Air”, appearances on “The Roland Martin Show”, “The Vic Jagger Show” on Sundays on sister-station WYKS 93.9, as well as creating her own entertainment & lifestyle site, TheGabulousLife.com in 2013.

Jagger stated, “I am beyond excited to join the Majic 102.3 team as the midday personality in the city where I was born and raised. I just want to thank Kashon Powell, Jeff Wilson, and Jay Stevens for this amazing opportunity.  I am so ready to get the DMV through their workday!”

WMMJ 102.3 FM (2.9 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Kashon Powell, Program Director of WMMJ adds, “I am excited to have Vic take over middays on Majic 102.3. I am confident that Vic’s talent, energy and passion for the format will resonate with our listeners.”

R.I.P.: Longtime WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Broadcaster Bob Chase

Longtime WOWO Sports Director and Fort Wayne Komets broadcaster Bob Chase died early Thursday morning at Parkview Hospital on Randalia.

He was 90-years-of-age, according to the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Chase had been battling congestive heart failure for several months.

Perhaps no one in Fort Wayne history did more to promote the city, just as it's possible no one has ever introduced hockey to more new fans or caused more to love it. Chase's voice was known to generations across the country and throughout several countries during his 63-year tenure with WOWO 1190 AM / 107.5 FM and the Komets.

Throughout the 1950s and much of the 1960s, Chase's broadcast on WOWO was the only one throughout the International Hockey League and the only hockey broadcast throughout much of the rest of the country. During the era of six NHL teams, the game he saw was the only one to visualize for many young fans who'd fall asleep listening to their transistor radios hidden under the covers. Today there are millions of hockey fans because Bob Chase introduced their fathers, grandfathers and maybe even great-grandfathers to the game.

Born Jan. 22, 1926, in Negaunee, Mich., Chase’s actual name was Robert Donald Wallenstein. However, when he came to Fort Wayne in June 1953, WOWO Program Manager Guy Harris thought Wallenstein was too long. He changed his last name to Chase, his wife Murph’s maiden name. Her father, who was blessed with five daughters but no sons, loved it.

He started as a co-announcer of Komets games with Ernie Ashley, and then took over sole duties in 1954.

This would have been his 64th season with the Komets. The team added his name to the franchise’s retired honorees banner at his 40th anniversary in 1992, and honored him again for his 50th year in 2002 and his 60th in 2012.


During his career with WOWO, Chase interviewed such people as Elvis, the Beatles, Jim Brown, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Vice President Nixon, Gordie Howe, Arnie Palmer. His interview with Elvis is part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

During his tenure, the Komets have gone through five sets of owners, 25 coaches, more than 1,000 players and 70 different opposing teams. Of the Komets' 532 playoff games during their 64-year history, Chase has called 526 of them. Of the Komets' 4,890 regular-season games, Chase has likely called around 4,500 of those.

Besides broadcasting hockey, Chase announced high school basketball for 17 years, also broadcast Big Ten football for 10 years and covered the Indianapolis 500 for 25 years. From 1954 to 1967 he hosted "The Bob Chase Show" Monday through Friday afternoons on WOWO.

R.I.P.: Actress Florence 'Carol Brady' Henderson

(Reuters) -- Veteran actress Florence Henderson, best known to a generation of baby boomers as all-American mother Carol Brady in the 1970s sitcom "The Brady Bunch," has died aged 82.

Maureen McCormick, who played Henderson's oldest daughter, Marcia, in the show and in many sequels, said on Twitter: "Florence Henderson was a dear friend for so very many years & in my (heart) forever ... I'll miss u dearly."

McCormick was a contestant in the dance competition "Dancing With the Stars" this season and Henderson attended a taping of the show just days ago.

Florence Henderson

Henderson died with family and friends at her side, the Associated Press reported, citing her manager Kayla Pressman. The cause of death was not detailed.

Henderson starred in the ground-breaking television series about a woman with three daughters who married a widower with three sons.

She first graced television screens in the 1950s following a role in the musical "Carousel" in 1949 and other musical theater hits including "South Pacific" and the title role in "Fanny."

But it was the 1969 premier of "The "Brady Bunch," among the first U.S. television shows to focus on a non-traditional family, that made her a household name.

On the show, Robert Reed's character, architect Mike Brady, was a widowed father of three boys. Henderson's character Carol Brady was a single mother - the show was vague as to why - who had three daughters. They married in the first episode.

The series made its debut amid cultural tumult in the United States but remained invariably cheery and avoided controversy during its five seasons on the ABC network. It ran during a TV era populated with caustic sitcoms such as "All in the Family," "Maude" and "Sanford and Son."

After the cancellation of the original series in 1974, Henderson appeared on later incarnations of the show, including "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour," "The Brady Brides," "A Very Brady Christmas" and "The Bradys."

Henderson, one of 10 children from a small Indiana town, went on to guest star on hit TV shows including "Murder, She Wrote," "The Love Boat" and "L.A. Law."

Henderson also appeared frequently on a host of game and talk shows, including serving as the "Tonight Show"'s first female guest host. She competed on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2010.

Her film appearances included "Song of Norway," "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult" and most recently, "Fifty Shades of Black." She also had a cameo on "The Brady Bunch Movie," a send-up of the original sitcom which continues to play in syndicated reruns.

November 25 Radio History

WJAX mics at March 1936 news event. Future FL Gov. Warren Fuller is third person from the right

In 1925...the City of Jacksonville FL installed a broadcast station. The city appropriated $19,960 to put the station on the air and operate it through 1926. The station manager/engineer, John T. Hopkins was paid $250 a month and his assistant, James Brock made $165. The station, WJAX, made its first broadcast on Thanksgiving 1925 operating on 890 Kc. with 1000 watts using an antenna wire strung between two large tapered towers. WJAX shifted to 880 Kc. in 1928 and 900 Kc. in 1930.(Jacksonville radio historian Billy Williams).   Today, the station is WFXJ, branded as Sports Radio 930 AM and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.


In 1949...“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” first appeared on the music charts and became THE musical hit of the Christmas season. Although Gene Autry‘s rendition is the most popular, 80 different versions of the song have been recorded, with nearly 20,000,000 copies sold.


In 1960...radio actors were put out of work when CBS radio axed five daytime serials from the airwaves. We said so long to The Second Mrs. Burton (after 14 years), Whispering Streets, Young Dr Malone & Right to Happiness (both after 21 years) and Ma Perkins (after 27 wonderful years.)  In 1940, the high point for radio soap operas, there were as many as 45 on the air each day!


In 1960..."Amos 'n' Andy," in its final incarnation as "Amos 'n' Andy's Music Hall," was heard for the last time on CBS Radio. Created, written and voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, the show had been heard nationally since March of 1928. It ran as a nightly serial from 1928 until 1943, as a weekly situation comedy from 1943 until 1955, and as a nightly disc-jockey program from 1954 until 1960.

Show from 1941...




In 1976...a Viking 1 radio signal from Mars help to prove Einstein's general theory of relativity.

WKRP: Turkeys Away

November 24 Radio History

In 1890... French investor Edouard Branley coins the term (radioconductor"); the first use of the word "radio".


In 1906...actor Don MacLaughlin was born in Webster, Iowa.

He was the star of ABC Radio’s ‘David Harding, Counterspy’ in the 1940’s, and continued in the role when it moved to NBC Radio and Mutual in the 1950’s.  In 1956 he created the role of lawyer Chris Hughes on CBS-TV’s ‘As the World Turns’ and continued to play him over the next 30 years!

Howard Duff

He died at age 79 on May 28 1986.


In 1913...actor Howard Duff was born in Bremerton Wash.

He first hit the bigtime on radio in The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective in the CBS series sponsored by Brylcreem.  On TV he starred in the series Felony Squad, Mr. Adams and Eve, Flamingo Road, Knots Landing, and Dallas.

He died following a heart attack July 8, 1990 at age 76.

In 1920...The first radio play-by-play broadcast of a football game was aired by Texas A&M University station 5XB, later to be known as WTAW in College Station, Texas. The University of Texas defeated Texas A&M, 7-3.  The call letters stood for Watch The Aggies Win.  Today, the calls are used by a locally-owned station at 1620 AM.

In 1926...KVI-AM, Seattle, Washington began broadcasting.

KVI's legacy can be traced back to its debut on November 24, 1926, where it was licensed to Tacoma, Washington at 1280 AM. By the spring of 1928 its signal would be shifted to 1060 AM, followed by a larger shift to 760 AM, in the fall. By September 1932, it had moved to its permanent 570 AM frequency. In 1949, KVI relocated its studios and city of license to Seattle. KVI broadcasts from a single tower on Vashon Island.

In 1959, Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasters added KVI to its portfolio. KVI switched to a very successful personality adult contemporary format in 1964. By 1973, KVI had evolved into a middle-of-the-road (MOR) direction. It was during this period that it became established as a dominant player in the market. KVI was the original flagship station for the ill-fated Seattle Pilots in 1969 and for the Seattle Mariners, from their inaugural season of 1977 until 1984.

By 1982, KVI had begun to gradually add more talk programming. In July 1984, KVI switched to oldies. That direction would last less than a decade. By 1992, KVI had a talk-format again. At first, the station used the slogan "the balanced alternative" with a lineup alternating liberal and conservative talk hosts, but in 1993, KVI dropped all its liberal hosts except Mike Siegel. Siegel, formerly a liberal, swung right in his views during this period and remained on the station. By May 1994, the year KVI was sold (along with KPLZ-FM) to Fisher Communications, KVI had an almost entirely conservative-talk format.


Seattle Radio History - 570AM (KVI) from Twisted Scholar on Vimeo.

KVI returned to a full service format at 4 p.m. on November 7, 2010, with a base music rotation of classic hits along with news and traffic updates.

Due to the failure of the format, which only garnered an average of a 0.5 share of the market, and losing the ratings battle against KJR-FM and KMCQ, KVI began stunting with Christmas music on Thanksgiving Day. On January 3, 2012, the station flipped back to talk, this time as "Smart Talk", with an emphasis on entertainment news, lifestyle and health reports, and local news.

On April 11, 2013, Fisher announced that it would sell its properties, including KVI, to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Although Sinclair primarily owns television stations, the company intends to retain KVI, KPLZ-FM, and KOMO. The deal was completed on August 8, 2013.

In 1958…

• Jackie Wilson released the single "Lonely Teardrops," co-written by Berry Gordy, Jr.
• Ritchie Valens released the single "Donna" b/w "La Bamba."
• Brenda Lee released the single "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree."

In 1963…On live national television, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, President John F. Kennedy's accused assassin, as authorities were preparing to transfer Oswald by armored car from the police basement to the nearby county jail. Ruby's 1964 conviction and death sentence were overturned in 1966 when an appellate court ruled that his motion for a change of venue before the original trial should have been granted. In December 1966, before a new trial could be arranged, Ruby died of pneumonia while suffering from liver, lung, and brain cancer.

In 1974…During his infamous "Lost Weekend," John Lennon rehearsed with Elton John for Elton's upcoming Madison Square Garden performance, at which Lennon planned to make a surprise cameo appearance.


In 1991...Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury died of AIDS-related pneumonia at age 45. Queen’s biggest hits were the No. 1 songs “Another One Bites the Dust,” which sold more than 2 million copies, and the million-selling “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” The group is also well known for the double-sided hit “We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You.”


In 1991...Kiss drummer Eric Carr died of cancer at age 41. Doctors removed a cancerous tumor in Carr’s heart in April but the cancer had already spread to his lungs. He joined Kiss in 1982 when founding drummer Peter Criss left the group.


In 1993...Michael Jackson, embroiled in sex and drug addiction scandals, managed to pull off the biggest deal in music publishing history. Jackson sold his publishing operation, A-T-V Music, to E-M-I Music Publishing, in a deal worth more than 200-million dollars. Sources said Jackson himself received half that amount. Among the four-thousand titles under A-T-V’s control are most of the classic Lennon-McCartney Beatles compositions.

Herman Cain Show To End National Syndication

Herman Cain

Herman Cain dropped a 'news nugget' on his listeners Wednesday.

Beginning in January, Cain is discontinuing the national syndication of his radio show.

But, as Cain explained, he will continue his daily broadcast on all Cox Media Group radio stations, which includes WSB 750 AM / 95.5 FM in Atlanta and WDBO 96.5 FM in Orlando.

Cain released a written statement distributed to his radio affiliates:

"I want to thank you for the partnership we've shared through this Election Year and through the entire campaign," the statement reads. 

"It has been an incredible pleasure and honor to comment on the Presidential Race on your radio station - given that only 4 years ago, I was vying for the office." 

 As part of his note to radio stations nationwide, Cain suggested a replacement for his soon-to-depart radio show:

"I know that you'll need to find a suitable, impactful replacement for my talk show. I'd like to recommend that you consider Brian Kilmeade's 9am to Noon EST talk show: Kilmeade and Friends." 

"Brian has been a good friend at Fox News, and puts together a great show - in the same time frame as mine - that will continue to give your audience informative, entertaining and conservative content that will please your audience." 

Atlanta Radio: Jeremy Powell Makes Move To Country WKHX

Cadillac and Dallas

Jeremy Powell

Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed Jeremy Powell to the newly created position of Executive Producer for the WKHX Kicks 101.5 FM morning show, “Cadillac Jack and Dallas, Mornings on Kicks 101.5.”

Powell joins Kicks 101.5 from WSB B98.5 FM in Atlanta, where he produced the station’s morning show for the past three years. Powell was formerly Associate Producer of the morning show at 99X (WNNX-FM) and Producer of the morning show at 92.9 dave-fm (WZGC-FM), both in Atlanta. He was also an on-air personality for radio stations in Mankato, MN, and Chattanooga, TN.

Scott Lindy, Kicks 101.5 Program Director said: “Jeremy’s knowledge of the Atlanta market, untapped skills and creative approach when it comes to content development and presentation are a great match for our morning show as well as the entire station. I couldn’t be happier to share the news of Jeremy putting on a Cumulus jersey and joining our team in Atlanta.”

WKHX 101.5 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Powell said: “I am excited about the opportunity Sean Shannon and Scott Lindy have given me to create great radio with such high caliber personalities, Caddy and Dallas.”

Atlanta Radio: WSB-FM Night Host Kara Leigh To Join Morning Show

Kara Leigh

Beginning Monday, Nov. 28, Cox Media Group (CMG) WSB B98.5 FM night-host Kara Leigh will join The Tad & Melissa Show every weekday morning.

Leigh started her career with CMG in 2002 and has filled roles in various departments throughout her career.

Chris Eagan, Director of Branding and Programming, said, “Kara has proven to be an invaluable member of Cox Media Group Atlanta. I know she’ll be an outstanding compliment to the already awesome Tad & Melissa Show.”

WSB 98.5 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

“Tad and Melissa are two of the best in the business & I can't wait to join their team!” added Kara Leigh.

PPMs Released For D-C, Boston, Detroit, 9 More Markets

Nielsen on Tuesday 11/22/16 Released the second batch of November 2016 PPM Data for the following markets:

   7  Washington DC

   10  Boston

   11  Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood FL

   12  Detroit

   13  Seattle-Tacoma

   14  Phoenix

   16  Minneapolis-St.Paul

   17  San Diego

   18  Denver-Boulder

   19  Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater

   21  Baltimore

   22  St. Louis

Click Here to view the Topline numbers for subscribing Nielsen stations.

R.I.P.: Former WOAI San Antonio PD Pat Rodgers

Pat Rodgers

Former WOAI 1200 AM Program Director and Talk Host Pat Rodgers has died.

Rodgers, who was both a familiar voice on San Antonio radio for two decades, and the driving force behind the creation of modern 1200 WOAI, died Wednesday of complications from a massive heart attack.

He was 67-years-of-age, according to WOAI.

Rodgers arrived 1200 WOAI from Milwaukee back in 1979 with specific instructions to turn the station into a powerhouse of news and talk, and become the flagship of what was to become Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia.

Rodgers built a powerful news operation and a stable of talk show hosts which included Carl Wiglesworth, and well as Eliza Sonneland, who was his co-host on the chatty 'Morning Magazine' program, as well as news legends Bob Guthire and George Jennings, and sportstalk host Jay Howard.

Rodger also created Sportsradio KTKR 76 AM / The Tciket.

After leaving 1200 WOAI in 1998, Pat achieved his dream of becoming a Roman Catholic deacon, and he edited the Archdiocesan newspaper, managed Catholic Television, and was the press secretary to three Archbishops.

Viacom Drama: Redstone In New Spat With Ex-Gal Pal

Manuel Herzer, Sumner Redstone, Sydney Holland

Billionaire Sumner Redstone is trying to cut another tie with a former girlfriend who sparked a legal brawl over the media mogul’s mental capacity, according to Bloomberg.

After kicking Manuela Herzer out of his California mansion in 2015, the 92-year-old Redstone is now demanding she give up her claim to a $3.75 million co-op apartment in the Carlyle Hotel on East 76th Street in Manhattan.

In Tuesday’s lawsuit, Redstone said that he agreed to buy the co-op apartment from National Amusements, the company that controls his stakes in Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., in December 2014 with the intention of leaving it to Herzer after he died.

He said he and the 51-year-old Herzer were listed as joint tenants to avoid probate court proceedings, but he had no intention of giving her the dwelling while he was still alive. Now, he says he doesn’t want her to have it even after he dies. Herzer has refused to give up her rights to the apartment, Redstone said.

Ronald Richards, Herzer’s lawyer, said the complaint is a frivolous that’s probably orchestrated by Shari.

Herzer lived with Redstone from April 2013 until October 2015, for much of that time along with another girlfriend, Sydney Holland. Redstone threw out Holland in August 2015 after he found out she was having a relationship with another man. Herzer was ejected six weeks later, prompting her to file a court petition to have Redstone declared mentally incapacitated.

Madison WI Radio: WXXM Segues From Holiday To Greatest Hits

iHeartMedia/Madison announced today the debut of the new WXXM 92.1 FM, branding as Rewind 92.1 Madison’s Greatest Hits station, effective immediately.   The station had been airing holiday hits since dropping Progressive Talk on November 9, brandingas The Mic 92.1

Rewind 92.1 will broadcast Madison’s Greatest Hits from artists including the Eagles, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac and others. The station will announce its full programming lineup at a later date.

“Local listeners haven’t had a station that consistently plays the greatest hits from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s – and now they do, with Rewind 92.1!” said Keith Bratel, Market President for iHM/Madison.

“We’re excited for listeners to tune in to Rewind 92.1 for their favorite music, which we believe is the perfect complement to the hit music on Z104 and the Classic Rock on 101.5 WIBA-FM.”

Nielsen: The Holiday Classics Are Here To Stay

Holiday music has proven to be a huge success around the country on the radio airwaves.

According to Nielsen, over the last several years, the number of radio stations that swap out their regular formats during the holiday season has been rising, with some stations making the switch as early as Halloween.

Of the 1,942 AM/FM radio stations Nielsen BDSradio monitored in 2015, 171 stations made the switch, giving listeners more than enough variety on the radio dial to get in the holiday spirit.

Adult Contemporary (AC) stations lead the way, making the switch more than any other format. AC accounts for 43% of all holiday music airplay and has the largest music library of all, with almost 2,800 titles. Christian AC follows, making up 22% of the holiday music airplay, with 432,000 spins and 1,763 titles.

Classic Hits, Country and Adult Top 40 round out the top five formats, with a combined 20% play of holiday music airplay.

Making the switch to all-holiday music seems to be paying off. According to Nielsen Audio, holiday music significantly increases the share of listening for the format. Between the November and Holiday survey periods from 2012 to 2015, AC stations saw their share of audience among listeners 6 and older jump an average of 72%, compared to the rest of the year. And the combined audience to the top AC holiday music stations across the top 10 markets has grown from 27 million weekly listeners (6 and older) in 2012 to 30 million in 2015, an 11% increase. This equates to a total of 3 million more Americans tuning in to all-holiday music stations over the three-year period.

THE CLASSICS ARE HERE TO STAY

It may seem like you’re hearing the same holiday songs being played over and over again during the holiday season, and you are. The top 10 most-played holiday songs make up less than 1% of the total library, but garner 19% of the airplay. So, who tops the holiday music charts? And how do sales and on-demand streaming differ?

Although new artists are reproducing their own versions of classic holiday tunes while creating new ones as well, the charts seem to have a fondness for the classics,  as they continue to top the charts.

During the holiday season, stations that switch to all-holiday are out with the new and in with the old. Adele, who’s song “Hello” typically tops the chart for U.S.-based AC stations, said goodbye to her ranking during the 2015 holiday season when Mariah Carey’s rendition of  “All I Want For Christmas Is You” took over. Mariah’s song, which is now more than 20 years old, also ranked the highest in the number of streams, with approximately 44 million on-demand streams during the 2015 holiday period.

As for the most popular song on the air, “Feliz Navidad,” released in 1970 by Jose Feliciano, led  last year with 31,000 spins. It also ranked high online, coming in at No. 16 with roughly 13 million on-demand streams.

DE Radio: iHM Promotes Derrick Cole to SVP/Programming

Derrick Cole

iHeartMedia/Wilmington has announced that Derrick “DC” Cole has been named Senior Vice President of Programming for Wilmington, DE.

Cole will work with radio station personalities and program directors to oversee on-air content and music programming for all five stations in the Wilmington region. He will continue to serve as Program Director for WLAN 96.9 FM  FM97 and WLAN 1390 AM Rumba in Lancaster, PA.

“Derrick’s one of our best up-and-coming programmers,” said Jeff Hurley, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia’s Allentown-Harrisburg region. “We’ve seen record-setting numbers since he began programming FM97 WLAN four years ago.  We’re excited for this opportunity to expand his role within our region.”

“I'm excited for this next step in my career,” said Cole. “Thank you to iHeartMedia for this amazing opportunity, and to everyone in the region who have helped me grow. I'm happy to continue collaborating with such great people and I’m ready to jump in!”

Cole is a radio veteran who has programmed multiple formats, including CHR, Hot AC, Country and News Talk, and has worked as an on-air personality at stations in Long Island, Hartford and Poughkeepsie, as well as at Premiere Networks.

Right Media Bristles As Trump Backs Off Clinton Prosecution

(Reuters) -- Some of Donald Trump's strongest conservative supporters are voicing anger and disappointment at the president-elect's comments on Tuesday that he might back off his campaign pledge of pursuing a prosecution of former rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump, in an interview with the New York Times, took a more compassionate tone toward the Democratic presidential nominee than during his campaign, when he talked about a possible criminal investigation of the opponent he dubbed "Crooked Hillary" if he won the White House.

Chants of "Lock her up" echoed throughout his campaign rallies, with Trump supporters angrily alleging corruption related to her use of a private email server while secretary of state and to foreign contributions received by the Clinton Foundation charity.

"She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, and I am not looking to hurt them at all. The campaign was vicious," Trump told the Times, adding that launching an investigation was "not something I feel very strongly about."

Conservatives who had reveled in the possibility of a Clinton prosecution were not pleased.

Breitbart News, the outlet once led by Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, published a story on Tuesday under the headline, "Broken Promise: Trump 'Doesn't Wish to Pursue' Clinton email charges."

Writer and commentator Ann Coulter also balked at the news, tweeting: "Whoa! I thought we elected (Trump) president. Did we make him the FBI, & (U.S. Department of Justice)? His job is to pick those guys, not do their jobs."

She added no president should block "investigators from doing their jobs."

Radio personality Rush Limbaugh asked the 2 million people who like his Facebook page for reaction and received more than 2,000 responses, many of which were livid.

"Donald J. Trump, I am hearing that you will not be pursuing Hillary email scandal and pay-to-play. If that is the case, you just proved to me and America that laws are for the poor people. That Lady Justice is not blind. That you are no different than the swamp you want to drain. If true, you have just spit in my face and so many others," Facebook user Donald Marks wrote.

Some Republicans have backed the shift, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a close Trump adviser, who told reporters on Tuesday that while he would have supported an investigation, Trump had to make a "tough choice."

"There is a tradition in American politics that after you win an election, you sort of put things behind you," Giuliani told ABC News.