August 9 Radio History

➦In 1911...radio/TV newscaster Robert McCormick, for more than 30 years a feature member of the NBC news corps, was born in Danville Kentucky. He broadcast some of the first televised news on the 15-minute “Camel Caravan” show.  He was the first NBC anchor of a political convention on TV, at the 1948 Democratic National Convention. McCormick retired in 1976 after several years of covering Capitol Hill, and died of heart failure Sept. 5 1985 at age 74.


➦In 1942...CBS radio broadcasts the debut of "Our Secret Weapon."


➦In 1945....radio brought word of the dropping of a second atomic bomb which caused Japan’s surrender, thus ending World War II. The US Air Force exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing an estimated 39,000 people. The explosion came just three days after a similar atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.


➦In 1955...Bill Stern , ABC radio network sports commentator is injured in an auto crash on the Henry Hudson parkway. 20 years ago,Stern’s left leg was amputated because of injuries suffered inanother auto accident. This time, he suffered a concussion,cuts, bruises and possible internal injuries

➦In 1964...Storer-owned WJBK 1500 AM in Detroit, dopped contemporary hit music and adopted an easy-listening format.

Detroit was the only city with a four-way top-40 battle. That leaves WKNR, WXYZ and CKLW.

WJBK made another run at Top 40 format in 1969.  The format lasted only a few months. WJBK dropped Top 40 late in 1969 and became WDEE, airing a country format.  It used a Top 40-style sound to present country sound, driving old-style country competitor WEXL out of the format.  WDEE also aired a racy program called “Fem Forum,” in which female listeners called in to share their sexual frustrations.

➦In 1978...The great NYC newspaper strike began.  During the strike, leader William J. Kennedy delighted his union's members, but angered managers at The Daily News, The New York Post and The New York Times, by digging in against the newspapers' demands to cut back the number of people operating their printing presses.