February 23 Radio History

➦In 1904...author/radio journalist William L. Shirer was born in Chicago.  He was CBS correspondent in Berlin as World War II broke out, then gave up broadcasting to write several books about Hitler’s rise & fall. He died Dec 28, 1993 at age 89.


➦In 1927...U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill into law that created the Federal Radio Commission, “to bring order out of this terrible chaos.” The president was speaking, of course, of the nation’s then unregulated radio stations. The name was changed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 1, 1934.




➦In 1970...Jay Reynolds does first show at WABC 770 AM NYC.

Jay arrived at WABC after generating huge ratings as the afternoon drive time personality on WIFE-AM, the market leader at that time in Indianapolis. Jay did the all-night show for six years - not only the longest consecutive tenure during the station's 21 and a half years with a music format, but nine months longer than the combined time that Charlie Greer spent on the all-night show during his two stints.  However, Jay arrived at WABC from Indiana and returned to the Hooiser State after his last show at WABC he worked at stations there over the next 20 years.

He died in March, 1996


➦In 1998...the Howard Stern Radio program debuted on WAVF-FM in Charleston, South Carolina.

Abbey Road Studios 2005

➦In 2010...A week after EMI Records announced that the iconic Abbey Road Studios was for sale, the British culture ministry stepped in to declare the recording facility a historic site. The building "acts as a modern day monument to the history of recorded sound and music," English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley said in a statement.

With its new designation, changes can still be made to the villa's interior, but the government said "care must be taken to ensure that any alterations with respect to its character and interest are fully considered."



➦In 2010...Businessman (Drake-Chenault Enterprises) Gene Chenault, co-founder with disc jockey Bill Drake of a radio syndication company that specialized in automation on FM radio stations, died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma at age 90.


➦In 2017…Radio/TV talk show host (Fox News, New York City radio stations WABC, WNBC, WHN, WMCA, WEVD) Alan Colmes, former Sean Hannity co-host on "Hannity and Colmes," died of cancer at 66.  In 1988, Colmes voiced the sign-off of 66 WNBC befeore becoming WFAN