➦In 1932...Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 'Tarzan of the Apes' began as a 15-minute show on WOR NYC and several other stations. The series had Burroughs' daughter, Joan, in the role of Jane.
H.V. Kaltenborn
➦In 1938...While with CBS Radio, commentator H.V. Kaltenborn made broadcasting history on this day. Kaltenborn was one of the first news readers to provide analysis and insight into current news stories. His vast knowledge of foreign affairs and international politics amply equipped him for covering crises in Europe and the Far East in the 1930s.
His vivid reporting of the Spanish Civil War and the Czech crisis of 1938 helped establish the credibility of radio news in the public mind. Kaltenborn reported on the Spanish Civil War "while hiding in a haystack between the two armies. Listeners in America could hear bullets hitting the hay above him while he spoke." Hewas so devoted to his work that he slept in the studio for 18 days while bringing broadcasting updates.
➦ In 1958...electrical engineer Jack S. Kilby was a newly employed engineer at Texas Instruments (TI). Lacking vacation time off, he spent the summer working on the problem in circuit design that was commonly called the "tyranny of numbers", and he finally came to the conclusion that the manufacturing of circuit components en masse in a single piece of semiconductor material could provide a solution.
On September 12, he presented his findings to company's management. He showed them a piece of germanium with an oscilloscope attached, pressed a switch, and the oscilloscope showed a continuous sine wave, proving that his integrated circuit worked, and hence he had solved the problem. U.S. Patent 3,138,743 was granted for a"Miniaturized Electronic Circuits", the first integrated micro-chip circuit, was granted the next year. Along with Robert Noyce (who independently made a similar circuit a few months later), Kilby is generally credited as co-inventor of the integrated circuit.
➦In 2001... XM Satellite Radio was scheduled to start service on this date. But because of the terrorist attacks of the previous day XM’s debut was postponed to Sept. 25th.
The company had its origins in the 1988 formation of the American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC), a consortium of several organizations originally dedicated to satellite broadcasting of telephone, fax, and data signals. In 1992, AMSC established a unit called the American Mobile Radio Corporation dedicated to developing a satellite-based digital radio service; this was spun off as XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. in 1999.
On July 29, 2008, XM and former competitor Sirius Satellite Radio formally completed their merger, following FCC approval, forming SiriusXM Radio, Inc. with XM Satellite Radio, Inc. as its subsidiary. On November 12, 2008, Sirius and XM began broadcasting with their new, combined channel lineups. On January 13, 2011, XM Satellite Radio, Inc. was dissolved as a separate entity and merged into Sirius XM Radio, Inc. Prior to its merger with Sirius, XM was the largest satellite radio company in the United States.
➦In 2013…Inventor Ray Dolby, who took the hiss out of the soundtrack of our lives, died in San Francisco. He was 80 and had been living with Alzheimer's disease, compounded by a diagnosis of leukemia in July.
The name Dolby first became common decades ago when the sound wizard developed a system for eliminating the static noise on cassette tapes used for copying music from vinyl albums. The "Dolby" button on a cassette deck was a requirement for every college stereo. His influence also extended to film, where he helped bring "Star Wars" to life and created an entire industry devoted to the sound experience.
➦In 2014...CBS CEO Les Moonves stated they might "trim down radio". He added, "We still believe in radio. It is a slow growth radio. We like it." CBS Eventually 'merged' with Entercom in 2017.
Gerry Beckley of America is 69
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Linda Gray (“Dallas”) is 81.
Singer Maria Muldaur is 79.
Actor Joe Pantoliano (“The Sopranos”) is 70.
Singer-guitarist Gerry Beckley of America is 69.
Original MTV VJ Nina Blackwood is 69.
Actor Peter Scolari (“Newhart,” ″Bosom Buddies”) is 66.
Actor Rachel Ward is 64.
Kelsea Ballerini is 28
Actor Amy Yasbeck (“Wings,” ″Life on a Stick”) is 59.
Bassist Norwood Fisher of Fishbone is 56.
Actor Darren E. Burrows (“Northern Exposure”) is 55.
Singer Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five) is 55.
Comedian Louis C.K. is 54.
Guitarist Larry LaLonde of Primus is 53.
Actor Will Chase (“Nashville”) is 51.
Country singer Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland is 47.
Actor Lauren Stamile (“Complications,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) is 45.
Rapper 2 Chainz is 44.
Actor Kelly Jenrette (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) is 43.
Veteran radio personality Joe Montione died of natural causes Saturday in Los Angeles.
He was 67 years-old.
Known professionally as Banana Joe, Monitone was raised in Pittston, PA, near Wilkes-Barre. In the early '70s, he cut his chops at King's College non-com WRKC and (then) Top40 WILK 980 AM in Wilkes-Barre.
Joe Montione - 1975
Banana Joe made stops at WFIL Philadelphia (he replaced George Michael, when he departed for 77WABC NYC), Y100 Miami, CHUM Toronto, WLOF Orlando and eventually at 93KHJ in Los Angeles,
In 1983, he formed an investment group and purchased WHTF-FM in York PA. Later in 1984 his group purchased WTLQ-FM in Pittston.
After selling his interest in both stations in 1988, Montione moved back to Los Angeles. In 1991 he premiered the Banana Joe Flashback show which aired on KIIS 1027.FM. Montione also became National Programming/Marketing Director for Premiere Radio Networks and launched a station in Denver.
Most recently, Montione was Senior VP for satellite replacement company Synchronicity.co, featuring new platforms and automation systems for radio. Banana Joe was also heard weekly from Hollywood on Flashbacktop40.com radio.
CRS has announced the addition of iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman and Audacy CEO David Field to the newly formed panel for the CRS Heads of State Series to be held during CRS 2022 on February 23-25, 2022. Field and Pittman join the list of the industry's most high-profile executives who are already announced.
Featuring a mix of the industry’s most prominent leaders and highest-profile CEOs, The panel also includes:
Caroline Beasley (CEO/Beasley)
Ginny Morris (CEO/Hubbard)
Bob Profitt (CEO/Alpha Media)
Bill Wilson (CEO/Townsquare)
Scott Borchetta (President/CEO, BMLG)
Mike Dungan (Chairman/CEO, UMG)
John Esposito (Chairman/CEO, WMN)
Randy Goodman (Chairman/CEO, Sony)
Jon Loba (President, BMG).
Joel Denver (All Access Media Group)
Erica Farber (RAB)
Lon Helton (Country Aircheck/Country Countdown USA)
Mike McVay (McVay Media)
The “CRS Heads Of State Series” will usher attendees into the corner office of the biggest radio and label companies for daily exclusive, one-on-one conversations.
CRS Executive Director, RJ Curtis, commented, "In just two eventful, arduous years, the Country music industry has undergone disruption, challenges, revival, and innovation that have and will continue to reshape the world and our business as we know it. It's time to hear what insights leaders of our genre - the 'Heads Of State' - have to say about all that, to share what they know, and forecast where all of us are headed. CRS is the ideal venue for these candid conversations, and we'll do it one-on-one every day at CRS '22. Do not miss these important sessions!"
Nielsen data showed that an average of 24.4 million viewers tuned in for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 31-29 win over the Dallas Cowboys, reports The L-A Times. The surprisingly close contest was decided by a field goal in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
Another 1.6 million viewers streamed the telecast on various platforms, bringing the total average audience to 26 million, according to NBC.
The figure is 20% above last year’s 21.6 million for the opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans. The total will be the highest for an NFL opener since 2015, when 27.4 million viewers watched the New England Patriots face the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The number is likely generating a sigh of relief at NFL headquarters and the executive suites of the media companies that carry its games. A full slate of games, including the Chargers’ opener against Washington on CBS and the Rams’ matchup with the Chicago Bears on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” begins Sunday.
Nearly every big television event has seen a significant audience decline in the past year as the pandemic accelerated the trend away from traditional TV viewing to streaming video online.
The latest example is NBC’s prime-time coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, which was down a staggering 42% from 2016, in part because viewers had so many online options to watch the competition live.
Several network sports executives have said the demand for ad time for the current season has been robust. NBC said it has pulled in a record $6.5 million for a 30-second spot on Super Bowl LVI, an 18% increase over the price for Super Bowl LV on CBS.
The NFL’s new contract for media rights finalized in March saw a 100% increase to nearly $9 billion a year. The deal takes effect on ESPN and Amazon Prime in 2022 and kicks in for CBS, NBC and Fox in 2023.
Nielsen's chief executive defended the company Thursday, as the ratings behemoth comes under renewed fire from the TV industry and faces questions about the accuracy of a system through which at least $60 billion of advertising is bought and sold a year, reports Reuters.
“We haven’t been perfect,” CEO David Kenny wrote in a letter to the industry. “We also understand that we need to move faster in advancing our measurement because the audience itself is moving faster.”
Nielsen is facing escalating criticism from its TV industry clients, many of which say it has insufficiently captured consumers’ shift from traditional TV to streaming. Nielsen measures TV audiences through a sample set of panelists who use special devices in their homes.
David Kenny
TV ratings are the backbone of the industry’s business model - enabling advertisers to learn how many people are watching their ads and helping networks set the price for those slots. This year advertisers are expected to spend almost $60 billion on TV ads, according to forecaster Zenith, increasing to $63 million next year.
In April the trade group representing the major television networks said Nielsen undercounted TV viewers during the pandemic when the company’s technicians were not able to get into panelists’ homes to fix devices. That charge was later confirmed by the Media Ratings Council, which enforces measurement standards in media.
On Sept. 1, the council announced it was suspending Nielsen’s accreditation, a move that does not immediately affect Nielsen’s business, but hurts its credibility.
At least one media company is publicly seeking an alternative to relying solely on Nielsen. Comcast Corp-owned NBCUniversal (CMCSA.O) recently announced it is developing its own audience measurement system and is evaluating proposals from more than 80 companies, including Nielsen, to help “modernize the industry’s approach.”
John Catsimatidis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Red Apple Group and its subsidiary Red Apple Media, has announced the opening of WABC’s Studio 77, a state-of-the-art audio and video facility that brings the highest quality video news and entertainment to 77 WABC listeners.
Studio 77 content is streamed at wabcradio.com and via the mobile app and is designed to accommodate live in-studio audience experiences.
The expansion to a video platform is a natural progression for the leading news talker, which has earned a reputation for paving innovative new paths to success since coming under the ownership of Catsimatidis’s Red Apple Group.
“When we decided to get into radio, we decided to go big!” exclaimed Catsimatidis. “We bought a 50,000 watt clear channel signal with WABC, and that is just the beginning. We have the big-name talent and the right management to lead our team forward. We’re giving our listeners what they want across all audio, video, and digital channels.”
“Our ‘9/11 - 20 Years Later’ programming is unprecedented in its scope and magnitude, and our on-air personalities and guests are the leaders who guided New York and America out of that dark day,” said Chad Lopez, President of Red Apple Media and WABC. “We launch Studio 77 in their honor and in tribute to those who lost their lives.”
On Saturday, during a break in an afternoon football game, Budweiser will mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a commercial showing a team of Clydesdale horses pulling a red Budweiser-branded wagon across the Brooklyn Bridge and down a cobblestone street of Lower Manhattan. In the final image, the horses, standing on the grass of Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J., lower their heads before the city skyline, where the Tribute in Light installation is visible against the twilight sky.
The NY Times reports the 60-second commercial, which appeared on YouTube on Friday, is an updated version of Budweiser’s “Respect” ad, which first ran during the 2002 Super Bowl, five months after the attacks. The company released that commercial again on the 10th anniversary, in 2011.
The new ad will appear during the CBS broadcast of the college football matchup between the Air Force Falcons and the Navy Midshipmen and once more in the evening, on Fox, during the baseball game between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.
The Miami HEAT have announced that Jason Jackson will fill the radio role left vacant by the retirement of Mike Inglis. Jackson, a 17-year veteran of the HEAT, has filled in on various occasions handling play-by-play responsibilities for both television and radio, and is the host of national NBA radio programs on SiriusXM.
The recipient of more than 20 Emmy Awards, Jackson has served as the team’s television host and courtside reporter since joining the HEAT prior to the 2004-05 season. He has also served as a co-host, along with Eric Reid, of the award-winning Inside the HEAT programming on Bally Sports.
"Jason Jackson has become one of the most recognizable and beloved representatives of our organization since he first joined the HEAT family back in 2004," said Pat Riley, President of the Miami HEAT. "He is a very versatile and talented voice with a sense of humor that’s off the charts. I know that every game, Jax will bring his robust personality with a reservoir of knowledge about the game, and the HEAT, that will resonate with our fans."
With an accomplished skill set and resume, Jackson has proven to be one of the most adaptable and entertaining broadcasters in sports. A graduate of Bowling Green University, he began his professional broadcasting career in Miami at WSVN. From there, Jackson vaulted into national prominence when he served in various television and radio capacities for seven years at ESPN.
Jackson will continue to serve as a host for Inside the HEAT and many of the HEAT pregame, halftime and postgame shows on Bally Sports. His talent will still be utilized and showcased as part of content appearing on the television productions and various HEAT digital platforms. He will make his official radio debut when the team kicks off the 2021 preseason on October 4th vs. the Atlanta Hawks.
For longtime KDKA-TV and KDKA Radio journalist Lynne Hayes-Freeland, storytelling is the most satisfying part of her job.
“Nothing beats telling a good story,” she told the Post-Gazette. “Nothing beats telling a compelling story. I think that’s universal, whether it’s radio or television or print or a podcast. To be able to tell a good story and have the person whose story it is come back to you the next day and say, ‘Thank you, you captured my story,’ that’s the most rewarding part of it.”
The 66-year-old Hayes-Freeland has been telling stories since 1976 when she started at KDKA Radio as a producer for Roy Fox’s evening talk show while still a student at Duquesne University. A year later, she moved to KDKA-TV and stayed there until December 2018 when she became the first Black woman to to be a full-time talk show host at KDKA Radio in the station’s 100-year history. She has been hosting a noon-3 p.m. show daily since January 2019.
After nearly three years in that role, Hayes-Freeland is preparing to step down. Her last day as a full-timer will be Nov. 12, although she will stay on in various other capacities. She said it was time to step back from the grind of hosting a daily radio program.
Her new responsibilities with the station will include appearing on KDKA Radio once a week for a one-hour discussion with host Marty Griffin; a weekly column on kdkaradio.com; becoming a bigger part of KDKA’s social media presence; and continuing her monthly hosting duties on “Minority Health Matters,” a program KDKA does in cooperation with Gateway Medical Society, a Pittsburgh-based organization dedicated to combatting racial disparities in health care.
“Lynne’s career in the Pittsburgh media needs no comment from me,” said Michael Spacciapolli, senior vice president and market manager for KDKA Radio’s owner, Audacy Pittsburgh. “Simply said, she is an icon in the city and a pillar of the community. We have been fortunate to have her be such a large part of KDKA the past three years and are more than thrilled she will continue on the radio station as she transitions to this next phase of her life.”
Allison Payne, the longtime TV news reporter anchor for Chicago’s WGN, died on September 1 at age 57, reports WGN-TV9.
The Detroit native joined WGN in 1990 at the age of 25, and established herself quickly on major stories. During her 21 years at WGN, she won nine Emmys and co-anchored both the station’s primetime newscast as well as the midday news show.
She also suffered a series of health issues over the years, taking a medical leave of absence in 2008 after a series of mini-strokes as well as bouts of depression. “It was brutal getting out of the house, I couldn’t get out of bed,” Payne told the Chicago Tribune.
Payne parted ways with WGN in September 2011 to return to Detroit, reports The Wrap.
Tributes quickly poured in for Payne. “Allison was a sweet, kind woman; a great anchor, who had an adorable smile. She suffered a lot of health issues the last several years,” Roland S. Martin wrote. “Gone so soon.”
Sheila Bromberg was a busy harpist in British symphony orchestras when an agent called on March 17, 1967, to offer her a three-hour stint that night as a session musician at the EMI recording studio on Abbey Road in London, according to The Washington Post.
The pay was 9 pounds — about $17. With two young children to feed, she showed up at 8:30 p.m. to tune her harp and was handed a piece of sheet music. Only later did she learn that the notes she played were to be the intro on “She’s Leaving Home” by the Beatles. The song was released months later on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which Rolling Stone magazine ranked in 2003 as No. 1 of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Bromberg’s harp intro and rhythm, backed by a full string section, set the poignant tone of the track before Paul McCartney (who recorded separately) began the lyric “Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock as the day begins.”
It “is the most important rock & roll album ever made, an unsurpassed adventure in concept, sound, songwriting, cover art and studio technology by the greatest rock & roll group of all time,” Rolling Stone wrote of “Sgt. Pepper.” (“She’s Leaving Home” was one of only a few tracks in the Fab Four’s career on which they did not play any instruments but only sang.)
Bromberg, who became first female musician ever to record on a Beatles album, died Aug. 17 at a hospice center in Aylesbury, England. She was 92 and had a heart ailment, said her son, David Laurence, who spent years as an orchestral French horn player.
Although her three and a half minutes of playing on “She’s Leaving Home” brought her anonymously into millions of homes over the last five decades, Mrs. Bromberg was regarded by classical and session players as more than a one-hit wonder.
She played harp on two early James Bond films starring Sean Connery — “Dr. No” (1962) and “Goldfinger” (1964) — in the pulsing musical scores by John Barry. She also performed the solo intro to the 1976 hit disco single “Boogie Nights” by the band Heatwave. She recalled that the heat in the studio was so intense, she played with her feet in a bucket of icy water.
During the 1960s and ’70s, she was a member of the BBC’s Top of the Pops orchestra, backing some of the world’s biggest stars on the TV program of that name, Britain’s most popular music show of the time.
➦In 1909....Radio announcer Kenneth Banghart born in Paramus, NJ (Died at age 70 - May 25, 1980 in Delray Beach, FL).
Banghart was working as a tour conductor and manager of Thomas Cook and Son Travel Agency in Washington, D.C., when he became a radio announcer at WRC, then went on to be a radio and television announcer, and a news commentator and sportscaster. Served briefly during WWII, as a war correspondent, then in 1944, he moved to New York where he became an NBC staff announcer.
He was the announcer Archie Andrews, Katie's Daughter (1947-1948); syndicated program, Proudly We Hail (1947-1957); The Private Files Of Rex Saunders on NBC (1951); Encore on NBC (1952-1953); Best Of All on NBC (1954-1955).
Host of The Ken Banghart Show on NBC-Radio (1947); News Game on NBC-Radio (1954). Commentator on The Gillette Summer Sports Reel for NBC-TV (1953). In 1962, Banghart left NBC to work at CBS until he retired to Florida.
➦In 2000...John R. Gambling does the last “Rambling With Gambling” show on WOR 710 AM NYC. Gambling joined his father as co-host of Rambling with Gambling in 1985, and took over as sole host in 1991 after his father's retirement. When WOR ended Rambling with Gambling in 2000 after 75 years on the air, John R. Gambling moved up the dial to 77WABC, taking over the post-morning-drive 10 a.m. - noon slot. Gambling was fired by WABC on February 29, 2008 in a cost-cutting move
➦In 2001...Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City silenced four FM and nine TV stations.
Video produced by Art Vuolo Jr:
Since three of the major television broadcast network owned-and-operated stations had their transmission towers atop the North Tower (One World Trade Center), coverage was limited after the collapse of the tower. The FM transmitter of National Public Radio station WNYC was also destroyed in the collapse of the North Tower and its offices evacuated. For an interim period, it continued broadcasting on its AM frequency and used NPR's New York offices to produce its programming.
The satellite feed of one television station, WPIX, froze on the last image received from the WTC mast; the image (a remote-camera shot of the burning towers), viewable across North America (as WPIX is available on cable TV in many areas), remained on the screen for much of the day until WPIX was able to set up alternate transmission facilities. It shows the WTC at the moment power cut off to the WPIX transmitter, prior to the towers' collapse.
During the September 11, 2001 attacks, WCBS-TV channel 2 and WXTV-TV channel 41 stayed on the air. Unlike most other major New York television stations, WCBS-TV maintained a full-powered backup transmitter at the Empire State Building after moving its main transmitter to the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The station was also simulcasted nationally on Viacom (which at the time owned CBS) cable network VH1 that day. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the station lent transmission time to the other stations who had lost their transmitters, until they found suitable backup equipment and locations.
The Emergency Alert System was never activated in the terrorist attacks, as the extensive media coverage made it unnecessary.
9/11 Simultaneous Broadcast from Six Networks of the first fifteen minutes
Television coverage of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and their aftermath was the longest uninterrupted news event in the history of U.S. television. The major U.S. broadcast and cable networks were on the air for days with uninterrupted coverage from the moment news first came that the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
Millions of shocked television viewers watching live pictures of the World Trade Center saw the second plane hit and both buildings come down. In order to keep up with the constant flood of information, at 10:49 a.m. EDT, Fox News Channel began running continuous updates in the form of a news ticker that crawled along the bottom of the screen. This was so well received by viewers that it became a permanent feature on the channel and was adopted by many other news channels.
Like television, almost all radio stations across the United States put a halt on all programs and commercials to simulcast affiliated news coverage of the attacks from ABC News Radio and CBS Radio News, or taking an audio simulcast of a television news operation, be it local or national, while national morning shows hosted by personalities such as Rick Dees or Howard Stern focused on providing both information about the attacks and call-in forums for listeners to express sympathies.
Local New York all-news radio operations WINS and WCBS, along with Washington's WTOP carried locally based coverage that was simulcast on those sister FM stations without operations destroyed at the World Trade Center as AM operations with transmitters on the outskirts of metropolitan areas were unaffected outside of security concerns for studio and transmitter facilities.
XM Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service headquartered in Washington, D.C., was scheduled to launch on September 12, 2001. As a direct result of the attacks, the launch was delayed until September 25 when the service debuted on a limited basis in San Diego and Dallas.
➦In 2005…Sportscaster Christopher Eugene Schenkel died at age 82 (Born - August 21, 1923). Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio.
He began his broadcasting career at radio station WBAA while studying for a premedical degree at Purdue University. He served in the military during World War II and the Korean War. He worked in radio for a time at WLBC in Muncie, Indiana.and then moved to television, in Providence, RI, and in 1947 began announcing Harvard football games. For six years he did local radio and called the Thoroughbred horse races at Narragansett Park.
In 1952, Schenkel was hired by the DuMont Television Network, for which he broadcast New York Giants football and hosted DuMont's Boxing From Eastern Parkway (1953-1954) and Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena (1954–56), replacing Dennis James as the network's primary boxing announcer.Schenkel was at the microphone for DuMont's last broadcast and its only color telecast, a high school football championship game held on Thanksgiving in 1957.
In 1956, he moved to CBS Sports, where he continued to call Giants games, along with boxing, Triple Crown horse racing and The Masters golf tournament, among other events. Along with Chuck Thompson, Schenkel called the 1958 NFL Championship Game for NBC. He was the voiceover talent for the first NFL Films production ever made, the 1962 NFL Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants.
ABC Sports hired Schenkel in 1965, and there he broadcast college football, Major League Baseball, NBA basketball, golf and tennis tournaments, boxing, auto racing, and the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. He became widely known for covering professional bowling, mainly for the Professional Bowlers Association (with the program becoming known as the Professional Bowlers Tour). He covered bowling from the early 1960s until 1997, as it became one of ABC's signature sports for Saturday afternoons.
Chris Schenkel also did play-by-play (with Bud Wilkinson providing color commentary) for the legendary 1969 Texas vs. Arkansas football game, known as the "Game of the Century", culminating the first 100 years of College Football in 1969. The game, also known as the "Big Shootout", garnered a share of 52.1, meaning that more than one half of the televisions in the United States were tuned in. Years later, Schenkel said "it was the most exciting, most important college football game I ever televised".
Schenkel went on to broadcast many more huge games, including the celebrated Nebraska-Oklahoma match on Thanksgiving Day 1971, as well as the Sugar Bowl national championship showdown between Notre Dame and Alabama on New Year's Eve 1973 (with Wilkinson and Howard Cosell, in a rare college football appearance). Schenkel was replaced by Keith Jackson as ABC's lead play-by-play man for college football telecasts in 1974, but continued to call college football games for several more years.
In 1976, Schenkel was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in the "Meritorious Service" category and in 1988 was inducted into the American Bowling Congress (now United States Bowling Congress) Hall of Fame, he was inducted in 1981 in the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.
He was named National Sportscaster of the Year four times, and in 1992 received a lifetime achievement Emmy Award. Also in 1992, the Pro Football Hall of Fame presented Schenkel with its Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. In 1999, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award.
In a 2009 vote by its members, the American Sportscasters Association ranked Schenkel 25th on its list of the Top 50 Sportscasters of All-Time.
Larry Gelbart
➦In 2009...Producer, screenwriter Larry Gelbart died from cancer at age 81. Drafted shortly after World War Two, Gelbart worked for the Armed Forces Radio Service in Los Angeles.
Gelbart began as a writer at the age of sixteen for Danny Thomas's radio show after his father, who was Thomas's barber, showed Thomas some jokes Gelbart had written. During the 1940s Gelbart also wrote for Jack Paar and Bob Hope. In the 1950s, his most important work in television involved writing for Red Buttons, for Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour, and in Celeste Holm's Honestly, Celeste!, as well as with writers Mel Tolkin, Michael Stewart, Selma Diamond, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Woody Allen on two Caesar specials.
In 1972, Gelbart was one of the main forces behind the creation of the television series M*A*S*H, writing the pilot (for which he received a "Developed for Television by __" credit); then producing, often writing and occasionally directing the series for its first four seasons, from 1972 to 1976. M*A*S*H earned Gelbart a Peabody Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and went on to considerable commercial and critical success.
Kristy McNichol is 59
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Earl Holliman is 93.
Comedian Tom Dreesen is 82.
Movie director Brian De Palma is 81.
Actor Lola Falana is 79.
Drummer Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead is 78.
Guitarist Leo Kottke is 76.
Actor Phillip Alford (“To Kill A Mockingbird”) is 73.
Actor Amy Madigan is 71.
Guitarist Tommy Shaw of Styx is 68.
Sports reporter Lesley Visser is 68.
Drummer Jon Moss of Culture Club is 64.
Actor-director Roxann Dawson (“Star Trek: Voyager”) is 63.
Actor Scott Patterson (“Gilmore Girls”) is 63.
Keyboardist Mick Talbot (The Style Council, Dexys Midnight Runners) is 63.
Actor John Hawkes (“Deadwood”) is 62.
Actor Anne Ramsay (“Mad About You,” ″A League of Their Own”) is 61.
Actor Virginia Madsen (“Sideways,” ″American Dreams”) is 60.
Actor Kristy McNichol is 59.
Ariana Richards is 42
Musician Moby is 56.
Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 54.
Actor Taraji P. Henson is 51.
Actor Laura Wright (“Guiding Light”) is 51.
Guitarist Jeremy Popoff of Lit is 50.
Singer Brad Fischetti of LFO is 46.
Rapper Mr. Black is 44.
Guitarist Jon Buckland of Coldplay is 44.
Rapper Ludacris is 44.
Actor Ariana Richards (“Jurassic Park” films) is 42.
Singer Charles Kelley of Lady A is 40.
Actor Elizabeth Henstridge (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) is 34.
iHeartMedia Washington, D.C’s Classic Rock WBIG BIG 100, Washington’s Classic Rock, announced today the debut of the new “Don Geronimo Show,” effective, September 23. The “Don Geronimo Show” will broadcast weekday mornings from 5:30– 10 a.m.
Each weekday morning, Geronimo will broadcast the most popular hits from the biggest chart-topping classic rock artists as well as feature the latest entertainment news, sports and lifestyle experiences that apply to the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia communities.
A broadcasting veteran, Geronimo joins iHeartMedia from Sacramento, California, where he has been hosting “The Don Geronimo Podcast” from 2014 to 2019. Geronimo has over forty years of on-air experience in talk, sports and top forty formats, most recently serving as morning show host of KHTK-AM in Sacramento in 2013.
As co-host of the “Don and Mike Show” on WJFK-FM from 1991 to 2008, Geronimo was syndicated in more than 50 markets including New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Tampa Bay, Florida. Geronimo also served as host for the Washington Football Team Pre-Game show on WJFK-FM and The Washington Football Network from 1995 to 2001. Geronimo also served as on-air host on multiple stations in the Washington, D.C. region including WAVA-FM in 1986 and WPGC-FM in 1980. He began his career at WROK-AM in Rockford, Illinois.
“This fall, we usher in a new era on BIG 100 with the return of a DC legend,” said Dustin Matthews, Director of Rock Programming. “The reality of having Don home to wake up Washington’s classic rock fans is incredible and just the beginning.”
“I am thrilled to wake up with Washington D.C. on the iconic BIG 100,” said Geronimo. “I can’t wait to return to my hometown to host a morning show that engages our D.C. listeners, allowing them to participate in live show content and games while hearing the best classic rock.”
Howard Stern laughed this week as he mocked a string of right-wing radio hosts who died of Covid after publicly stating their opposition to forced vaccine and mask mandates.
On Tuesday's edition of Sirius XM's The Howard Stern Show, the host took pleasure in mocking several late radio hosts with whom he disagreed, as he made the case for a mandatory vaccination program.
'It's really funny when these radio, the radio guys are the best, they're like four of them died, four of them were like ranting on the air,' he cackled.
They will not get vaccinated. They were they were on fire, these guys, it was like day after day, they were all dying and then their dying words are ''I wish I had been more into the vaccine. I wish I had taken it.''
Stern went on to deride Marc Bernier, a conservative radio host on Daytona Talk radio, who died on August 29 due to Covid, and played a clip of him saying he did not want to get the vaccine before continuing to disparage other commentators.
'Where do I have that clip of that Mark, the guy who died. I got it. Here it is. This is the guy,' said Stern.
He then remarked that there are three others, and 'they're on the radio preaching this shit.'
'I'll tell you what, far as I remember, when I went to school, you had to get a measles vaccine, you had to get a mumps vaccine, you had to get, it was a ton of them,' Stern said.
'When are we going to stop putting up with the idiots in this country and just say, you know, it's mandatory to get vaccinated?'
'F*** them, f*** their freedom. I want my freedom to live. I want to get out of the house already. I want to go next door and play chess.
Salem Radio Talk Host and California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder said "racial epithets" were yelled at him while he was being egged by a person in a gorilla mask and called out the deafening silence from liberals.
The Republican candidate told Fox News in a phone interview that the racist phrases were screamed at him during the attack earlier this week, in which a White woman wearing a gorilla mask threw an egg at him.
"One person said to the effect of, ‘Larry Elder doesn’t give a blank about Black people; Larry Elder only cares about White people,’" Elder said. "I will tell you: 6.5% of the population of California is Black, but according to a [Department of Housing and Urban Development] study, 40% of the homeless population is Black."
"So if ‘Larry Elder doesn’t give a blank about Black people,’ why is Larry Elder trying to solve the homeless problem which is disproportionately affecting Black people?" Elder continued.
When asked if he believed the attack was racist, Elder said he does not "know" whether the attack was racially motivated or if the person was just "mentally ill and might need treatment."
Elder also said it was "hard to say" whether the attack was politically motivated but thinks that, if he were a liberal, the left would be "screaming about systemic racism."
"I’m not somebody who pulls out the race card the way Barack Obama does, the way Al Sharpton does, the way CNN does, the way Black Lives Matter does," the Republican candidate said. "Maybe it was just an idiot. Maybe it was just a fool. Maybe it was just someone who doesn’t like Larry Elder."
"All I know is: if I were a liberal and somebody wearing a gorilla mask who was a White woman threw an egg at me, the left would be screaming about systemic racism," he continued.
Elder said that it seemed to him that the attack "must have been premeditated" and that, if he were a Democrat, the attack would be garnering much more press attention.
John Catsimatidis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Red Apple Group and its subsidiary Red Apple Media, has announced 77 WABC and Tunnel to Towers Present 9/11 - 20 Years Later, two days of wall-to-wall special programming dedicated to the 9/11 victims, first responders, and their families. Beginning at 6am Friday, September 10, with opening remarks and reflections on the somber day from Catsimatidis, and continuing through Saturday, September 11, the tribute will be simulcast on WLIR-FM 107.1, the Hamptons and streamed worldwide at wabcradio.com and on the WABC mobile app.
The two days will feature listener remembrances and guests who were on the front lines on 9/11, including America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former New York State Governor George Pataki, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, and former Fire Department of New York Commissioner Thomas Von Essen. All four were in office at the time of the attack on America.
Giuliani and Frank Siller, Chief Executive Officer of Tunnel To Towers, will join Bernie & Sid In The Morning. Juliet Huddy will co-host a special hour at 11 am with Giuliani. Kerik will co-host Giuliani’s regularly scheduled 3pm program. Joe Esposito, retired New York City Police Chief, and Von Essen will join them.
Former New York Mets Manager Bobby Valentine, who gave the city hope by proceeding with the Mets vs. Atlanta Braves game just 10 days after 9/11, will be on with James Golden, a.k.a. Bo Snerdley, during his 4 pm show. Both Giuliani and Pataki will co-host with Golden, and they will remain through Cats At Night with John Catsimatidis at 5pm.
“9/11 was the day everyone in America became a New Yorker,” said Catsimatidis. “We witnessed the tragedy of lost lives and the courage of our first responders as they raced into the burning towers. We experienced the best in leadership from Rudy, George, and Bernie, and I thank them for joining us as WABC remembers 9/11, 20 years later.”
Additional highlights on Friday include Greg Kelly’s program from 1 to 3 pm, during which Kelly’s father and former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly will join him. At 10 pm, Rita Cosby will continue the 9/11-dedicated programming with special guests, followed by Dominic Carter overnight.
WABC will report live audio and video from the St. Nicholas Church and National Shrine at 7:30 pm on Friday when the Shrine’s translucent marble dome will be illuminated. The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is the only house of worship at the World Trade Center and the only one that was destroyed in the attacks on 9/11. It includes a non-denominational bereavement center and is open to everyone of all faiths.
Saturday morning, Curtis Sliwa and Giuliani co-host a special two-hour program starting at 6am, when they will share their personal experiences, followed by Snerdley at 8 am and Larry Kudlow at 10 am, both of whom will observe moments of silence at the exact times that planes hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, when the Towers fell, and when Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Giuliani will call in reports to Snerdley and Kudlow from the official 9/11 Ceremony at Ground Zero.
Catsimatidis, Giuliani, Carter, and Cosby will co-host three hours, from 1 to 4 pm, dedicated to first responders and their families, and Frank Morano and Lidia Curanaj, from 4 to 5 pm, will explore the effect that 9/11 had on the suburban communities surrounding New York City.
CUMULUS MEDIA’s New Country KSCS 96.3 FM has announced that its popular morning show, Hawkeye in the Morning, will launch a new weekly segment, “The Chris Young Cowboys Post Game Show,” featuring Sony Nashville recording artist, Chris Young.
Young is one of Nashville’s biggest Dallas Cowboys fans and a friend of New Country 96.3. Young will join Hawkeye in the Morning’s Mark “Hawkeye” Louis and Michelle Rodriguez at 8:50am CT the weekday morning following each Cowboys football game during the 2021/2022 season.
“The Chris Young Cowboys Post Game Show” debuts today, September 10, 2021, on New Country 96.3.
Fans can listen on their radio, smart speakers, computer (www.newcountry963.com), and via radio apps on their phone (New Country 96.3 App or iHeartRadio).
As a substantial percentage of Americans continue to remain unvaccinated against Covid-19 despite months of entreaties and incentives, leading to hospitals filling up again, some to the breaking point, and deaths going back up to more than 1,000 a day as the delta variant surges, President Biden yesterday ordered new vaccine mandates that cover as many as 100 million Americans. Speaking from the White House, Biden said, "We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us." Vaccination will be required for executive branch employees and those who do business with the federal government, as well as workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid. Private companies with more than 100 employees must either require their workers to be vaccinated or be tested weekly. Biden also doubled fines for passengers who refuse to wear masks on planes, and said the government will work to increase the supply of Covid tests. Some Republican officeholders blasted the new mandates, as did some union leaders, and suggested there would be legal challenges.
President Biden says the U.S. is "in the tough stretch" of the pandemic "and it could last for a while."
He blames the Delta variant, unvaccinated Americans and "elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19," which he says is "totally unacceptable" pic.twitter.com/k3uF9IMTDO
“People are burned out, they’re exhausted, they’re angry. So one of the questions that’s been coming up is: Can we consider a patient’s vaccine status if we’re making a triage decision?” https://t.co/gV8KvV3EBb
The Justice Department sued Texas over its new law that bans abortion after just six weeks and is enforced by allowing private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone involved in facilitating abortions, such as someone who drives a woman to a clinic, for at least $10,000. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference, "The act is clearly unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent," with the lawsuit reading, "It is settled constitutional law that 'a State may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability.'" Garland also said the law deputizes citizens to serve as, quote, "bounty hunters." The lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction to bar enforcement of the law.
The Etilaat Roz newspaper, shares images on social media of two male reporters, one with large, red welts across his lower back and legs and the other with similar marks on his shoulder and arm. https://t.co/2Z0GFgMMQX
➤SOME 200 FOREIGNERS, INCLUDING AMERICANS, FLY OUT OF AFGHANISTAN: About 200 foreigners, among them some Americans, flew out of the Kabul airport in Afghanistan yesterday on a Qatar Airways commercial flight to Doha. The flight, the first such departure since the U.S. evacuation effort ended, was done with the cooperation of the Taliban. A U.S. State Department spokesman said 10 U.S. citizens and 11 green card-holders were on the flight, which also reportedly included, among others, Germans, Hungarians and Canadians. A Qatari envoy said another 200 passengers will fly out today.
Day after day, Afghan women have been taking to the streets to protest for their rights and against the new regime — risking beatings by the Taliban.
Here are some scenes from the front lines of their protests this month.https://t.co/crKbW2Nt4J
➤THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT: Two Florida middle schoolers were plotting to carry out a school shooting and will be charged with conspiracy to commit a mass shooting, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a press briefing Thursday. A teacher at Harns Marsh Middle School in Lehigh Acres was tipped off by students Wednesday about a possible concealed weapon and alerted school administrators and a school resource officer. Marceno said the two students, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old, were, quote, "extensively studying" the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and trying to learn how to make pipe bombs.
Searches of their homes turned up, quote, "disturbing evidence, including a gun and several knives," according to the sheriff. Authorities knew of the two students, as deputies had visited their homes nearly 80 times combined. Both met the criteria for an evaluation at a mental health facility.
➤BIDEN, FORMER PRESIDENTS TO MARK 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11: President Biden and some former presidents will attend public events marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Saturday. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to all three sites of the attacks, New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama will attend the remembrance ceremony in New York. Former President George W. Bush, who was president when the attacks took place, and former First Lady Laura Bush will travel to Shanksville, and he will give keynote remarks in a ceremony open to the families of those killed on United Flight 93.
➤KLOBUCHAR REVEALS SHE HAD BREAST CANCER: Senator Amy Klobuchar announced yesterday that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer and treated earlier this year. The 61-year-old Minnesota Democrat said the Stage 1A cancer was detected during a routine mammogram, after which she had a lumpectomy and underwent radiation. Klobuchar said the treatment "went well," telling ABC News, "Now [doctors] tell me that my chances of getting cancer again are the same as any other person, which is great."
➤FBI RECORDS SHOW MAN OFFERED TO KILL KOBE BRYANT'S RAPE ACUSER IN 2003: The FBI released documents last week that revealed a man offered to kill the late Kobe Bryant's rape accuser in 2003 to make the case go away. The man, who wasn't identified in the documents, made the unsolicited offer to Bryant to get rid of the accuser for $3 million. News outlets have identified him as Patrick Graber, a bodybuilder who was living in suburban Los Angeles. After bodyguards for Bryant, then with the L.A. Lakers, got a package with a letter describing the plan, they gave it to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, who arrested Graber along with the FBI. He pled no contest and was sentenced to three years in prison, and then was deported to his native Switzerland after his release. The criminal case against Bryant was dismissed after the accuser said she didn't want to testify. She filed a civil suit against Bryant, which was settled out of court.
➤SMART SUNGLASSES RAISE PRIVACY CONCERNS: Privacy concerns are being raised after Facebook and the maker of Ray-Bans teamed up on smart sunglasses. Facebook announced its Ray-Ban Stories sunglasses yesterday, which let users take photos and record videos, presenting them as a way to do things like record video of your kids while playing them without having to hold your phone. Facebook says it included privacy protections, such as having an LED light in the glasses that goes on when the wearer is taking a photo or video, and only being able to record up to 30 seconds of video at a time. But journalists who tried out the glasses cited potential privacy concerns, such as being able to cover the LED light so it couldn't be seen when taking photos and videos, and the light being difficult to see at a distance. A BuzzFeed writer called them "barely perceptible spy glasses." Facebook told the Wall Street Journal it consulted with privacy groups and experts as it created the glasses. The National Consumers League was one of them, but a vice president for the organization, John Breyault, told the Journal some of the things they suggested, like having the camera stop working if the light was hidden or making changes to the design so it's clear the glasses aren't normal Ray-Bans weren't done.
➤DIVORCE FILINGS ARE UP: According to figures from the Superior Court of California, divorce filings are up significantly in Los Angeles over the last five months, as compared with the same period in 2020. And some lawyers and relationship experts say that divorce filings in New York and other states are also on the rise. According to a recent survey by “breakup coach” Lee Wilson, Twenty-one percent of respondents answered that the pandemic had harmed their marriage, a 10 percent increase from a survey asking the same question the year before.
➤STUDY FINDS REMOTE EMPLOYEES SPEND 25% LESS TIME COLLABORATING: A study of Microsoft employees conducted by the University of California found that remote workers spend 25 percent less time collaborating with colleagues in comparison with the time spent pre-pandemic. Researchers also found that employees spent less time collaborating, had fewer real-time conversations and decreased the number of hours spent in meetings. Instead, more time was spent communicating via email and instant messages.
➤HOUSEPARTY IS SHUTTING DOWN: Housparty is shutting down. The company announced that the video chat app that Epic Games integrated with its Fortnite gameplay experience has been removed from app stores and will officially retire in October.
Tampa Bay Times 9/10/21
🏈TAMPA BAY TOPS DALLAS 31-29 TO KICK OFF NFL SEASON: The reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-29 to kick off the NFL season last night in Tampa. The Buccaneers won it on a 36-yard field goal by Ryan Succop with two seconds left, after being down one point. Bucs quarterback Tom Brady went 32 of 50 for 379 yards and four touchdowns, with two interceptions. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 403 yards and three touchdowns, returning after a severe ankle that ended his 2020 season after five games.
🎾UNSEEDED TEENS RADUCANU, FERNANDEZ TO PLAY IN U.S. OPEN FINAL: Unseeded teenagers Emma Raducanu of Britain, who's 18, and 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada will play each other for the U.S. Open women's championship Saturday after winning their semifinal matches in big upsets yesterday. Fernandez downed second-seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4, and Raducanu beat 17th-seeded Maria Sakkari in straight sets. The men's semifinals are today.
18-year-old Emma Raducanu and 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez reach the women's final at the US Open. https://t.co/RpOM3d6SOU
🏈RAVENS' PETERS, EDWARDS BOTH TEAR ACL IN PRACTICE: Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters and running back Gus Edwards both suffered season-ending torn ACLs in practice yesterday, ESPN reported. Edwards was injured just a few plays after Peters, and head coach John Harbaugh ended the practice after that. Another Raven, running back J.K. Dobbins, tore his ACL in the preseason finale on August 28th. Baltimore will open its season against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football.
🏈STEELERS' WATT AGREES TO FOUR-YEAR, $112 MILLION EXTENSION: Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt has agreed to a four-year, $112 million extension, according to media reports Thursday. That will pay Watt an average of $28 million per year, making him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. According to ESPN, Watt overruled his agents, who thought they could get more money, going into the office of Steelers president Art Rooney II and telling him they had a deal.
⚾MLB, RED SOX DENY RENFROE'S CLAIM TOLD TO STOP TESTING FOR COVID AMID OUTBREAK: MLB and the Boston Red Sox yesterday both denied a claim by Boston outfielder Hunter Renfroe that MLB told the Red Sox to stop testing for Covid-19 amid the team's recent outbreak that affected nine players. Renfroe made the claim in an interview on New England sports radio station WEEI, saying, "[M]LB has basically told us to stop testing and just treat the symptoms. We're like, 'No. We're gonna figure out what's going and try to keep this thing under control.'" A spokesman for MLB told The Boston Globe Renfroe is, quote, "completely wrong and inaccurate."
