September 19 Radio History

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➦In 1921..Boston's WBZ radio, which now broadcasts at 1030 kHz AM and is the oldest surviving commercial radio station in New England, signed-on broadcasting from Springfield, MA.

The station has long been one of the highest-rated stations in the Boston area, and covers much of the eastern United States and Canada at night with its 50,000-watt clear-channel signal from its transmitter location in Hull, Massachusetts, which has been used by the station since 1940. The transmitter is a two tower directional array where each tower is 160 meters (520 ft) tall. The signal is intentionally directionalized from their coastal location for maximum power transmitted into the continental United States, giving WBZ outstanding multi-state coverage after sunset.

WBZ's initial license, for operation in Springfield, was issued by the Department of Commerce to the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company on September 15, 1921; it was the first license to specify broadcasts on 360 meters (833 kilohertz), and was subsequently deemed to be the first license for a commercial broadcast station. However, other stations, such as WWJ in Detroit, 1XE/WGI in Medford Hillside, and sister station KDKA in Pittsburgh, were already broadcasting under different license classifications.

Original Studio on Page Blvd.

The station's original transmitter and studios were located at the Westinghouse factory on Page Boulevard in East Springfield. However, WBZ's inaugural program, on September 19, 1921, was a remote broadcast from the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield.

The original format was general entertainment and information, which included live music (often classical music and opera), sports, farm reports, special events, and public affairs programming. Despite WBZ being housed in Springfield, it somewhat difficult to attract top-flight artists to the station,  leading Westinghouse to open a studio at the Hotel Brunswick in Boston on February 24, 1924.  WBZ also expanded its news programming via a partnership with the newspaper Boston Herald and Traveler.  It also carried a considerable amount of sports broadcasts, including Boston Bruins hockey, Boston Braves baseball, and Harvard Crimson football.

Circa 1932

Because of its comparatively wide reach, the station often referred to itself as "WBZ, New England" as opposed to associating itself solely with Springfield or Boston. However, even after several power boosts (the station broadcast at a power of 100 watts in 1921, but was using 2,000 watts in April 1925, the station still had some trouble reaching Boston, leading Westinghouse to sign on WBZA, a 250-watt station at 1240 kHz, on August 20, 1925.  Efforts were soon made to operate WBZA as a synchronous repeater of WBZ, by then at 900 kHz; this process was difficult, as the two transmitters often interfered with each other even in Boston, and WBZA went back and forth between the two frequencies for nearly a year before finally going to full-time synchronous operation in June 1926.

WBZ also continued to boost the power of its primary East Springfield transmitter; it was granted permission to operate with 5,000 watts on March 31, 1926, and by 1927 it was operating with 15,000 watts. Meanwhile, a combination of WBZ's growth and continued difficulties with the WBZA signal led the station to move its Boston studio to the Statler Hotel (now the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers) on June 1, 1927 and activate a new WBZA transmitter on June 9.  The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) moved WBZ and WBZA to 990 kHz on November 11, 1928.

Amidst the technical changes, WBZ also began engaging in network activities. By 1925, it often shared programs with WJZ in New York City (which Westinghouse had also started in 1921, but sold to the Radio Corporation of America two years later), and a WBZ special commemorating the 150th anniversary of Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride" was also fed to WRC in Washington, D.C. and WGY in Schenectady, New York. This paved the way for the station to become a charter affiliate of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) on November 15, 1926, carrying the WJZ-originated NBC Blue Network beginning on January 1, 1927.

Today, WBZ is owned by iHeartMedia and airs a News/Talk format.



➦In 1932...The radio soap  Just Plain Bill started airing It aired for about 20-years. It was a 15-minute daytime radio drama program heard on CBS Radio and NBC Radio. Originally called Bill the Barber, it told the story of Bill Davidson (Arthur Hughes), a barber in the town of Hartville, and his daughter Nancy (Ruth Russell). Bill often became involved in helping his friends and neighbors when he wasn't cutting hair. Also in the cast: Dick Janaver (1911-1999).

➦In 1955...Radio-TV personality Bill Cullen started at WRCA 660 AM in NYC.

Bill Cullen

Cullen's broadcasting career began in Pittsburgh at WWSW radio, where he worked as a disc jockey and play-by-play announcer or color commentator for Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Hornets games. In 1943, Cullen left WWSW to briefly work at rival station KDKA before leaving Pittsburgh a year later to try his luck in New York.

A week after arriving in New York he was hired as a staff announcer at CBS. To supplement his then-meager income, he became a freelance joke writer for some of the top radio stars of the day including Arthur Godfrey, Danny Kaye, and Jack Benny; he also worked as a staff writer for the Easy Aces radio show.

His first venture into game shows was in 1945 when he was hired as announcer for a radio quiz called Give And Take.  Between 1946 and 1953 he also worked as announcer for various other local and network shows, including the radio version of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman's first game show, Winner Take All, hosted by Ward Wilson; Cullen took over as host four months later when Wilson left.

After a brief stint at WNEW in 1951 he later hosted a popular morning show at WRCA radio from 1955 to 1961.  His last regular radio job was as one of the hosts of NBC Radio's Monitor from 1971 to 1973.

➦In 1970...Good Guy Ed Baer aired last show at WMCA 570 AM  NYC.

Aircheck from 1964:

Baer spent more than a 60 years on New York area stations, including as a “Good Guy” on WMCA 570 AM, followed by stints on WCBS 101.1 FM, WYNY, WHN 1050 AM, and WHUD among others.

Baer began in New York radio at WMCA in the fall of 1961, at age 25, the youngest member of the air staff.  He remained there for 12 years, doing music, news and talk shows. Then, on to WHN, playing Country Music for 10 years, followed by 4 years at WYNY, where he also did sports on the NBC Radio Network.  In 1986, he took over mornings with the Ed Baer Affair on 100.7 WHUD while also beginning fill-in stints on WCBS-FM, and often heard on their Radio Greats Weekends.

➦In 2018...Bill Gable, who entertained audiences at CKLW Windsor-Detroit and other stations across North America for 46-years died in a Windsor, Ontario hospital from complications of chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder (COPD). Gable retired in 2014.

➦In 2018...CBS News Radio announced the unexpected death of longtime correspondent and anchor of the World News Roundup Late Edition Dave Barrett has died. He was 63-years-of-age.  He anchored hourly newscasts and was 3-time winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award.

David McCallum is 88

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Rosemary Harris is 94. 
• Actor David McCallum (“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and “NCIS”) is 88. 
• Singer Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers is 81. 
• Singer Sylvia Tyson of Ian and Sylvia is 81. 
• Singer-songwriter Paul Williams is 81. 
• Singer Freda Payne is 79. 
• Singer David Bromberg is 76. 
• Actor Randolph Mantooth (“Emergency”) is 76. 
• Guitarist Lol Creme of 10cc is 74. 
• Actor Jeremy Irons is 73. 
• Actor-model Twiggy Lawson is 72. 
• TV personality Joan Lunden is 71. 
• Actor Scott Colomby (“Jack Frost,” ″Porky’s” films) is 69. 
• Guitarist-producer Nile Rodgers of Chic is 69. 
• Singer-actor Rex Smith is 66. 
• Musician Lita Ford is 63. 
• Director Kevin Hooks is 63. 
• Actor Carolyn McCormick (“Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”) is 62. 

• 

  Katrina Bowden is 33

  TV chef Mario Batali is 61. 
• Comedian Cheri Oteri (“Saturday Night Live”) is 59. 
• Country singer Jeff Bates is 58. 
• Country singer Trisha Yearwood is 57. 
• News anchor Soledad O’Brien is 55. 
• Singer Esperonza Griffin (Society of Soul) is 52. 
• TV chef Michael Symon is 52. 
• Actor Victor Williams (“The Affair,” ″King of Queens”) is 51. 
• Actor Sanaa Lathan (“The Cleveland Show”) is 50. 
• Singer A. Jay Popoff of Lit is 48. 
• Comedian-talk show host Jimmy Fallon is 47. 
• Home-improvement host Carter Oosterhouse (“Red Hot and Green,” ″Trading Spaces”) is 45. 
• Actor-TV host Alison Sweeney (“Days of Our Lives,” ″The Biggest Loser”) is 45. 
• Singers Tegan and Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara are 41. 
• Actor Columbus Short (“Scandal”) is 39. 
• Rapper Eamon is 38. 
• Actor Kevin Zegers (“Transamerica,” “Air Bud”) is 37. 
• Actor Danielle Panabaker (TV’s “The Flash”) is 34. 
• Actor Katrina Bowden (“The Bold and the Beautiful,” “30 Rock”) is 33.

Boston Radio: WBZ-AM Reaches 100-Year Milestone

WBZ NewsRadio, a pioneering voice in the early days of radio and a fixture in the Boston media landscape, is marking its centennial anniversary this weekend, reports The Boston Globe

The station’s first broadcast hit Massachusetts airwaves 100 years ago on Sept. 19, 1921, from the fairgrounds of the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield. It’s one of the oldest radio stations in the U.S. and was the first in the country to receive a commercial license, according to records.

To mark the occasion, tidbits of history from previous broadcasts have played on WBZ airwaves over the past 100 days, and the celebration will culminate on Sunday.

In a nod to the station’s centennial year, Governor Charlie Baker issued WBZ NewsRadio 1030 AM a governor’s citation Wednesday and President Joe Biden, who has given interviews on the station’s broadcasts a number of times, sent a personalized note.

“Radio has long been an important aspect of American life — narrating the triumphs and tragedies that have defined America as well as the day-to-day news that keeps listeners engaged with their communities,” Biden wrote. “Over the decades, radio stations like WBZ NewsRadio have been on the forefront of journalism, providing entertainment and valuable information to people who tune in throughout the day.”

“For a station to broadcast for 100 years is nothing short of amazing,” said Alan Chartrand, Market President of iHeartMedia Boston. “Listeners and advertisers consistently utilize this heritage brand as evidenced by WBZ’s continued ratings and revenue success. People lean into objective news sources to remain informed and none has been more dependable than WBZ NewsRadio.”

“WBZ NewsRadio is defined by our strong, unmistakable presence in the communities we serve,” said Rob Sanchez, Vice President of News, Talk & Sports for iHeartMedia Boston. “As the media landscape continues to evolve, our reach has only increased as WBZ listeners have adopted streaming on smart devices and the heritrix app.”

WBZ radio, which now broadcasts at 1030 kHz AM and is the oldest surviving commercial radio station in New England dating back to 1921.  The station signed-on broadcasting from Springfield, MA.

The station has long been one of the highest-rated stations in the Boston area, and covers much of the eastern United States and Canada at night with its 50,000-watt clear-channel signal from its transmitter location in Hull, Massachusetts, which has been used by the station since 1940. The transmitter is a two tower directional array where each tower is 160 meters (520 ft) tall. The signal is intentionally directionalized from their coastal location for maximum power transmitted into the continental United States, giving WBZ outstanding multi-state coverage after sunset.

WBZ's initial license, for operation in Springfield, was issued by the Department of Commerce to the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company on September 15, 1921; it was the first license to specify broadcasts on 360 meters (833 kilohertz), and was subsequently deemed to be the first license for a commercial broadcast station. However, other stations, such as WWJ in Detroit, 1XE/WGI in Medford Hillside, and sister station KDKA in Pittsburgh, were already broadcasting under different license classifications.

The station's original transmitter and studios were located at the Westinghouse factory on Page Boulevard in East Springfield. However, WBZ's inaugural program, on September 19, 1921, was a remote broadcast from the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield.

The original format was general entertainment and information, which included live music (often classical music and opera), sports, farm reports, special events, and public affairs programming. Despite WBZ being housed in Springfield, it somewhat difficult to attract top-flight artists to the station,  leading Westinghouse to open a studio at the Hotel Brunswick in Boston on February 24, 1924.  WBZ also expanded its news programming via a partnership with the newspaper Boston Herald and Traveler.  It also carried a considerable amount of sports broadcasts, including Boston Bruins hockey, Boston Braves baseball, and Harvard Crimson football.

Because of its comparatively wide reach, the station often referred to itself as "WBZ, New England" as opposed to associating itself solely with Springfield or Boston. However, even after several power boosts (the station broadcast at a power of 100 watts in 1921, but was using 2,000 watts in April 1925, the station still had some trouble reaching Boston, leading Westinghouse to sign on WBZA, a 250-watt station at 1240 kHz, on August 20, 1925.  Efforts were soon made to operate WBZA as a synchronous repeater of WBZ, by then at 900 kHz; this process was difficult, as the two transmitters often interfered with each other even in Boston, and WBZA went back and forth between the two frequencies for nearly a year before finally going to full-time synchronous operation in June 1926.

WBZ also continued to boost the power of its primary East Springfield transmitter; it was granted permission to operate with 5,000 watts on March 31, 1926, and by 1927 it was operating with 15,000 watts. Meanwhile, a combination of WBZ's growth and continued difficulties with the WBZA signal led the station to move its Boston studio to the Statler Hotel (now the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers) on June 1, 1927 and activate a new WBZA transmitter on June 9.  The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) moved WBZ and WBZA to 990 kHz on November 11, 1928.

Amidst the technical changes, WBZ also began engaging in network activities. By 1925, it often shared programs with WJZ in New York City (which Westinghouse had also started in 1921, but sold to the Radio Corporation of America two years later), and a WBZ special commemorating the 150th anniversary of Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride" was also fed to WRC in Washington, D.C. and WGY in Schenectady, New York. This paved the way for the station to become a charter affiliate of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) on November 15, 1926, carrying the WJZ-originated NBC Blue Network beginning on January 1, 1927.

“For a very long time, we were called the spirit of New England,” said Bill Flaherty, WBZ NewsRadio’s director of operations. “That was the slogan for WBZ and I think that has never gone away. That Boston spirit, the Boston personality is still here.”

Countless legendary broadcasters have appeared over the decades on WBZ radio. There was Don Kent, the innovatory meteorologist, who split his time between WBZ’s TV and radio mediums for nearly three decades beginning in 1951. Carl DeSuze was the signature morning host for more than 40 years, beginning his tenure in 1942 and retiring in 1985.

WBZ radio has shifted in ownership twice in recent years, becoming a CBS affiliate in 1995 after Westinghouse acquired the TV giant, then shifting again in 2017 when it was sold off to iHeartMedia.

It’s news hours still feature the same, fast-paced news hits they did 100 years ago. What has changed, Flaherty says, is the marketing, which has adapted to each new punch of the fluctuating news industry.

Effective social media strategies, for example, have helped extend the station’s reach beyond its typical audience. Flaherty cites the WBZ NewsRadio TikTok as a particular success (as of Friday, the account had amassed well over 250,000 likes).

“In the last 20 years, with how the media landscape has changed, it is quite amazing,” said Flaherty. “We have changed different frequencies as the technology changed. But basically, we’ve been around 100 years, giving information to New England — the information that they need— and it hasn’t changed a lot.”

Nielsen: Streaming Levels Off

Nielsen's Gauge For August 2021

After three months of consecutive growth, the rise of streaming took a pause this month, according to the August release of The Gauge, Nielsen’s Total TV and Streaming viewing snapshot. 

The wild growth of streaming flattened out for the first time in four months, due in part to the fact that kids have returned to school, according to a new study from Nielsen.

Overall streaming during the month accounted for 28 percent of all US TV viewing in August, according to Nielsen, compared with 24 percent for broadcast and 36 percent for cable. This marks the first month that streaming has been flat since Nielsen began releasing its data of viewing patterns in May.

The coronavirus pandemic has been a boon for streaming as consumers have been housebound and in search of entertainment and ways to keep the kids busy. At the end of 2020, top streamers, including Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon’s Prime Video, finished the year with a total 50 percent more subscribers than they had a year ago.

But in recent months, those same streaming services have warned of slower subscriber growth as the country has slowly reopened and more Americans have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and are thus spending less time at home, reports The NY Post.

In its study, Nielsen attributed the slowdown in streaming growth to the back-to-school season. Children between 6 and 17 years old viewed 7.5 percent less programming across the board, and that age group skews toward streaming, the report said.

On the positive side, TV viewing ticked up half a percentage point compared with July, thanks to the Tokyo Olympics, which drove a 2.9 percent increase for broadcast TV. That uptick came even as the Summer Games turned in a historically poor TV ratings performance.

Nielsen cited other standout events on broadcast and cable, such as Major League Baseball’s “Field of Dreams,” which boosted ESPN’s ratings, as well as the start of the National Football League’s preseason on cable.

Survey: Netflix Is The Keeper

Imagine you’re only allowed one streaming service to keep and you have to cancel all the other subscriptions. Which one are you choosing? If you’re like 41% of consumers, your answer is Netflix.

Cord Cutter News reports a new survey by Whip Media among nearly 2,00 US adults shows that 41% say they would keep their Netflix subscription if they could only choose one streaming service, followed by 21% in favor of Hulu. HBO Max came in at third place with 13%, followed by 9% who say they would choose Disney+.

The numbers start to make sense seeing the data of what viewers look for in a streaming service, with content being the most important factor. In fact, 92% of respondents find library content very important/important. What’s more, 78% of respondents felt original content was very important/important.

That’s good news for streaming services like Netflix who have vast libraries of content across a wide variety of genres, plus a robust catalog of Originals to choose from. The streamer consistently holds a large share of the top 20 most popular titles each month, many of which are Originals.

With that being said, when ranked on SVOD satisfaction, HBO Max jumps to the top spot. HBO Max is the streaming service with the highest satisfaction overall, and the only platform to 50% of consumers report they are “Very Satisfied” with. Netflix comes in a close second, followed by Hulu.

Of the major services, AppleTV+ is in the most precarious position as the streaming service consumers are least satisfied with and least likely to keep. Peacock is hardly better off and has a lower “Very Satisfied” rating than Apple TV+.

Taylor Swift Releases New ‘Wildest Dreams’

Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun

Taylor Swift dropped a rerecording of her 2014 hit single “Wildest Dreams” on Friday, part of an effort to gain control of her older work amid a feud with music manager Scooter Braun, reports Bloomberg.

Swift has been rerecording old albums to keep Braun and others from profiting from their ownership of her catalog. Braun, known as the manager for artists such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, acquired her work in 2019 when he bought the country label Big Machine. Last November, he sold her first six albums to an investment firm for $300 million. “Wildest Dreams” is a track on “1989,” her fifth studio album.

The artist said social-media buzz contributed to her decision to release the rerecording. Users on ByteDance Inc.’s TikTok platform have been promoting the song. Swift, 31, joined the video-sharing platform last month.

“Saw you guys got ‘Wildest Dreams’ trending on TikTok, thought you should have my version,” Swift said on Twitter.

In April, Swift unveiled a new version of her 2008 album “Fearless.” The rerecorded version of her 2012 album “Red” is scheduled to come out on Nov. 19.

Fox News' Job Reviews Sought In Election Suit

Fox News may have to hand over the performance reviews of Tucker Carlson and other top on-air personalities if its foe in a defamation lawsuit over election rigging gets its way, reports Bloomberg.

Dominion Voting Systems Inc., the voting machine company falsely accused of rigging the 2020 U.S. presidential election, has asked a judge to order Fox to release three years of job evaluations for Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro and Lou Dobbs, who allegedly helped spread the conspiracy theory.

Having the reviews will help boost the $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox if they reveal a pattern of lying and show the network acted with actual malice, Dominion said in a court filing Thursday. The lawsuit is one of several multi billion-dollar cases brought by Dominion over debunked claims that it conspired with foreign hackers and corrupt election workers to flip votes away from former President Donald Trump.

“These documents are relevant to Fox’s oversight of its on-air personalities and Fox’s knowledge of whether they were prone to lie and mis-inform the public on their shows,” Dominion said in the Delaware court filing.

The reviews are among a slew of documents Dominion says Fox has resisted turning over. The company is seeking communications about the Trump administration’s reaction over the network’s coverage of the election at the time, as well as “the effect of that reaction on Fox’s ratings and viewership,” Dominion said.

“This discovery goes to Fox’s motivation for its publication of the defamatory statements, namely Fox’s attempts to increase ratings and to please President Trump, which goes to establishing malice,” Dominion said in the filing. Malice is the level of intent a company is required to prove in a defamation case.

Fox has argued Dominion cannot prove actual malice and that the network was simply doing its job by reporting on a major controversy tied to the election. The network is awaiting a ruling on its motion to dismiss the Dominion suit.

Panama City Radio: Rock Debuts On WFLF 94.5 FM

iHeartMedia Panama City announced Friday the debut of the new ROCK 94.5, The Gulf Coast’s Rock Station, effective immediately.

WFLF 94.5 FM is now the home of the new ROCK 94.5. The format will include both classic and current rock music from the 90’s to now. With its 100kw signal, ROCK 94.5 will be able to deliver great rock hits and entertainment to a wide area along Florida’s northern Gulf Coast covering several Florida counties. ROCK 94.5 will feature “Lex and Terry” on weekday mornings and rock music throughout the day with limited commercials. The station will also be the official radio broadcast affiliate for Florida State University Football. In addition to broadcasting on 94.5 WFLF-FM, ROCK 94.5 can be heard on iHeartRadio.com is available on the iHeartRadio app.

“The familiar, more recent rock classics and newer rock hits have been absent from the Florida Panhandle for a few years now,” said John Lund, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Panama City. ”We are happy to fill that void with the new ROCK 94.5!”

Full Programming Lineup:

• Lex & Terry 5– 9 a.m.
• Theresa 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Chumley 3– 7 p.m.
• Klinger 7 p.m. – midnight

Triton Digital Offering Unified Ad Buying Platform

Media buyers are increasingly looking at audio budgets holistically, rather than divvying the dollars among dedicated radio or streaming segments of their media plan. In a move that will help put the selling side more in line with what buyers want, Triton Digital is launching a new global audio exchange that will for the first time aggregate audience from broadcast, podcast and streaming. It says the move will make it easier for marketers and agencies to plan, buy and measure the impact of cross-platform audio advertising.

Triton Digital was acquired by iHeartMedia for $230 million in February and that has allowed it to expand its reach and capabilities. It says the new Triton Audio Marketplace will offer access to the largest single pool of audio audiences, with more than 100 billion audio impressions per month. Officially launching early next year, the Marketplace will include radio, streaming and podcast inventory from more than 250 media companies, including 17 of the top 20 broadcasters; more than 700 hit podcast titles from the iHeartPodcast Network; and the audio platforms Voxnest and Spreaker with content from thousands of creators.

John Rosso

John Rosso, Triton Digital’s President of Market Development, said a new study from WARC and Lion Intelligence being released today shows that 31% of the average consumer’s media consumption is now audio, but less than 9% of brands media spend is being allocated to the medium. “This new Triton Audio Marketplace is designed to now close this gap by making it easy for any marketer to find their audience in one place and plan and buy these audiences at scale across more 250 audio media partners,” he said.

In addition to offering a unified place to buy audio inventory, the Triton Audio Marketplace will offer a complete set of audio ad tech and data solutions for brands for targeting and measurement, and will be the largest brand-safe audio marketplace, implementing first-in-its-class brand safety tools to ensure all impressions meet the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s standards and brand’s expectations designed for a post-cookie world.

Triton said Friday that it is also planning to introduce a new platform for publisher data collection that is based on listener consent. While few details have been released so far, Triton says the data, in addition to data provided by the advertisers, will help buyers make audience planning, targeting and measurement decisions.

FCC Radio Call Letter Activity for August 2021

During August 2021, the FCC accepted the following applications to assign call signs to, or change the call signs of the following broadcast stations.

September 18 Radio History

➦In 1907... Edmund Lincoln Anderson born (Died at age 71 – February 28, 1977) was an American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester."

Anderson got his start in show business as a teenager on the vaudeville circuit. In the early 1930s, he transitioned into films and radio. In 1937, he began his most famous role of Rochester van Jones, usually known simply as "Rochester", the valet of Jack Benny, on his NBC radio show The Jack Benny Program. Anderson became the first Black American to have a regular role on a nationwide radio program. When the series moved to CBS television in 1950, Anderson continued in the role until the series' end in 1965.

➦In 1927...the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System debuted with a network of 16 radio stations. (Although some sources say 18.) The name was later changed to Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS.

The origins of CBS date back to January 27, 1927, with the creation of the "United Independent Broadcasters" network in Chicago by New York City talent-agent Arthur Judson. The fledgling network soon needed additional investors though, and the Columbia Phonograph Company, manufacturers of Columbia Records, rescued it in April 1927; as a result, the network was renamed the "Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System" on September 18 of that year. Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18, 1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates.

William Paley

Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, and by the end of 1927, Columbia Phonograph wanted out.

In early 1928, Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the network's Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. None of the three were interested in assuming day-to-day management of the network, so they installed wealthy 26-year-old William S. Paley, son of a Philadelphia cigar family and in-law of the Levys, as president.

With the record company out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to "Columbia Broadcasting System".   He believed in the power of radio advertising since his family's "La Palina" cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio.   By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS and became its majority owner with 51% of the business.

During Louchenheim's brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A.H. Grebe's Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC (no relation to the current WABC), which would become the network's flagship station, WCBS.  WABC was quickly upgraded, and the signal relocated to 860 kHz.

Other owned-and-operated stations were KNX in Los Angeles, KCBS in San Francisco (originally KQW), WBBM in Chicago, WCAU in Philadelphia, WJSV in Washington, D.C. (later WTOP, which moved to the FM band in 2005; the AM facility is now WFED, also a secondary CBS affiliate), KMOX in St. Louis, and WCCO in Minneapolis. By the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates.

Paley moved right away to put his network on a firmer financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered into talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures, who planned to move into radio in response to RCA's forays into motion pictures with the advent of talkies.  The deal came to fruition in September 1929: Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time. The agreement specified that Paramount would buy that same stock back by March 1, 1932 for a flat $5 million, provided CBS had earned $2 million during 1931 and 1932.

For a brief time there was talk that the network might be renamed "Paramount Radio", but it only lasted a month – the 1929 stock market crash sent all stock value tumbling. It galvanized Paley and his troops, who "had no alternative but to turn the network around and earn the $2,000,000 in two years.... This is the atmosphere in which the CBS of today was born."  The near-bankrupt movie studio sold its CBS shares back to CBS in 1932. In the first year of Paley's watch, CBS's gross earnings more than tripled, going from $1.4 million to $4.7 million.

Much of the increase was a result of Paley's second upgrade to the CBS business plan – improved affiliate relations. There were two types of program at the time: sponsored and sustaining, i.e., unsponsored. Rival NBC paid affiliates for every sponsored show they carried and charged them for every sustaining show they ran.  It was onerous for small and medium stations, and resulted in both unhappy affiliates and limited carriage of sustaining programs. Paley had a different idea, designed to get CBS programs emanating from as many radio sets as possible:  he would give the sustaining programs away for free, provided the station would run every sponsored show, and accept CBS's check for doing so.  CBS soon had more affiliates than either NBC Red or NBC Blue.

➦In 1967...NYC radio personality Martin Block died (Born  - February 3, 1903). It is said that gossip columnist and radi personalty Walter Winchell invented the term "disk jockey" as a means of describing Block's radio work.

A native of Los Angeles, Block began working in radio in Tijuana, Mexico; before that, he sold small household items and appliances.  When his career had stalled in Los Angeles, Block moved his family to New York; he was only there for a week before he got an announcing job. He came up with two famous advertising slogans for his sponsors: "ABC-Always Buy Chesterfield" for Liggett & Myers and "LSMFT"-Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco" for Lucky Strike.

Martin Block

In 1934, Block went to work for WNEW at a salary of $20 per week.  In 1935, while listeners to New York's WNEW in New York (now business information outlet WBBR) were awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Block built his audience by playing records between the Lindbergh news bulletins. This led to his Make Believe Ballroom, which began on February 3, 1935 with Block borrowing both the concept and the title from West Coast disc jockey Al Jarvis, creating the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom with the nation’s top dance bands performing live. He bought some records from a local music shop for the program as the radio station had none. Block purchased five Clyde McCoy records, selecting his "Sugar Blues" for the radio show's initial theme song.

Block's style of announcing was considerably different than the usual manner of delivery at the time. Instead of speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard in a theater, Block spoke in a normal voice, as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with a listener.

In the 1940s Block hired a young record collector, Joe Franklin, as his "record picker." Franklin went on to host his own radio and television programs in the New York City market for more than 65 years.

➦In 1968...Gary Stevens aired his last show on Top40 WMCA 570 AM. Stevens went on to become an executive with Doubleday Broadcast.  He was named president of the company in 1977.

➦In 1970...rock radio mourned the loss of rock music legend Jimi Hendrix. He died in London at age 27 of an overdose of sleeping pills. He had left a message on his manager’s answering phone earlier in the evening–“I need help man.” Hendrix’s Purple Haze and Foxy Lady became anthems for a generation at war in Vietnam.

➦In 1978…"WKRP in Cincinnati" debuted on CBS-TV.  It aired for four seasons and starred Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Gordon Jump, Loni Anderson, Tim Reid, Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders, and Frank Bonner.

➦In 1997....Ron Lundy retired from oldies WCBS 101.1 FM in NYC.  Aircheck from January 1990..



Lundy was born June 25, 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of Fred Sr., a railroad engineer, and Mary Lundy. He served in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from high school.

 Following the completion of his military stint, he returned to his hometown and attended a local radio broadcasting school on the G.I. Bill.  At the same time, he worked across the street at WHHM-AM, where he got his first on-air experience one night when he substituted for the regular disc jockey who failed to report for his shift. This resulted in Lundy being hired as a full-time radio announcer by Hodding Carter for WDDT-AM, the latter's new station in Greenville, Mississippi.

After a stop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at WLCS-AM, Lundy was brought to WIL-AM in St. Louis, Missouri in 1960 by Dan Ingram, who was the station's program director until the middle of the next year. Nicknamed the "Wil' Child", Lundy had a style which was described as a combination of "country and crawfish pie" by Bob Whitney, who also played a major role in the appointment.

Lundy was reunited with Ingram at WABC-AM in 1965. He made his New York radio debut on September 1, working the overnight shift as "The Swingin' Nightwalker."  Beginning in May 1966, he became the midday fixture at the station for the next sixteen years. With his catchphrase "Hello, Love–this is Ron Lundy from the Greatest City in the World,"  he usually preceded Ingram's afternoon drive time program, and sometimes when Ingram was running late to the studio, Lundy would keep going until Dan arrived, doing impressions of The Shadow, where he would play Margo Lane and Lamont Cranston. The two best friends hosted "The Last Show" before WABC's format conversion from music to talk radio at noon on May 10, 1982.

In February 1984, Lundy resurfaced at New York's oldies station WCBS-FM in the mid-morning slot, following former WABC colleague Harry Harrison. According to program director Joe McCoy, the station created the slot especially for Lundy, reducing other shifts from four hours to three.

On the following aircheck, Ron is working morning drive for Harry Harrison who was taking a few days off.   Dan Ingram stops-by,  at 10:10 into the audio, prior to doing Ron's regular late morning shift...



In June, 1997, Lundy's WCBS-FM show was awarded the 1997 "Bronze World Medal" at the New York Festivals Radio Programming Awards for the "best local personality".

Lundy retired from WCBS-FM on September 18, 1997. Upon retiring from radio, Ron and his wife Shirley moved to the small town of Bruce, Mississippi. However, during this time, Lundy did occasional interviews with Mark Simone on The Saturday Night Oldies Show for his former station, WABC.

Lundy was inducted the St. Louis Hall Radio Hall of Fame on January 1, 2006.

Lundy died of a heart attack at age 75 on March 15, 2010 in Oxford, Mississippi. He had been recovering from a previous heart attack after being dehydrated.



➦In 2009…After 72 years the soap opera "The Guiding Light" aired the last of its 18,262 episodes. The show aired on radio and TV.

Frankie Avalon is 81

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Robert Blake is 88. 
• Gospel singer Bobby Jones is 83. 
• Singer-actor Frankie Avalon is 81. 
• Actor Beth Grant (“The Mindy Project,” ″No Country for Old Men”) is 72. 
• Guitarist Kerry Livgren (Kansas) is 72. 
• Actor Anna Deavere Smith (“The West Wing”) is 71. 
• Director Mark Romanek is 62. 
• Guitarist Mark Olson (The Jayhawks) is 60. 

  

  Tae Dye is 26

• Singer Joanne Catherall of Human League is 59. 
• Actor Holly Robinson Peete (“Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”) is 57. 
• Singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is 54. 
• Actor and talk show host Aisha Tyler is 51. 
• Actor Jada Pinkett Smith is 50. 
• Actor James Marsden (“The Notebook,” ″Ally McBeal”) is 48. 
• Actor Emily Rutherfurd (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) is 47. 
• Actor Travis Schuldt (“Scrubs”) is 47. 
• Rapper Xzibit is 47. 
• Comedian Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”) is 46. 
• Actor Sophina Brown (“Numb3rs”) is 45. 
• Actor Barrett Foa (“NCIS: Los Angeles”) is 44. 
• TV personality Sara Haines (“GMA3: Strahan, Sara and Keke,” “The View”) is 44. 
• Actor-comedian Billy Eichner (“American Horror Story”) is 43. 
• Actors Taylor and Brandon Porter (“Party of Five”) are 28. 
• Actor Patrick Schwarzenegger (“Midnight Sun”) is 28. 
• Country singer Tae Dye of Maddie and Tae is 26.

Fox Looking To Clear-Up Weather Coverage

Fox Corporation is hoping to replicate its success in the fields of general entertainment, news and sports with the launch of a new, ad-supported streaming service dedicated to weather coverage, reports Fierce Video.

Next month, the company's Fox News Media division will formally debut Fox Weather, a free streaming weather network complemented by a robust website and mobile apps that the company says will offer its audience unparalleled coverage of weather-related events.

The service is the latest ambitious push into the direct-to-consumer streaming space for Fox since its $440 million acquisition of ad-supported streaming service Tubi in 2020. But unlike Tubi, which launched six years earlier, Fox is building Fox Weather from the ground up.

It is, apparently, sparing no expense: According to recent job listings and information provided by a company spokesperson, Fox Weather will utilize a slate of high-tech weather radars, including an immersive mobile 3D radar that will offer viewers a new way to visualize current and emerging weather patterns. The service will also tap into more than 100,000 high-definition cameras located across the United States, as well as cameras, meteorologists and reporters at Fox-owned local stations and affiliates.

The idea of offering a television network dedicated to weather is not new: In the early 1980s, a meteorologist founded what became the Weather Channel, a network whose biggest mark on the industry was the development of satellite-driven computer technology that allowed millions of cable and satellite subscribers to get real-time, hyperlocal weather information in the pre-internet era.

Eventually, smartphone apps that did the same thing rendered the Weather Channel's local forecasts obsolete. In recent years, the Weather Channel has shifted its focus away from rolling weather forecasts toward knowledge-based programming with shows like "Storm Stories" and "Highway to Hell."

The move toward entertainment left some long-time Weather Channel loyalists disgruntled. In 2011, Performance One Media sought to lure those fans with a new network called WeatherNation, which promised comprehensive weather forecasts without the entertainment fluff. Four years later, weather data provider AccuWeather launched a national cable network with the same idea in mind.

Fox Weather wants to exist somewhere in the middle by offering fact-based weather information delivered by meteorologists and other scientists with the polish and extravagance that has come to define the Fox brand in other areas.

Survey: We're Expanding Our Media Time

MediaPost graphic

The percentage of Americans who report they are spending more time with various media than they did pre-pandemic remains high, but for the most part has fallen from the peak stay-at-home period last year, according to MediaPost citing findings of Mindshare's ongoing COVID-19 tracking study.

The most recent wave - the 21st, and the first to begin going quarterly from monthly -- shows that half of Americans self-report using online media more than they did prior to the pandemic.

Other media options also perceived by a large percentage of American to be up including streaming TV, watching movies at home, using phone-based apps, watching online videos, using social media, binge watching series, watching live TV and playing video games.

While self-reported, the data indicates that Americans continue to perceive their overall media consumption to be expanding, especially for digital and on-demand media options.

Biden Doesn't Want You To See This...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instituted a two-week flight restriction over the city of Del Rio, Texas late Thursday — preventing Fox News from operating a drone that it had been using to capture images of thousands of migrants sheltering under a bridge as they wait to be picked up by Border Patrol.

The NY Post reports the FAA’s website said that the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over the Del Rio Port of Entry and the International Bridge was put in place for “Special Security Reasons,” but did not elaborate.

In a statement, the FAA said, “the Border Patrol requested the temporary flight restriction due to drones interfering with law enforcement flights on the border. As with any temporary flight restriction, media is able to call the FAA to make requests to operate in the area.”

Fox News national correspondent Bill Melguin told Tucker Carlson Thursday night that he found the timing and location of the TFR to be “a little bit curious.”

NEW: We’ve learned that the FAA just implemented a two week TFR (Temporary Flight Restrictions) over the international bridge in Del Rio, TX, meaning we can no longer fly our FOX drone over it to show images of the thousands of migrants. FAA says “special security reason”. pic.twitter.com/aJrjAPO2Pz

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 17, 2021

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) who was in Del Rio Thursday night, slammed the restriction as “ridiculous” and said he had “never seen anything like that.”

I am on the ground in Del Rio, Texas tonight. As of this moment, there are 10,503 illegal aliens under the Del Rio International Bridge.

This manmade disaster was caused by Joe Biden. #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/VpzkrH1zyb

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 17, 2021

“The drone footage started this morning, and people across the country were horrified, and I guess the political operatives at the Biden White House saw that and decided the last thing they want is Fox News actually reporting on what’s happening down here,” he said.

Cruz told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the scene under the bridge was “the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen. Right now, as we’re speaking, there are 10,503 people under that bridge. It is packed in as a mass of humanity. The scope of it, until you see it … it just goes on and on and on. Infants, little children, people struggling enormously.”

St. Louis Radio: Morning Host Greg Hewitt OUT At KEZK

Greg Hewitt

Longtime KEZK 102.5 FM show host Greg Hewitt has been taken off the roster at the adult-contemporary music station, reports stltoday.com.

Station manager Leo Baldwin confirmed the personnel decision after several listeners and radio-biz sources reported that Hewitt had been missing from his morning-drive shift.

Hewitt's departure leaves the station with two local jocks: Trish Gazall, who has been covering 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Jen Meyers, who works from 2-6 p.m.

Baldwin said the station has been using various radio services and some local news reports from KMOX to cover the 6-8 a.m. portion of Hewitt's old shift.

KEZK is part of the Audacy St. Louis chain of six stations, which includes KYKY (98.1 FM). The other four stations are talk-radio stations, KMOX and KFTK (97.1 FM); and two urban/hip-hop stations, WNOU (96.3 FM) and WHHL (104.1 FM).

Wake-Up Call: Health Care Rationed In Some States

Health care is being rationed in some Western states because of hospitals being overwhelmed with patients amid the ongoing Covid-19 surge driven by the delta variant. Idaho, which a week earlier had begun rationing health care in the northern part of the state, expanded it to entire state yesterday. A hospital in Helena, Montana, St. Peter's Health, also enacted "crisis standards of care" yesterday, as did Providence Alaska Medical Center, Alaska's largest hospital, earlier this week. Under crisis care standards, scarce resources like ICU beds are given to patients most likely to survive. Other patients get less effective treatment, or in the worst cases, just given pain relief and other palliative care. Idaho Department of Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said in statement, "The situation is dire -- we don’t have enough resources to adequately treat the patients in our hospitals, whether you are there for Covid-19 or a heart attack or because of a car accident."

➤FRANCE, E.U. UPSET ABOUT BIDEN'S INDO-PACIFIC ALLIANCE WITH U.K. AND AUSTRALIA: France and the European Union were angered by the new Indo-Pacific alliance announced Wednesday between the U.S., U.K. and Australia to counter China. The E.U. nations are feeling left out and some see it as a sign that President Biden is in some ways continuing former President Donald Trump's policies of the U.S. going on its own. France is particularly angered because the alliance means it will lose a nearly $100 billion deal to build diesel submarines for Australia, since under the new agreement, the U.S. and U.K. will help Australia build nuclear-powered subs. France's foreign minister called it a "stab in the back" Thursday. But the U.S. dismissed the complaints, with White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying, "There are a range of partnerships that include the French and some partnerships that don’t, and they have partnerships with other countries that don’t include us. That is part of how global diplomacy works."

➤CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES THREATENING WORLD'S LARGEST TREE, OTHER FAMOUS SEQUOIAS: Firefighters in California yesterday (September 16th) wrapped the base of the world's largest tree, the General Sherman Tree, in a fire-resistant blanket, as they tried to protect it and other famous sequoias in the Sierra Nevada from wildfires. In addition to the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest, some other sequoias, the Giant Forest Museum and other buildings were also wrapped in aluminum protection. The Colony Fire, one of two that's burning in Sequoia National Park, is expected to reach the Giant Forest grove of 2,000 sequoias within days. The General Sherman Tree is 275 feet high with a circumference of 103 feet at ground level.

California firefighters fought through flames as wildfires continue across the state. pic.twitter.com/e1bjQDKk92

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 16, 2021

 
➤DURHAM GRAND JURY INDICTS LAWYER, ALLEGING LIED TO FBI: Special counsel John Durham, who was directed by the Trump administration to investigate the FBI’s role in the 2016 presidential campaign, announced Thursday that a cybersecurity lawyer had been indicted on one charge of lying to the FBI in September 2016. Michael Sussman is accused of telling the FBI he wasn't representing a client when he was acting on behalf of Hillary Clinton's political campaign. This was when he talked to the FBI general counsel relaying concerns from cybersecurity researchers about potentially suspicious contacts between a Russian bank and a Trump Organization server. The FBI looked into it, but didn't find evidence there was a secret back channel. But Sussman denies doing so, and his attorneys blamed him being charged on, quote, "politics, not facts," stating, "The Special Counsel appears to be using this indictment to advance a conspiracy theory he has chosen not to actually charge." This is the only the second prosecution brought by Durham after two-and-a-half years of investigation, both involving false statements.

 

Migrant crowd waiting under Texas border bridge doubles to 8K overnight https://t.co/27PLatTnkI pic.twitter.com/psL92E14Xy

— New York Post (@nypost) September 16, 2021

➤THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS OVERWHELM DEL RIO TEXAS:  The U.S. is holding more than 9,000 people under a bridge near Texas, as a surge of migrants, mostly from Haiti, overwhelms the border patrol. The temporary camp near Del Rio, Texas, has grown with staggering speed in recent days, from just a few hundred people earlier in the week. The authorities and city officials said they expected thousands more to cross the ankle-deep river between Mexico and Del Rio in coming days.

➤SEARCH CONTINUES FOR MISSING WOMAN: Gabrielle Petito, the Blue Point, Long Island native reported missing while on a cross-country road trip with her fiance, tearfully admitted striking him in an interview with Utah authorities last month, according to police body camera footage released Thursday. The one hour, 17-minute video, obtained by Newsday through a public records request, showed Petito, 22, and her fiance Brian Laundrie, 23 — who lived together in North Port, Florida — telling Moab police officers on Aug. 12 that they had been arguing and got into a physical altercation.

➤MORE THAN HALF OF NATION'S SCHOOLS HAVE 'SEVERE' BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE: Children are returning to classrooms this fall, but there aren't enough bus drivers to get them there. More than half of the nation's school districts have a bus driver shortage that they describe as "severe" or "desperate," according to a nationwide survey. CBS News explains that many drivers retired during the pandemic, and others are scared of driving buses full of children potentially infected with the coronavirus. Massachusetts came up with a solution of having National Guard personnel drive school buses and Pennsylvania is considering following their example. The crisis doesn't look to be ready to let up soon, since a commercial driver's license is required to be a bus driver, which requires months of training.

➤NEARLY HALF OF FIRST-TIME GUN BUYERS SINCE 2019 HAVE BEEN WOMEN: Men traditionally buy more guns than women, but since 2019, nearly half of first-time gun buyers have been women, according to the Wall Street Journal. The pandemic and social unrest have been driving sales, with a record high of 21 million background checks for gun purchases carried out in 2020. According to the 2021 National Firearms Survey, an estimated 3.5 million women and four million men became new gun owners between January 2019 and April of this year. The survey also found that new gun owners have become more racially diverse in recent years.

➤HOUSE REPUBLICAN WHO VOTED TO IMPEACH TRUMP WON'T RUN AGAIN, CALLS TRUMP 'A CANCER': Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, said yesterday that he won't run for reelection next year. Gonzales, a former NFL player who's in his second term, cited his two young children, saying he wanted to build what he called "a fuller family life," but also named, quote, "the current state of our politics, especially many of the toxic dynamics inside our own party." The 36-year-old, who was censured by the Ohio Republican Party for voting for impeachment, also called Trump a "cancer for the country," in a New York Times interview announcing his decision. He would have faced a Trump-endorsed primary opponent, Max Mller, if he ran.

➤MAYIM BIALIK AND KEN JENNINGS TO HOST JEOPARDY! FOR THE REST OF 2021: Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings will host Jeopardy! for the remainder of 2021 as the search permanent talent continues. According to Sony Pictures Television, Bialik was already set to be behind the podium for three weeks, starting Monday but will now continue through Nov. 5th. At that point, she and Jennings will trade off hosting duties as their schedule allow through the end of the calendar year.

➤'LATE NIGHT' TO BRING THEIR AUDIENCE BACK: Late Night with Seth Myers will be shot in front of a studio audience for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, starting on October 11th. Late Night executive producer Mike Shoemaker told Deadline, “Seth really found a good voice to speak to the home audience, he found a specific way to do it, he was able to speak through the lens. But he also did seven years the other way. It will be fun and we’re definitely looking forward to it.”

➤STUDY..COTTON TOWEL BEST OPTION FOR HOMEMADE FACE MASKS:  If you’re making your own face mask to protect you from COVID-19 you should use three layers of cotton towel fabric. Researchers in India found that a mask made from three or more layers of cotton towel fabric stitched together can “suppress aerosolization significantly.” They also found these types of masks remained effective even after 70 washings. The scientists also confirmed that N95 and surgical masks are most effective, but that when those aren’t available, the layered cotton towel fabric can be made into an effective makeshift face mask.

➤STUDY..ADULTS AGES 50 TO 69 MOST LIKELY TO REPORT ‘LONG COVID’:  Long COVID-19 is no joke. An observational study done in the U.K. finds that adults ages 50 to 69 reported “long COVID”, or symptoms months after initial COVID-19 infection, at the highest rates compared to all other age groups. In that age group specifically, 12.5 percent reported symptoms 4-8 weeks post-infection, and 5.8 percent reported symptoms 12-16 weeks post-infection. At the same time, participants ages two to 16 saw the lowest reporting rates of symptoms at 12-16 weeks. Other findings: there was a slightly higher prevalence of long COVID reported among females compared to males, as well as among people with underlying medical conditions versus those without health conditions. Researchers acknowledge that since this study was observational, it “is not possible to say with certainty whether symptoms reported after a positive test for coronavirus were caused by COVID-19 or something else.”

➤PET STORE PUPPIES MAY BE PASSING DRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIA TO PEOPLE:  Pet store puppies might be making humans very sick. Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say they investigated 168 cases of C jejuni infection linked to pet store puppies. This infection cannot be treated with any common antibiotics and is considered an increasing public health threat. Researcher Dr. Mark Laughlin says, “Data indicate these extensively drug-resistant C jejuni strains have been circulating for at least 10 years, and no sources other than dogs have been identified.” Researchers note the infections were not from any particular breed, transporter, distributor, store or chain, and that both cats and dogs can carry C jejuni and other germs that can make humans sick. Laughlin adds, “When choosing a puppy or dog, pick one that is bright, alert and playful.” 

🏈TOM BRADY THINKS HE CAN PLAY UNTIL HE'S 50:    Tom Brady gets a lot of respect and some amazement that he's still playing as well as he does at his age, currently 44, most recently winning the Super Bowl for the seventh time in Feburary at age 43. But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback apparently doesn't think he's close to being done yet. With the new season having just begun and Tampa Bay winning the game that kicked off the season, Brady is saying he thinks he can play until he's 50. Appearing on a YouTube show produced by the Buccaneers with teammate Rob Gronkowski yesterday (September 16th), called, Tommy and Gronky, Brady said of the question, "I think I can, I think it is a yes. . . . Fifty. I don't find it so difficult. Plus, in Florida, it's kind of a retiree state." The oldest-ever player in the NFL was also a quarterback, George Blanda, who was 48 in his final game in January 1976.

Dustin Hopkins wins it for @WashingtonNFL! #WashingtonFootball pic.twitter.com/84Pzzdps2s

— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2021

🏈WASHINGTON TOPS GIANTS 30-29 AFTER GETTING SECOND SHOT AT FIELD GOAL: The Washington Football Team defeated the New York Giants 30-29 last night at home, getting the win when kicker Dustin Hopkins got a second chance and kicked the game-winning, 43-yard field goal. He got another attempt at the kick after an offsides penalty was called on the Giants' Dexter Lawrence during Hopkins' first attempt, which wasn't good. The penalty not only gave him a second shot, it moved him five yards closer. Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke made just his second regular-season start and his first since 2018, filling in for an injured Ryan Fitzpatrick. The 28-year-old threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns, however a costly interception set up a Giants field goal that put them ahead 29-27 with two minutes left. But then Heinicke got them close enough for Hopkins to get it in with his second kick.

⚾OHTANI HAS SORE ARM, MAY NOT PITCH AGAIN THIS SEASON: The Los Angeles Angels' two-way star, Shohei Ohtani, has a sore right arm, and may not pitch for the rest of the season, manager Joe Maddon said before last night's game against the Chicago White Sox. Ohtani, who has a 9-2 record, felt soreness while playing catch Wednesday. However, the arm soreness won't stop him from continuing to play as a designed hitter. He is third in the major leagues with 44 home runs.

⚾ROYALS' PEREZ TIES BENCH'S CATCHERS' SEASON HOME RUN RECORD: The Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez broke Johnny Bench's season home run record for catchers with his 45th in a 7-2 loss to the Oakland A's yesterday (September 16th). Bench set the 45 homers record in 1970. Perez is now tied with the Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the major league lead in homers. He's also leading the majors with 112 RBIs.

⚽LLOYD TIES U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM RECORD WITH FIVE GOALS IN ONE GAME: Carli Lloyd tied the U.S. women's national soccer team record for most goals in a game with five in a 9-0 win over Paraguay yesterday (September 16th). Lloyd scored the fifth goal in the 61st minute of the match, and had a hat trick in the first half and got the fourth goal in 38 minutes. The hat trick was the ninth in her career, breaking a tie with U.S. soccer legend Mia Hamm for the most in U.S. women's national team history. The 39-year-old Lloyd will retire after two more matches in October.