July 17 Radio History

➦In 1912...Art Linkletter born Arthur Gordon Kelly (Died at age 97 – May 26, 2010). He was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada and was an American radio and television personality, best known as host of  House Party which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny on NBC radio and television for 19 years. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1942.

Art Linkletter

One popular feature of his House Party program was the Kids Say the Darndest Things segments. A series of books followed which contained the humorous comments made on-air bychildren.

When he was five, his family moved to San Diego, California, where he graduated from San Diego High School at age 16. During the early years of the Great Depression, he rode trains around the country doing odd jobs and meeting a wide variety of people.

In 1935 he met Lois Foerster. They were married at Grace Lutheran Church in San Diego, November 28, 1935. Their marriage lasted until Linkletter's death, ​74 1⁄2 years later.

After receiving his teaching degree, Linkletter decided to go to work as a radio announcer at KGB in San Diego, because radio paid better than teaching. He directed radio programs for fairs and expositions in the mid-1930s. Afterwards, he moved to San Francisco and continued his radio career.

In the 1940s, Linkletter worked in Hollywood with John Guedel on their pioneering radio show, People Are Funny, which employed audience participation, contests and gags. The series served as a prototype for future radio and television game shows. People Are Funny became a television show in 1954 and ran until 1961.

➦In 1934…FCC adopts Order No. 1

➦In 1981…Bruce Bradley did his final show on WBZ 1030 AM, Boston.

Bradley joined WBZ in 1960, when the station is still playing middle of the road pop music. Gradually, as the music becomes more top-40, “Juicie Brucie” Bradley’s night-time show became extremely popular.

The station moved from Top40 to Full-Service AC in 1974.

Bradley passed away in June 2013. Click Here for more.

➦In 2009…Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. died at age 92 (Born - November 4, 1916). He was a broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years (1962–1981). During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll.

He reported many events from 1937 to 1981, including bombings in World War II; the Nuremberg trials; combat in the Vietnam War; the Dawson's Field hijackings; Watergate; the Iran Hostage Crisis; and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr., and Beatles musician John Lennon.

He was also known for his extensive coverage of the U.S. space program, from Project Mercury to the Moon landings to the Space Shuttle. He was the only non-NASA recipient of an Ambassador of Exploration award.

Cronkite is well known for his departing catchphrase, "And that's the way it is," followed by the date of the broadcast.

Walter Cronkite-1985

He entered broadcasting as a radio announcer for WKY in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1936, he met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth "Betsy" Maxwell, while working as the sports announcer for KCMO-AM in Kansas City, Missouri.  His broadcast name was "Walter Wilcox". He would explain later that radio stations at the time did not want people to use their real names for fear of taking their listeners with them if they left. In Kansas City, he joined the United Press in 1937. He became one of the top American reporters in World War II, covering battles in North Africa and Europe.

In 1950, Cronkite joined CBS News in its young and growing television division, again recruited by Murrow. Cronkite began working at WTOP-TV (now WUSA), the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C..

On April 16, 1962, Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of the CBS's nightly feature newscast, tentatively renamed Walter Cronkite with the News, but later the CBS Evening News on September 2, 1963, when the show was expanded from 15 to 30 minutes, making Cronkite the anchor of American network television's first nightly half-hour news program. Cronkite's tenure as anchor of the CBS Evening News made him an icon in television news.

During the early part of his tenure anchoring the CBS Evening News, Cronkite competed against NBC's anchor team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, who anchored the Huntley-Brinkley Report. For much of the 1960s, the Huntley-Brinkley Report had more viewers than Cronkite's broadcast. A key moment for Cronkite came during his coverage of John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963.  Another factor in Cronkite and CBS' ascendancy to the top of the ratings was that, as the decade progressed, RCA made a corporate decision not to fund NBC News at the levels that CBS provided for its news broadcasts. Consequently, CBS News acquired a reputation for greater accuracy and depth in coverage. This reputation meshed well with Cronkite's wire service experience, and in 1967 the CBS Evening News began to surpass The Huntley-Brinkley Report in viewership during the summer months.

In 1969, during the Apollo 11 (with co-host and former astronaut Wally Schirra) and Apollo 13 moon missions, Cronkite received the best ratings and made CBS the most-watched television network for the missions. In 1970, when Huntley retired, the CBS Evening News finally dominated the American TV news viewing audience. Although NBC finally settled on the skilled and well-respected broadcast journalist John Chancellor, Cronkite proved to be more popular and continued to be top-rated until his retirement in 1981.

➦In 2011…WRXP NYC drops Triple A format.

On June 21, 2011, it was announced that majority ownership of WRXP was acquired by Merlin Media LLC, a new entity headed by veteran radio executive Randy Michaels.   The sale, which the FCC approved in September 2011, included two other Emmis-owned stations in Chicago, WLUP-FM and WKQX. They then registered several domains for what the new format of the station would be, including a return of WYNY's country format, but many promoted an FM news format. WRXP's rock format ended with the song "Long Live Rock" by The Who.

After a brief period of dead air, WRXP (whose call sign was changed to WEMP on July 21) switched to a stunt of Adult Contemporary music branded as "101.9 FM New," a stunt that served as a transition to the station's new format.  "FM New" featured a live morning show that began at 6AM on July 18, hosted by veteran New York City radio personality Paul Cavalconte (who has been with 101.9 since 1998), with Jeff McKay (formerly of Shadow Traffic and WINS) providing traffic and weather updates(until the next day when Meteorologist Scott Derek began).   News reports and news blocks were gradually introduced beginning with a 3PM newscast on July 25, 2011, anchored by Dave Packer and Mike Barker.

Walt Sabo

On August 12, 2011, the station ended its Adult Contemporary stunt and went full-time all-news as "FM News 101.9," following in the footsteps of its Chicago sister station WWWN (the former and current WKQX), which flipped to all-news on July 29.  As conceived by Merlin's then-COO, Walter Sabo, "FM News" was what Sabo considered a "redefining" of the all-news format;  the on-air presentation was generally looser and conversational in tone, while an emphasis was placed on lifestyle, health, and entertainment features.  The initial news staff at WEMP included those with experience in New York radio, including WINS alums Catherine Smith, Alice Stockton-Rossini, and Brett Larson, as well as former WCBS anchor Therese Crowley and WRXP holdover Paul Cavalconte.

Over time, the "FM News" approach on WEMP would be adjusted: The reliance on lifestyle and entertainment features was decreased; the station turned towards a tighter, polished on-air presentation; and several new features were added, including "ten minutes of non-stop news," the "top 5 trending stories" leading off every hour, and hourly sports and business updates.  Coinciding with the on-air changes was a major promotional push, including television ads and promotions that tweaked WINS' longtime "22 minutes" slogan, with WEMP proclaiming "Give us 10 minutes, we'll give you the world."   (After WINS owner CBS Radio sent a cease-and-desist letter to Merlin Media, WEMP dropped its "world" slogan.) 

Merlin’s WEMP-FM  NYC dropped news in 2012 in favor of new rock format. Today, 101.9 FM is Home To Audacy's Sports WFAN-FM.

Donald Sutherland is 87

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Donald Sutherland is 87. 
• Bassist Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath is 73. 
• Actor Lucie Arnaz is 71. 
• Actor David Hasselhoff is 70. 
• Bassist Fran Smith Jr. of The Hooters is 70. 
• TV producer Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice”) is 62. 
• Actor Nancy Giles (“China Beach”) is 62. 
• Singer Regina Belle is 59. 
• Country singer Craig Morgan is 58. 
• Bassist Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) is 56. 

• 

  Susan Ashton is 55

  Contemporary Christian singer Susan Ashton is 55. 
• Actor Andre Royo (“The Wire”) is 54. 
• Actor Bitty Schram (“Monk”) is 54. 
• Actor Jason Clarke (“Zero Dark Thirty,” ″Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”) is 53. 
• Director F. Gary Gray (“Straight Outta Compton,” “Furious 8″) is 53. 
• Singer JC of PM Dawn is 51. 
• Rapper Sole’ is 49. 
• Country singer Luke Bryan is 46. 
• Actor Eric Winter (“Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay”) is 46. 
• Actor Mike Vogel (“Under the Dome,” ″The Help”) is 43. 
• Actor Tom Cullen (“Downton Abbey”) is 37. 
• Actor Brando Eaton (“Dexter”) is 36. 
• Singer Jeremih is 35. 
• Actor Billie Lourd (“Scream Queens”) is 30.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

• Hall of Fame baseball player Ty Cobb died on this day in 1961. He was 74.
• Legendary CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite died on this day in 2009. He was 92.
• Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday died on this day in 1959. She was 44.
• Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis died on this day in 2020. He was 80.