February 20 Radio History

➦In 1906..character actor Gale Gordon was born Charles T. Aldrich Jr. in New York City.

He is perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball‘s longtime television foil, and for his role as school principal Osgood Conklin in the early ’50s  radio & TV hit Our Miss Brooks starring Eve Arden. Gordon was also a respected and beloved radio actor all over the dial, making regular weekly appearances on Fibber McGee & Molly, plus assignments on Burns & Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, The Cinnamon Bear, Mr. & Mrs. Blandings, The Joe E. Brown Show, etc., and starring in title roles on Flash Gordon, Granby’s Green Acres and The Casebook of Gregory Hood.

He died of lung cancer June 30, 1995 at age 89.

➦In 1914...broadcast journalist/TV host John Daly was born in Johannesburg South Africa.

Although best remembered as host of the CBS TV game show What’s My Line, he had a distinguished newscasting career on CBS radio, bringing first word of both the Pearl Harbour attack & the death of President Roosevelt.

He died Feb 24, 1991 at age 77.

➦In 1922...WGY-AM, Schenectady, NY went on the air. As early as 1912, General Electric company in Schenectady began experimenting with radio transmissions, being granted a class 2-Experimental license for 2XI on August 13, 1912 by the Commerce Department.

WGY signed on on February 20, 1922 at 7:47pm at 360 meters wavelength (about 833 kHz), with Kolin Hager at the mike, or as he was known on the air, as KH. Hager signed on with the stations call letters, explaining the W is for wireless, G for General Electric, and Y, the last letter in Schenectady.

The first broadcast lasted for about one hour and consisted of live music and announcements of song titles and other information. The early broadcasts originated from building 36 at the General Electric Plant in Schenectady. The original transmitter produced an antenna power of 1,500 watts into a T top wire antenna, located about 1/2 mile away, also at the GE plant.

WGY led the way in radio drama. In 1922 Edward H. Smith, director of a community-theater group called the Masque in nearby Troy, suggested weekly forty-minute adaptations of plays to WGY station manager Kolin Hager. Hager took him up on it and the troupe performed on the weekly WGY Players, radio’s first dramatic series.

Kolin Hagar

During their initial broadcast—of Eugene Walter’s The Wolf on August 3, 1922—Smith became the electronic media’s first Foley artist when he slapped a couple of two-by-fours together to simulate the slamming of a door, and radio sound effects were born. While the invisible audience could not see that the actors wore costumes and makeup—which were expected to enhance performance but didn’t and were soon discarded—they could hear the WGY Orchestra providing music between acts.

By May 15, 1923 the station was operating on 790 kHz with a frequency/time share agreement with RPI's WHAZ. Later, WHAZ moved to 1300 kHz allowing WGY to operate full-time on 790 kHz.

In 1924, the transmitter site was moved to its current location in the Town of Rotterdam known as South Schenectady. From this site, the station's power levels were increased first to 5,000 watts, then 10,000 watts and finally to 50,000 watts on July 18, 1925. Temporary broadcasts were carried out at the 100 KW (August 4, 1926) and 200 KW (March 9, 1930) power levels. From those broadcasts, the station received reception letters and telegrams from as far away as New Zealand. Plans were to make those power increases permanent, but were never carried out.

WGY also used the first Condenser microphone, developed by General Electric for radio studio applications, on February 7, 1923.

Amelia Earhart

In 1923, WGY formed the first radio network with WJZ and WRC, however the station also broadcast programs from rival station WEAF. Later in 1925, the New York State radio network was formed with WMAK, WHAM, WFBL, and WGY. In 1926, WGY affiliated with the WEAF-based NBC Red Network, and after the split of the sister NBC Blue network into today's ABC Radio, WGY remained with NBC Radio until it folded in 1989.

To add to their laurels, six years later the Players performed an old spy melodrama titled The Queen’s Messenger in the world’s first dramatic program to be broadcast simultaneously over both radio and the new medium called television.

“Radio station WGY had cornered the market on talk and music by 1928,” the Daily Gazette recalled. “Scientists from the General Electric Co. could have winked to their audience and said, ‘You ain't seen nothing yet.’ The smart guys who developed amplifiers, transmitters and bright lights were working on that next step—sound and pictures. On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 1928, they succeeded. WGY became the first radio station in the world to televise a drama on separate radio channels.”

In 1941, WGY changed frequency from 790 kHz to 810 kHz to comply with the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement also known as NARBA. In 1942, during World War II, a concrete wall was built around the base of the tower to prevent saboteurs from shooting out the base insulator on the tower and taking the station off the air.

WGY was the flagship station of General Electric's broadcasting group until 1983 when it was sold to Empire Radio Partners, Inc. General Electric also owned pioneering sister stations in television (WRGB-TV, signed on as WGY-TV in 1928) and FM radio (W2XOY, later WGFM, then WGY-FM, and today WRVE, signed on 1940).

As the golden age of radio ended, WGY evolved into a full service middle of the road format, slowly evolving as programming tastes changed. The station changed from full service to news/talk on Memorial Day Weekend, 1994.

Dame Media, Inc acquired WGY and WGY-FM the during proceedings in the Philadelphia bankruptcy court, late 1993. Dame moved the studios to One Washington Square at the end of Washington Avenue Extension, in the west end of Albany, New York late 1994, where they remained until 2005.

In 1999, Dame Media sold its entire radio group to Clear Channel, whose ownership remains to this day. Clear Channel combined all of its radio station studio operations into the former CHP (Community Health Plan) building on Route 7 (Troy-Schenectady Road) in Latham August, 2005.

On September 20, 2010, WGY began simulcasting its programming on 103.1 FM (the former WHRL, which took the calls WGY-FM, previously on 99.5 FM). WGY 103.1 FM broadcasts at 5,600 watts power.

➦In 1949...future teen singing idol, Ricky Nelson, began performing on his parents' Radio show. (Ozzie and Harriet Nelson).

➦In 1950...WOL-AM in Washington DC swaps calls with WWDC




➦In 1971...Natl Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio & TV stations to go off the air. Mistake wasn't resolved for 30 minutes.

NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado was ready to broadcast a normal required weekly test of the Emergency Broadcast System. However, AT&T reported that the United States Air Force used the wrong tape for the test by accident, and initiated an Emergency Action Notification, normally issued by the Office of Civil Defense or the President. This prompted all stations in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, area by order of the FCC to operate under emergency procedures and feed the broadcast from WOWO through their radios. Bob Sievers was at the microphone at WOWO at the time, and he, along with everyone at the studio, had no idea what was going on.

Walter Winchell

➦In 1972..gossip columnist & iconic radio star Walter Winchell died of prostate cancer at age 74.  His weekly broadcasts in the 30’s, 40’s & 50’s began: “Hello Mr. & Mrs. North America & all the ships at sea, let’s go to press.”  A later generation would only know him as narrator on the TV series The Untouchables.

Rosemary DeCamp

➦In 2001...actress Rosemary De Camp succumbed to pneumonia at age 90. She shine in many roles on bigtime radio, including the longrunning part of nurse Judy Price on CBS’ Dr. Christian. On TV she was Peg Riley on Life of Riley, and also had feature roles on The Bob Cummings Show & That Girl.




➦In 2006...Sportscaster Curt Gowdy, who spent 15 years with the Boston Red Sox, 13 years at NBC, had brief stays at CBS and ABC, and is enshrined in 22 sports Halls of Fame, died of leukemia at age 86.

In November 1942, Gowdy made his broadcasting debut in Cheyenne calling a 'six-man' high school football game from atop a wooden grocery crate in subzero weather, with about 15 people in attendance. He found he had a knack for broadcasting, and worked at the small KFBC radio station and at the Wyoming Eagle newspaper as a sportswriter (and later sports editor). After several years in Cheyenne, he accepted an offer from CBS's KOMA radio in Oklahoma City in 1946. He was hired primarily to broadcast Oklahoma college football (then coached by new-hire Bud Wilkinson) and Oklahoma State college basketball games (then coached by Hank Iba).

Curt Gowdy

Gowdy's distinctive play-by-play style during his subsequent broadcasts of minor league baseball, college football, and college basketball in Oklahoma City earned him a national audition. Gowdy began his Major League Baseball broadcasting career working as the No. 2 announcer to Mel Allen for New York Yankees games on radio and television in 1949–50. There, he succeeded Russ Hodges, who departed to become the New York Giants.

In April 1951 at the age of 31, Gowdy began his tenure as the lead announcer for the Red Sox. For the next 15 years, he called the exploits of generally mediocre Red Sox teams on WHDH radio and on three Boston TV stations: WBZ-TV, WHDH-TV, and WNAC-TV (WBZ and WNAC split the Red Sox TV schedule from 1948 through 1955; WBZ alone carried the Red Sox from 1955 through 1957; and WHDH took over in 1958). During that time, Gowdy partnered with two future baseball broadcasting legends: Bob Murphy and Ned Martin. Chronic back pain caused Gowdy to miss the entire 1957 season. He also did nightly sports reports on WHDH radio when his schedule permitted.

He left WHDH after the 1965 season for NBC Sports, where for the next ten years he called the national baseball telecasts of the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week and Monday Night Baseball during the regular season (and the All-Star Game in July), and the postseason playoffs and World Series in October.

➦In 2012...Longtime Seattle radio personality (KOL, KBSG) Danny Holiday died at the age of 68. Always filled with tenacity, vim and vigor, Dan began his career sweeping floors at KRKO at 8 and the rest is history. Dan's career was marked with lasting friendships and encounters with the greats of R&R. He knew the history first hand. Dan was an inductee into the NW Music Hall of Fame in 1990, creator of the Danny Holiday Rock and Roll Time Machine

➦In 2014…Professor of broadcasting and journalism at the State University of New York at Oswego/former television network newsman (NBC, ABC, CNN)/moderator (Meet the Press)/PBS opera program host (Live from the Met) Garrick Utley died of prostate cancer at age 74. 

Philly Radio: Beasley, iHM Defendants In DeBella Harassment Lawsuit

More details have emerged about sexual harassment allegations made against longtime Philly radio host John DeBella.

A lawsuit filed by a former WMGK 102.9 FM co-worker has been filed acussing DeBella of repeated sexually harassment and groping.

Jennifer Neill, who worked as a "sidekick" on "The John DeBella Show," filed a federal lawsuit Friday against DeBella, the Beasley Broadcast Group and others.

Known as “Jen Posner” on the show, Neill alleges that DeBella repeatedly subjected her to unwanted touching and vulgar sexual remarks, including multiple requests for oral sex.

She contends the harassment extended throughout her time on "The John DeBella Show," which she first joined as a traffic reporter in 2002. Known as Jen Posner on the show, she later worked as his sidekick from 2010 to 2016.

John DeBella

The lawsuit includes about 30 alleged incidents of unwanted sexual advancements.

DeBella allegedly grabbed Neill's breasts on multiple occasions.  He  also allegedly rubbed his genital area against her multiple times and once placed her hand on his genital area, according to the lawsuit.

On one occasion, Neill claims DeBella once told her that he'd "been waiting 14 years for a blow job." He also allegedly concluded a Christmas card by writing "Now dry your eye and blow me!"

According to phillyvoice.com, the 66-year-old DeBella could not immediately be reached for comment.   He celebrated his 35th anniversary as a Philadelphia radio personality in November. WMGK was the third-most popular radio station in Philadelphia in December, according to Nielsen ratings.

The Beasley Broadcast Group, which owns WMGK, did not return a message seeking comment.

Lawsuit: Jennifer Neill v. Beasley Broadcast Group and John DeBella on Scribd

Neill claims that station management was aware that DeBella sexually harassed her, but did nothing to stop it.

Neill filed complaints with both the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Sept. 19, 2016.

Management launched a six-week-long investigation into the situation, according to the lawsuit. As part of that investigation, DeBella allegedly dismissed his conduct as "jokes" and "mutual."

Neill was never informed of any discipline taken against DeBella, according to the lawsuit. She allegedly was ordered to return to work with DeBella or resign. Neill gave notice that she was leaving WMGK on Jan. 6, 2017.

Neill eventually was reassigned as a traffic reporter, which she described as a "substantial demotion," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also lists iHeartMedia Inc. and TTWN Media Networks as defendants.  Neill seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as legal costs.

Limbaugh: Conceal Carry Needed In American Schools

Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Sunday called for concealed carry in American schools to prevent mass shootings.

“The solution is we need concealed carry in these schools. If we are really serious about protecting the kids, we need a mechanism to be defensive when this kind of thing — if we’re not going to take action, we better have mechanisms in these schools to stop it when it breaks out,” Limbaugh told “Fox News Sunday.”

Rush Limbaugh

Limbaugh’s remarks come after 17 people were killed last week when a gunman opened fire at a high school in South Florida.

Some conservatives have suggested teachers should be armed as one solution to violence in schools.

“If we don’t do that, then all the rest of this is nothing more than political posturing for the 2018 midterms and the 2020 election,” Limbaugh said of concealed carry.

During the interview, the talk radio show argued the media only “carries one side” of the gun debate.

“The anti-gun, anti-[National Rifle Association (NRA]. And they promote anything and anybody that is promoting that and advocating that,” Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh's comments start at the 6:54 time mark...




Democrats have called for action on gun control in response to the shooting. Many Florida students who survived the shooting are also pushing for lawmakers to take action, and condemning those who take money from the NRA.

 Limbaugh also cautioned President Trump against claiming vindication in the Russia investigation, arguing that could get him into trouble down the road.

“I would be very careful if I were President Trump, here” Limbaugh told “Fox News Sunday.”

“The danger for the president is — it would be very, I think, seductive for him to embrace this totally embrace this — ‘see see I’ve been vindicated,’ ” he added.

The remarks from Limbaugh come after the Justice Department last week announced indictments against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian groups as part of the special counsel’s probe into Russia's election interference and any potential ties between Trump campaign staff members and the Kremlin.

Trump previously claimed that the release of a controversial Republican memo alleging surveillance abuses by the Justice Department “totally vindicates” him in the Russia probe.

According to The Hill, Limbaugh on Sunday argued this kind of claim is “the worst thing” Trump could do because it may get him into trouble should the special counsel issue additional indictments.

CNN Invites President Trump To Televised Town Hall

CNN is slated to hold a live town hall event this week featuring a discussion with parents and students from the Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 students and staff members.

The Hill reports the cable channel announced Saturday it will air "Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action" on Wednesday, Feb. 21, following calls from students demanding that lawmakers take legislative action to prevent future mass shootings.

Students from the Parkland, Fla., high school expressed outrage toward GOP lawmakers for expressing condolences to those affected by the shooting, and heaped on criticism for Rubio and others who have cautioned against calls for increased gun control following the shooting.

The event will be moderated by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and will air at 9 p.m. E.T.

Report: NBC News Struggled To Cover School Shooting

NBC’s much vaunted news division struggled to cover the tragic Florida school shooting on Thursday and Friday, because its entire team of news stars was halfway around the world promoting NBC’s Olympics coverage.

The result -- star anchors talking about the shooting from South Korea -- was an embarrassing contrast to rival networks ABC and CBS, who both had their premier anchors on the ground in Parkland, Fla., by Thursday morning.

“Today” co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb opened Thursday's show from Pyonchang by noting that their “hearts are definitely back home” before tossing it to an obscure reporter, Gabe Gutierrez, who was in Parkland.

Meanwhile, ABC chief anchor George Stephanopoulos hosted “Good Morning America” from Parkland.

Thursday evening, ABC “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir hosted his broadcast from Parkland, as did “CBS Evening News” anchor Jeff Glor.

“NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt anchored from South Korea, where he had been sent to promote the Olympics. Relatively unknown reporter Catie Beck joined Gutierrez in South Florida in time to lead coverage for “Nightly News” on Thursday.

NBC insiders are now criticizing powerful news chairman Andy Lack for sending his top talent and producers overseas on a promotional jaunt, leaving NBC News dangerously ill-equipped in the event of breaking news.

“This is very embarrassing,” an NBC staffer told Fox News.

Fake Black Panther Tweets Being Reported

Various Twitter users have posted fake assault claims linked to screenings of the "Black Panther" movie in an apparent effort to fuel racial violence, according to The LA Times.

Over the last few days, users have posted false claims that they were attacked by blacks while going to see "Black Panther," the first movie from Marvel Studios led by a predominantly black cast.

"It's very unfortunate that a film that is poised to become a cultural icon is being marred by this fake news," said Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences at UCLA. "In the long run, it will not detract from the cultural significance of 'Black Panther,' but it does blunt some of the positive force it has as it opens. It is both surprising and not surprising."

"Black Panther" is the story of T'Challa, played by actor Chadwick Boseman, who returns home to Wakanda, an isolated, technologically advanced African nation, after his father, the king of Wakanda, dies and T'Challa must take his place as ruler.

The movie, which has being doing extremely well at the box office, has been especially embraced by African Americans and blacks around the world. Many have been turning up at moviehouses in African garb or wearing all black in homage to the film. But the movie has given birth to an unusual movement — whites claiming they have been attacked by blacks while attempting to see the film.

Public information officers for police departments in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston contacted by The Times said they had received no reports that would match the assault claims appearing online.

'Black Panther' Debuts At No. 1 On Billboard

Black Panther: The Album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, launching with 154,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Feb. 15, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 52,000 are in traditional album sales.

The set, which features music from and inspired by the blockbuster Marvel Studios film Black Panther, garners the biggest week for a soundtrack — in terms of total units earned — in a year-and-a-half.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Feb. 24-dated chart (where Black Panther: The Album starts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard's websites on Wednesday (Feb. 21) — one day later than usual, due to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S. on Feb. 19.

The Black Panther album includes a number of songs by Kendrick Lamar, who curated and produced the hip-hop-heavy album with Top Dawg Entertainment’s founder/CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. The set’s tunes also boast contributions from The Weeknd, SZA, Khalid and James Blake, among others.

Black Panther is the second soundtrack to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2018, following The Greatest Showman, which spent two weeks atop the list (dated Jan. 13 and 20).

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods falls a spot in its second week on the list, with 74,000 units (down 75 percent). The Greatest Showman soundtrack holds steady at No. 3 with 72,000 units (down 10 percent), while Migos’ Culture II slips from No. 2 to No. 4 with 68,000 units (down 23 percent).

The soundtrack to Fifty Shades Freed bows at No. 5 with 58,000 units (of which 36,000 are in traditional album sales).

Vince Gill Defends Grammys On Female Representation

Vince Gill

Vince Gill has defended the Recording Academy over the criticism that female artists were underrepresented at this year’s Grammy Awards.Gill said it is “impossible” to not leave someone off the list in a given year.

“I look at it kind of trying to see the whole field, you know. And I think the Grammys will go on and the country artists will feel slighted. Or maybe the classical people will feel slighted,” Gill said. “It’s impossible to pull something off like that and not leave a few people by the wayside.”

The country star spoke before a benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame on Tuesday in New York where he shared the stage with Emmylou Harris, Maren Morris, and Kesha.

Sitting with Harris and Morris before the concert, the 21-time Grammy winner said all that matters is that musical people are “conscious of what’s great at the end of the day.”

“You’re looking at three really open-minded musical people. We don’t care about genres, of color of skin, or gender, or anything. We just love playing music with great people and that’s all,” he said.

The Recording Academy drew criticism for a variety of issues, including not having album of the year nominee Lorde perform on the live telecast last month. Also, of the awards shown on the broadcast, only two winners were women — Cara and Rihanna (for a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar).

Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow intensified the situation, saying that women need to “step up” when asked about the lack of female winners backstage. He later said he misspoke.

Report: Donald Trump Had Affair With Playboy Model

Donald Trump engaged in elaborate efforts to cover his tracks while having multiple extramarital affairs, according to Ronan Farrow’s latest blockbuster report in the New Yorker.

According to Variety, the story relies heavily on the firsthand account of Karen McDougal, a former Playmate of the Year, who recounts her consensual affair with the current president before he was elected. The White House called the report “fake news,” its default response to unflattering stories.

The media industry has been abuzz with speculation about the target of Farrow’s latest investigation ever since word broke on the Drudge Report this month that he was readying another deep dive into sexual misconduct among the powerful. Farrow, along with New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, helped uncover Harvey Weinstein’s alleged decades of harassment and sexual abuse.

The story may attract attention not for the revelation that President Trump was involved in an affair before he was elected to the office, but for its presentation of details of how he kept such relationships quiet and how he attempted to buy the silence of the women with whom he interacted.

Central to these efforts were the close relationship that Trump maintained with American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer. The gossip publication paid McDougal $150,000 for the exclusive rights to the story of her affair with Trump, but killed the piece. It also contracted her to write a fitness column. And the piece claims the company has approached McDougal about extending her agreement after news broke that Stormy Daniels had been paid not to discuss her own alleged affair with the president.

During the affair, Trump also took pains to avoid leaving a paper trail. When he would travel with McDougal, he would have her book and pay for her own flights before reimbursing her.

The nine-month affair with McDougal ended in April 2007. Trump was married to his current wife, Melania, during the time.

Univision Stations Raise $4.3M For St. Jude Children's Hospital

Artist Banda MS with new friend

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® raised $4.3 million dollars during this year's Promesa y Esperanza® (Promise and Hope) radio event held in 14 media markets in the U.S. with Univision radio stations on February 1st and 2nd.

Thanks to events such as this one, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

During the event, thousands of Univision's radio listeners across the U.S. called in or went online to become Angeles de Esperanza (Angels of Hope) and joined the #ThisShirtSavesLives  movement by pledging to make a monthly donation of $20 or more to St. Jude. The on-air push coincided with a social media campaign encouraging Univision listeners, employees, and talent to participate by wearing and sharing photos in their THIS SHIRT on their social media channels.

Several Univision popular on-air personalities participated in St. Jude's event, including: Omar Velasco and Argelia Atilano of El show de Omar y Argelia, Sylvia del Valle "La Bronca," Jose Gutierrez "El Tambochi" and Carlos Ivan Paez "El Compa Ivan" of El Free-Guey, Raúl Molinar, Carla Medrano and Andrés Maldonado of El Bueno, La Mala y El Feo, Alejandro Gonzalez and Maikel Rodriguez of Los Pichy Boys, Javier Romero of Desayuno Musical, Alberto Sardiñas of El Show de Alberto Sardiñas, Raúl Brindis of El Show de Raúl Brindis, Maria Esther Mendez and Pancho Mercado of La Chula y La Bestia, Santi y  Laurita of AMOR 107.5 as well as TV personalities like Tony Dandrades, Pamela Silva Conde & Borja Voces of Primer Impacto and Maity Interiano & Chef Jesús of Despierta América.

Some of the many participating Latin artists included: Luis Fonsi, Intocable, Banda MS, Prince Royce, Banda El Recodo, Juanes, Gerardo Ortiz, Los Huracanes del Norte, CNCO, Becky G, Jon Secada, Jencarlos Canela, Tommy Torres, Nacho, Leslie Grace, Frankie J., Ana Gabriel, Calibre 50, La Séptima Banda, Horacio Palencia, Jesús Mendoza, Jonathan Sánchez, Ulices Chaidez, Adriel Favela, Kevin Ortiz, Calibre 50, Christian Nodal, Adriel Favela, Regulo Caro, Cornelio Vega y su Dinastía, La Maquinaria Norteña, Banda Los Recoditos, Revancha Norteña, Brandon Solano, Konzentido, Banda La Maravillosa and Victoria Ortiz "La Mala", among others.

"It is our responsibility as the leading media company serving Hispanic America to give a platform to those organizations dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the community we serve," said Randy Falco, president and CEO of UCI. "St. Jude's lifesaving mission has helped thousands of families and we are proud of our long-standing partnership to bring awareness to their cause and to empower our employees and audience to unite on important issues that matter."

February 19 Radio History

➦In 1878...Inventor Thomas Alva Edison patents his latest (and personal favorite) creation, the phonograph. Beginning life as a telegraph repeater, the device was actually completed by an assistant working from Edison's sketches.

While working on improvements to the telegraph and the telephone, Edison figured out a way to record sound on tinfoil-coated cylinders. In 1877, he created a machine with two needles: one for recording and one for playback. When Edison spoke into the mouthpiece, the sound vibrations of his voice would be indented onto the cylinder by the recording needle. What do you think were the first words that Edison spoke into the phonograph?

"Mary had a little lamb" were the first words that Edison recorded on the phonograph and he was amazed when he heard the machine play them back to him. In 1878, Edison established the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company to sell the new machine.

Edison 1878

Edison suggested other uses for the phonograph, such as: letter writing and dictation, phonographic books for blind people, a family record (recording family members in their own voices), music boxes and toys, clocks that announce the time, and a connection with the telephone so communications could be recorded. How many of these uses have become a reality today?

Many of the uses Edison suggested for the phonograph have become a reality, but there were others he hadn't imagined. For example, the phonograph allowed soldiers to take music off to war with them. In 1917, when the U.S. became involved in World War I, the Edison Company created a special model of the phonograph for the U.S. Army. This basic machine sold for $60. Many Army units purchased these phonographs because it meant a lot to the soldiers to have music to cheer them and remind them of home. This is an audio clip of Edison himself in which he expresses his pride in the soldiers and reminds Americans of the enormous sacrifice and contribution made by the other allied nations.



➦In 1922...vaudeville performer, Ed Wynn, became the first vaudeville star to agree to a Radio contract.

In the early 1930s Wynn hosted the popular radio show The Fire Chief, heard in North America on Tuesday nights, sponsored by Texaco gasoline. Like many former vaudeville performers who turned to radio in the same decade, the stage-trained Wynn insisted on playing for a live studio audience, doing each program as an actual stage show, using visual bits to augment his written material, and in his case, wearing a colorful costume with a red fireman's helmet. He usually bounced his gags off announcer/straight man Graham McNamee; Wynn's customary opening, "Tonight, Graham, the show's gonna be different," became one of the most familiar tag-lines of its time; a sample joke: "Graham, my uncle just bought a new second-handed car... he calls it Baby! I don't know, it won't go anyplace without a rattle!"



Wynn  reprised his Fire Chief radio character in two movies, Follow the Leader (1930) and The Chief (1933). Near the height of his radio fame (1933) he founded his own short-lived radio network the Amalgamated Broadcasting System, which lasted only five weeks, nearly destroying the comedian. According to radio historian Elizabeth McLeod, the failed venture left Wynn deep in debt, divorced and finally, suffering a nervous breakdown.

Wynn died June 19, 1966 in Beverly Hills, California of throat cancer, aged 79.

➦In 1975...Harris introduced the world's first solid-state Radio transmitter.

➦In 1977...Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album released.




➦In 1981...George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for "subconscious plagiarism" "My Sweet Lord" with "He's So Fine".

➦In 1996...Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in York PA on WQXA 105.7 FM

➦In 2007...the SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio services announced a proposed merger.

After years of speculation (the New York Post first reported on a potential merger in January 2005), and three months of serious negotiations, the $13 billion merger between Sirius and XM was officially announced on February 19, 2007. At the time, the nation’s only two satellite radio providers reported nearly 14 million combined subscribers (with nearly 8 million belonging to XM), with neither having turned an annual profit. Sirius was valued at $5.2 billion, and XM at $3.75 billion.  Each subscription was sold for $12.95 monthly.

Sirius and XM executives felt the merger would lower programming costs by eliminating overlapping stations and duplicated marketing costs. According to their original operating licenses, the two companies were not allowed to ever own each other’s license. In proceeding with the merger, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin ignored this rule, gambling that the FCC would consider other audio entertainment to be competitors and allow the merger to proceed by waiving the rule.


➦In 2016…Los Angeles radio legend Charlie Tuna died at the age of 71.

At age 16, Tuna began working at his hometown's radio station, KGFW. Then, he went to work at KLEO in Wichita, Kansas for a year with the air name "Billy O'Day". He then worked for KOMA Radio in Oklahoma City in 1966, where he took over the "Charlie Tuna" pseudonym from Chuck Riley, who had used it for one show the week prior to Tuna's arrival. Tuna then moved on to WMEX in Boston for the first 9 months of 1967.

In late 1967, KHJ in Los Angeles offered Tuna the 9 to noon slot, where he debuted on Thanksgiving Day 1967. In 1972 he became one of the original DJs at KROQ AM, a new Top 40 station (formerly Country KBBQ). In 1973 be moved to KKDJ as program director and morning personality. He presided over its 1975 call-letter change to KIIS, and broadcast the first show at KIIS-FM as it began its AM/FM simulcast. He also worked at KTNQ, KHTZ (later KBZT), KRLA, KODJ (later KCBS-FM), KMPC, KIKF, and KLAC.

He worked at KBIG 104.3 where he hosted a long running morning show Charlie Tuna in the Morning which aired from 5 to 10 am. His last full-time morning show aired on September 17, 2007, when the station flipped to a non-rhythmic-based adult contemporary format, as 104.3 My FM. He returned to radio February 9, 2008 when he became the weekend personality on Los Angeles oldies station K-Earth 101. CBS on August 27, 2015 began down sizing their stations in Los Angeles, at which point Charlie moved on to expand his syndicated radio business.



Tuna served as announcer for Casey Kasem on his 1980s television program America's Top 10, and occasionally filled in for Kasem on his radio programs American Top 20 and American Top 10. He co-hosted Your Good Time Oldies Magazine from 1992 to 1995, and he produced and hosted 52 weekly episodes of Back to the 70s, which were rerun at radio stations across the country until 2008.

Tuna had a year long run in 2009 of a 5-hour classic hits daily and weekend show, syndicated through United Stations Radio Network in New York. He joined Black Card Radio in Los Angeles in 2010 as host of a 5-hour weekend show Charlie Tuna - The 70's, which is distributed nationally and internationally, and later added a 5-hour daily and weekend show for all radio formats. He moved his radio station voice imaging business to Black Card Radio later that year.