The United States Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.
The Declaration announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain would regard themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states no longer under British rule. With the Declaration, these new states took a collective first step toward forming the United States of America. The declaration was signed by representatives from New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The Lee Resolution for independence was passed on July 2 with no opposing votes. The Committee of Five had drafted the Declaration to be ready when Congress voted on independence. John Adams, a leader in pushing for independence, had persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which Congress edited to produce the final version.
The Declaration was a formal explanation of why Congress had voted to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America" – although Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 4, the date that the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved.
Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, references to the text of the Declaration were few in the following years. Abraham Lincoln made it the centerpiece of his policies and his rhetoric, as in the Gettysburg Address of 1863. Since then, it has become a well-known statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
This has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language", containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history".
In this era of "fake news", trust is always being called into question, whether it's the content in the president's Twitter feed or the creepy notion that your Amazon Echo is listening in on your private conservations with sinister intentions. Even though "In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States, distrust is rampant in 21st century America. When it comes to the nation's institutions which are bedrocks of the country, however, trust levels are remaining consistent.
Gallup recently polled U.S. adults about their confidence levels in 15 different societal institutions, finding only three had a majority-level of trust. Average confidence across the institutions has still remained consisent over the past three decades and all of them garner at least some trust. In 2018, the military remains the most trusted institution with 74 percent of Americans having some or quite a lot of confidence in it.
It comes as little surprise that small business is widely trusted given its importance to the community and it comes second with 67 percent. Even though the police has attracted criticism due to heavy-handed arrests and a spate of controversial shootings, it is the only other institution with majority trust at 54 percent. When it comes to the church and organized religion, trust levels stand at 38 percent while the presidency is close behind with 37 percent. Television news and Congress come last with just 20 and 11 percent trust among the public respectively.
“America’s Got Talent” continues to dominate the summer television landscape, although not by enough to make NBC the week’s most popular network.
Citing Nielsen figures, The Associated Press reports the talent show was seen by 11.3 million people last week, more than four million more than the next closest show, a repeat version of “60 Minutes,” the Nielsen company said Tuesday.
CBS’ “Big Brother” has returned to the network’s summer schedule, and each episode was in the Nielsen’s top 20 for the week. CBS’ summer dramas, “Code Black” and “Instinct,” are also being watched, although not at the level of traditional in-season shows.
CBS won the week in prime time, averaging 4.3 million viewers. NBC had 4.2 million, ABC had 3.2 million, Fox had 2.2 million, Univision had 1.5 million, ION Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.2 million and the CW had 820,000.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.6 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.5 million, HGTV had 1.44 million, USA had 1.32 million and ESPN had 1.26 million.
During 2Q ’18, FNC averaged 1,409,000 million in total viewers, which, while No. 1 overall, is -4 percent from its Q2 2017 delivery. The network also delivered 286,000 with A25-54 in total day, which is -9 percent compared to Q2 2017.
In prime time, however, the trend is better, according to TVNewser. The network delivered 2,447,000 in total viewers, which is +4 percent from its Q2 2017 delivery, and 480,000 in the 25-54 demo, which is +2 percent from last year.
FNC also bested MSNBC and CNN in both prime time and total day in total viewers and A25-54.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.5 million.
WNT also defeated its NBC rival among adults 25-54 (+1,000) during a quarter for the first time in 3 years–since Q2 2015.
But ABC’s win in the demo comes with a bit of an asterisk. Because of retitling of the evening newscasts during NBC’s Stanley Cup Finals coverage and ABC’s NBA Finals coverage, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and ABC World News Tonight only went head to head a few nights during the first few weeks of June, the final month of Q2 2018. If one excludes the first 2 weeks of June which were impacted by the NBA and NHL playoffs, Nightly News actually comes out on top in the A25-54 demo by +6,000 viewers.
A trend has emerged in the morning show ratings race: ABC’s Good Morning America is No. 1 in total viewers, NBC’s Today show is No. 1 in the ad-friendly A25-54 demo. However, ABC, NBC and CBS This Morning are all losing viewers relative to this point in 2017.
In Q2 2018, GMA, despite being No. 1 in total viewers for the 6th consecutive year, was -4 percent compared to its Q2 2017 total viewer delivery. According to TV Newser citing Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, the ABC morning show was also -7 percent in the A25-54 demo, which actually is less of a year-over-year drop off than its competitors.
NBC’s Today show finished No. 1 among adults 25-54 for the 11th consecutive quarter, but the show was -3 percent in total viewers and -11 percent in the key A25-54 demo versus Q2 2017.
CBS This Morning remains No. 3 in all relevant audience categories, and was down -10 percent in total viewers, -14 percent among adults 25-54 in Q2 2018 vs. Q2 2017.
The averages for Q2 2018:
Total Viewers: ABC: 4.112M / NBC: 3.927M / CBS: 3.191M
GMA held steady as the top morning show for the week of June 25, and was less than -1 percent in total viewers from the comparable week in 2017. The program saw a little more of a decline among adults 25-54, -5 percent year-over-year.
Today was the No. 1 morning show among adults 25-54 this past week, and has now ranked No. 1 in the demo for 131 consecutive weeks (the morning show’s best streak in almost 6 years) and for 147 of the last 148 weeks. But as continues to be the case, Today is losing audience relative to 2017: -4 percent in total viewers and -16 percent in adults 25-54 from last year. Despite its demo victory, that -16 percent figure isn’t good.
Happy Birthday To MLB NY Yankees radio voice John Sterling, who turns 80 today.
Love him or hate him, when you listen to him these days, he is a marvel. The strength of his voice and his enthusiasm for his job are still present night-in and night-out, even though he hasn’t missed a Yankees game in nearly three decades.
The NY Post reports he sees no end in sight, and with his vision improved after offseason cataract surgery, there might not be.
“He is seeing the ball better this year,” said WFAN’s vice president of programming Mark Chernoff. “His vision is terrific. We are very pleased with how the broadcast sounds.”
Sterling’s style is loved by many and hated by some. No one can argue it is not unique. From his signature, “It is high, it is far, it is gone” to “Thuuuugh Yankees win” to his home run calls, he is, in the words of Yankees president Randy Levine, a “legend.”
Sterling checks the stats
“He lives and breathes the Yankees,” Levine said. “His home run calls are folklore, whether you like them or not. He is a quintessential New York character.”
Sterling does not have an email account, nor any use for the internet. To call him old-fashioned would not be fully accurate because there is a flair to his personality. He wears a suit to every game, even though he is on radio. All his quirks are done in such a confident manner that it makes him seem younger.
“The phrase is ‘sui generis,’ ” his now longtime radio partner Suzyn Waldman said. “He is unto himself. He is more comfortable in his own skin than anyone I have ever met in my whole life.”
He does have some modern amenities, but with old twists. He has satellite radio, but he keeps it locked on the Sinatra channel. He has mastered the use of his DVR so he can watch all the old movies he adores.
Sterling’s secret to longevity is a combination of genes, rest and exercise, he said. On his DNA, he said that is just good fortune and somehow he has been healthy enough to never miss a Yankees game because of his illness.
For the past three decades, Sterling has been in the booth, entertaining many, annoying some, but he is part of the great bond between radio baseball broadcasters as they are companions in cars and background at barbecues.
Longtime WBZ 1030 AM reporter Lana Jones, who died suddenly in April of an aortic tear, will be inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame (MBHOF) in September along with nine others, according to The Boston Globe.
Jones, who spent nearly 30 years at Newsradio WBZ as a reporter, is part of a deep class of MBHOF inductees with hundreds of years of broadcasting experience between them.
“Each new member of the Hall of Fame, in her or his own way, has touched generations of audiences across our Commonwealth, keeping them informed and entertained,” MBHOF President Peter Brown said in the release. “We are honored to recognize them for their outstanding achievements in broadcasting.”
The MBHOF will also honor the late automotive titan Ernie Boch with its Pioneer Award, given to “individuals or organizations who fundamentally contributed to broadcasting.”
Beyond Jones and Boch, the eight other 2018 inductees, in alphabetical order, are Emmy award-winning former WHDH journalist Victoria Block; Emmy award-winning former co-host of “Evening Magazine” Sara Edwards; retired Boston radio news veteran Listo Fisher; the recently retired “dean” of Western Massachusetts television journalism Ray Hershel; WCVB-TV Director of Public Affairs and Community Services and host/executive producer of “CityLine” Karen Holmes Ward; WCVB Chief Meteorologist Harvey Leonard; “This Old House” executive producer and director Russell Morash; and former WBCN deejay Maxanne Sartori, who spent seven years at the pioneering rock radio station during its early years.
Tickets for the Sept. 20 induction and awards luncheon are available on the MBHOF website.
Pittsburgh personality Mike Steele Vrable, who worked on-air for Rock WDVE 102.5 FM and Classic Hits WWSW 94.5 FM 3WS, as well as a local producer for the Penguins games on WXDX 105.9 FM and a Steelers Radio Network, died Tuesday.
Steele announced in May that he was suffering from colon cancer.
"We lost an invaluable member of the DVE team this morning," WDVE morning show host Randy Baumann said in a tweet. "Everyone on Fleet Street is stunned."
Mike Steele loved radio the way you're supposed to, was a deep-track music lover and was up for any job you threw his way," WXDX morning show host Abby Krizner tweeted. "I'm lucky to have worked with him and this is another one that aches for our iHeart family."
According to the WDVE website, Mr. Steele started out at 106.7 The Force in Beaver Falls. He was present for the transition when The Force became 105.9 The X in 1995. After a few years he moved to Austin, to work for Rock Station KLBJ. He returned to Pittsburgh and WDVE in 2011.
➦In 1884...lawyer and radio station manager George W. Trendle was born in Norwalk Ohio. He became co-owner/manager of Detroit radio station WXYZ, and oversaw the creation and development of three classic action/adventure radio series aimed at young audiences, The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, all of which later made a transition to TV. An avowed penny-pincher, Trendle insisted that the music used on these shows be classical, to avoid paying royalty fees. He died May 10 1972 at age 87.
George W. Trendle
During the 1920s, George W. Trendle had established a reputation as a tough negotiator specializing in movie contracts and leases. Trendle became involved in the Detroit area entertainment business in 1928 when local motion picture theater owner John H. Kunsky offered Trendle 25 percent ownership in exchange for his services.
Trendle and Kunsky formed the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company in 1929 after purchasing Detroit radio station WGHP. The radio station's call letters were changed to WXYZ.
Trendle was the president and Kunsky was the vice president of the company. Trendle was active as the station manager. Kunsky is rarely mentioned except as co-owner.
WXYZ was initially affiliated with the Columbia Broadcasting System but became an independent station within a year. (WXYZ is now WXYT Detroit) Trendle's partner, Kunsky, legally changed his name to King in 1936, and the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company became the King-Trendle Broadcasting Company. WXYZ improved its technical facilities through the 1930s, expanding its studios, raising its daytime power from 1,000 to 5,000 watts in the late 1930s, and increasing nighttime power to 5,000 watts in time for its mandated 1941 move from 1240 to 1270 kHz under the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement.
In 1931, Kunsky-Trendle acquired WASH and WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The two stations merged facilities, including studios and transmitters, but retained both station licenses. WASH was on the air from 8 a.m. to noon, and WOOD from noon to midnight. WOOD-WASH became an NBC Red affiliate in 1935. King and Trendle decided to drop the WASH license in 1942, keeping the WOOD identification.
In 1946, the newly formed American Broadcasting Company purchased the King-Trendle Broadcasting Company and its radio stations for $3.65 million. This sale was for the broadcast facilities (including WOOD, WXYZ, and the Michigan Regional Network) and a construction permit for what would later become WXYZ-TV (channel 7) but did not include ownership of Trendle's radio programs. The FCC approved ABC's purchase on July 18, 1946. In 1952, Paramount Theaters (owners of Kunsky and Trendle's former chain of Detroit area theaters) acquired ABC, including WXYZ. WXYZ (now using the call sign WXYT) is today owned by CBS, the network Trendle dropped shortly after taking over the station.
Trendle entered into a new partnership with long term business associates H. Allen Campbell and Raymond Meurer. The Trendle-Campbell Broadcasting Company was formed in 1946 and started radio station WTCB in Flint, Michigan. The new radio station went on the air April 26, 1946, with a four-tower 1000-watt broadcast array. The call letters were later changed to WTAC. In 1953, they added UHF television station WTAC-TV affiliated with ABCTV and DuMont. The TV station went out of business less than a year later because too few TVs at the time were equipped to receive UHF channels. The radio station has changed owners several times and its call sign was changed to WSNL in 1997. The station is currently owned by The Christian Broadcasting System. Three of the four towers were demolished in 2003 to make room for redevelopment of the site. The fourth tower was removed in 2004 after new transmitting facilities were completed in Gaines Township, southwest of Flint.
Penny pinching
The Kunsky-Trendle business venture began at the start of the Great Depression, and Trendle took many cost-cutting moves that earned him a reputation as a penny-pincher. According to Dick Osgood in his book Wyxie Wonderland: An Unauthorized 50-Year Diary of WXYZ Detroit, he was assisted in this by H. Allen Campbell.
Campbell was an advertising salesman for the Hearst organization whom Trendle hired to find sponsors for his radio programs. Campbell is credited with signing Silvercup Bread as the first sponsor for the Lone Ranger series. This was a big account and helped to bring the show to nationwide syndication. Apparently, Campbell's contributions to the business were significant. He continued working for Trendle for the next twenty years and eventually became one of Trendle's business partners.
Campbell reportedly kept a set of books to show employees that the company was losing money and could not afford to pay higher salaries. Trendle and Campbell often responded to employee requests for salary increases by downplaying their value to the company and threatening to fire them. This threat was particularly effective during the Depression.
Trendle specified the music on WXYZ shows should be non-copyrighted classical so that the music was royalty-free. This is the reason that the William Tell Overture was adopted as the Lone Ranger theme and The Flight of the Bumble Bee became the theme for the Green Hornet show.
New programming
Fran Striker
In June 1932, Trendle decided to drop the network affiliation to operate WXYZ as an independent station. His station would produce its own radio drama series and broadcast locally produced music programs rather than pay for syndicated programs. Jim Jewell was hired as the station's dramatic director and supplied the actors from his own repertory company, the "Jewell Players." Freelance radio writer Fran Striker was hired to write many of these programs. The earliest dramatic radio series included Thrills of the Secret Service, Dr. Fang, and Warner Lester, Manhunter. Striker wrote many of the scripts and eventually became head of WXYZ's script department.
Late in 1932, Trendle began discussing ideas to create a new radio series with a cowboy as the hero. He wanted a mysterious hero who would have the same type of appeal as Zorro or Robin Hood. The target audience included children, so Trendle insisted on a wholesome hero with high moral standards. Violence and romance were to be minimized. Trendle worked out the basic concept of a masked vigilante, a lone Texas ranger with a big white horse, in staff meetings with Jim Jewell and studio manager Harold True. Then it was turned over to Fran Striker to flesh out the details and provide the scripts. His contributions included silver bullets and an Indian companion. The result was The Lone Ranger, which began broadcasting January 30, 1933, on WXYZ and the seven other stations of the Michigan Regional Network.
Fred Foy (far right) during a broadcast of THE LONE RANGER at WXYZ, Detroit. At left are John Todd (Tonto) and Brace Beemer (the Lone Ranger)
The Lone Ranger was an almost immediate hit. In May, a free popgun was offered to the first 300 listeners to send a written request; the station received nearly 25,000 replies. In July, the Lone Ranger made a public appearance at a park and a crowd estimated at 70,000 gathered.
By the beginning of 1934, the show was syndicated to WGN, Chicago, and WOR, Newark. Other stations soon followed. The live broadcasts were transmitted over telephone lines to the other stations. When the Mutual Broadcasting System was created in 1934, WXYZ became a charter member and the Lone Ranger program was featured on the Mutual Network. Although WXYZ dropped out to join NBC Blue about a year later, contractual obligations kept The Lone Ranger on Mutual until 1942, during this period The Lone Ranger was produced at WXYZ but heard in the Detroit area over Mutual's new affiliate, CKLW. It then switched to the NBC Blue Network, which became ABC in 1943. The popularity of the series rapidly grew and it was eventually heard on 249 radio stations nationwide.
➦In 1913...radio & TV hostess Virginia Graham was born in Chicago. In the 1940’s she wrote scripts for such radio soap operas as Stella Dallas, Our Gal Sunday, and Backstage Wife. She hosted her first radio talk show in 1951. She succeeded Margaret Truman in 1956 as co-host of the NBC radio show Weekday, teamed with Mike Wallace. She was hostess of TV talk shows from the 50’s to the 70’s that are considered forerunners to today’s daytime TV. She was best known for the nationally syndicated ‘Girl Talk’ on ABC from 1963-1969, ‘The Virginia Graham Show’ from 1970-1972, and guesting on other talk shows, including a dozen appearances on ‘The Tonight Show.’ She died following a heart attack Dec 22, 1998 at age 85.
➦In 1916...the woman tried for treason after WW II as notorious broadcaster Tokyo Rose, Iva Toguri D’Aquino was born in Los Angeles. She was one of at least a dozen women who did Japanese propaganda broadcasts from Radio Tokyo. The post-war trial convicted her on just one innoquous charge not involving treason, while she claimed to have subtly subverted the Japanese war effort, and was eventually pardoned by President Ford. She died Sept. 26 2006 at age 90. ➦In 1929...WOWO-AM, Fort Wayne, Indiana lost its transmitter when it burned down.
WOWO resumed broadcasting the next day, as operations were moved across the street until damages could be repaired. In November 1929, the station held a grand opening of the rebuilt studios.
➦In 1948...the radio panel show Life Begins at 80 debuted on Mutual. Jack Barry hosted the program patterned in reverse on his successful Juvenile Jury.
➦In 1958...WKBW 1520 AM, Buffalo, changed its format to "Top 40".
WKBW was founded in 1926 as a religious station, operating at the frequency of 1380 kHz. As the story goes, founder Clinton Churchill applied to the Department of Commerce for a license to operate under the call signs WAY. That call sign, however, was being used for a ship at sea, so instead, Churchill chose the letters "WKBW," which were next in the random assignment pool. Churchill proclaimed the call letters to stand for "Well Known Bible Witness"; later usage referred to the middle letters "KB" standing for King of Buffalo (alluding to its 50,000 watt broadcast power).
During the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, WKBW became a major force in pop radio over the East Coast. KB had a 50,000 watt transmitter (the maximum power allowed) at their transmitter site in Hamburg. This high power caused WKBW to blanket the entire eastern U.S. with top 40 music every night, and the station actually had a better signal at night in the western Boston suburbs than Boston's own top 40 station, WMEX, located at 1510, right next door to WKBW. Disk jockeys included future Price is Right announcer Rod Roddy, Dick Biondi, Danny Neaverth, Jack Armstrong, Joey Reynolds, Steve Mitchell, Bud Ballou, Norm Marshall, Tom Shannon, and the Amazin' Jim Quinn. Irv Weinstein, later Buffalo's most popular television news anchor, served as news director, and Stan Barron, a holdover from the pre-rock and roll era, handled sports until his departure in 1965.
WWKB's daytime signal decently covers Rochester and the Southern Tier, and reaches into Toronto and as far east as Kingston. At night, it must direct its signal eastward due to sharing a frequency with KOKC in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (the former KOMA, another flame-throwing 50,000-watt top 40 powerhouse in the 1960s and 1970s). Thus, while the station can be heard across most of the eastern half of North America at night, its signal is spotty at best only 20 miles southwest of Buffalo. Its directional quality is due to the configuration of its transmitter tower array, which has resulted the station being commonly heard very well in parts of Sweden at night during the winter months.
➦In 1970...American Top 40 began on the Independence Day weekend in 1970, on seven radio stations, the very first being KDEO in El Cajon, California (now KECR), which broadcast the inaugural show the evening of July 3, 1970.
The chart data broadcast actually included the top 40 songs from the week ending July 11, 1970. The very first show featured the very last time both Elvis Presley and The Beatles had songs simultaneously in the Top 10.
It was originally distributed by Watermark Inc., and was first presented in mono until it started recording in stereo in September 1972.
In early 1982, Watermark was purchased by ABC Radio and AT40 became a program of the "ABC Contemporary Radio Network". The program was hosted by Casey Kasem and co-created by Kasem; Don Bustany, Kasem's childhood friend from Detroit, MI; radio veteran Tom Rounds; and 93/KHJ Program Director Ron Jacobs, who produced and directed the various production elements. Rounds was also the marketing director; the initial funder was California strawberry grower Tom Driscoll.
The show began as a three-hour program written and directed by Bustany, counting down the top 40 songs on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. The show quickly gained popularity once it was commissioned, and expanded to a four hour-program on October 7, 1978, to reflect the increasing average length of singles on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
The producing staff expanded to eight people, some of them still in the business: Nikki Wine, Ben Marichal, Scott Paton, Matt Wilson, Merrill Shindler, Guy Aoki, Ronnie Allen and Sandy Stert Benjamin. (Bustany retired from AT40 in 1989; since 1994, he has hosted a political talk show on listener-sponsored KPFK.)
By the early 1980s, the show could be heard on 520 stations in the United States and at its zenith, the show was broadcast on 1,000-plus stations in some 50 countries.
Kasem told the New York Times in 1990 "I accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. That is the timeless thing."
AT40's first countdown:
40: END OF OUR ROAD - MARVIN GAYE
39: SILVER BIRD - MARK LINDSEY
38: SPILL THE WINE - ERIC BURDEN
37: GO BACK - CRABBY APPLETON
36: I JUST CAN'T HELP BELIEVING - B.J. THOMAS
35: SPIRIT IN THE DARK - ARETHA FRANKLIN
34: MISSISSIPPI - JOHN PHILLIPS
33: WESTBOUND #9 - FLAMING EMBER
32: IT'S ALL IN THE GAME - FOUR TOPS
31: SAVE THE COUNTRY - FIFTH DIMENSION
30: OHIO - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG
29: EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL - RAY STEVENS
28: CHECK OUT YOUR MIND - IMPRESSIONS
27: QUESTION - MOODY BLUES
26: SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED - STEVIE WONDER
25: SUGAR, SUGAR - WILSON PICKETT
24: TEACH YOUR CHILDREN - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG
23: WHICH WAY YOU GOIN' BILLY - THE POPPY FAMILY OLDIE: LITTLE OLE MAN - BILL COSBY
22: LOVE ON A TWO-WAY STREET - MOMENTS
21: MISSISSIPPI QUEEN - MOUNTAIN
20: MAKE IT WITH YOU - BREAD
19: ARE YOU READY - PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC
18: LOVE LAND - CHARLES WRIGHT & THE WATTS 103RD STREET RHYTHM BAND
17: TIGHTER & TIGHTER - ALIVE AND KICKING
16: MY BABY LOVES LOVIN' - WHITE PLAINS
15: A SONG OF JOY - MIGUEL RIOS OLDIE: HELLO DOLLY - LOUIS ARMSTRONG
14: UNITED WE STAND - BROTHERHOOD OF MAN
13: GET READY - RARE EARTH
12: OOH CHILD - STAIRSTEPS
11: GIMME DAT DING - THE PIPKINS
10: HITCHIN' A RIDE - VANITY FAIR OLDIE: SPINNING WHEEL - BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS
9: THE WONDER OF YOU - ELVIS PRESLEY
8: THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD - BEATLES
7: CLOSE TO YOU - CARPENTERS
6: LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE WIND) - MELANIE
5: BAND OF GOLD - FREDA PAYNE
4: RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE - BLUES IMAGE
3: BALL OF CONFUSION - TEMPTATIONS
2: THE LOVE YOU SAVE - JACKSON FIVE OLDIE: SATISFACTION - ROLLING STONES
1: MAMA TOLD ME NOT TO COME - THREE DOG NIGHT
➦In 1972...WCBS 101.1 FM, New York, changed its format to "Oldies".
At first, the station focused on rock-and-roll hits from 1955 to 1964 and mixed in some softer hits of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as a few then-current songs. WCBS-FM also played a moderate amount of adult standards from the rock era. The station played two current hits per hour known as "future gold". By the late 1970s however, the station dropped most of the adult standards, with a few exceptions, and added rock hits from the late 1960s.
WCBS-FM's oldies format weathered many trends and corporate moves.
By 1979, three FM stations owned by CBS had begun playing disco music. In 1981, all of CBS's FM stations, except for WCBS-FM, adopted a CHR format known as "Hot Hits". The oldies format on WCBS-FM continued to be a success.
One ongoing favorite feature was a countdown of the top 500 songs of all time, as voted by the station's listeners. The countdown always took place on Thanksgiving weekend (with a new survey taken every other year. On even years, up to 1990, the survey from the previous year was played. In the first Top 500, The Five Satins' doo wop classic "In the Still of the Night" was #1 and "Earth Angel" by The Penguins was #2.
➦In 2003...radio & TV veteran Tyler McVey died of leukemia at age 81. By 1940 he was a regular in radio’s Hollywood stock company, playing regular roles in Glamour Manor, One Man’s Family, The Hermit’s Cave and Wild Bill Hickok, and announcing on the syndicated Smiths of Hollywood. He was a regular on TV’s Men Into Space and You Are There, with numerous guest roles on Bat Masterson, Death Valley Days, The Wild, Wild West, The F.B.I., Bonanza, Ironside, Ellery Queen, Eight Is Enough and Highway to Heaven, to mention just a few.
➦In 2003...financial expert and Radio personality, Larry Burkett, died at age 64. Best known for his show "Money Matters", which aired on 1,000 radio stations.
➦In 2005…Former NFL coach/Pro Football Hall of Famer Hank Stram, who was a football commentator for CBS Radio and television for 20 years, died from complications of diabetes at 82.
Brian Hanley, whose WSCR 670 AM contract was up for renewal, is out as Mike Mulligan's new 5-9 a.m. cohost at the end of the month, according to The Chicago Tribune.
There has been no official word yet from anyone connected with The Score, which is said to be considering Hanley as a weekend and fill-in host.
Hanley has been with WSCR since its launch 26 years ago, initially as a part-timer while still a Chicago Sun-Times sports writer. He and fellow former Sun-Times man Mulligan initially worked middays together in 2005, taking over morning drive-time in July 2008.
Chicago Media Watcher Robert Feder reports the top choice to succeed Hanley is Chicago Tribune sports columnist David Haugh. Haugh has been the primary fill-in host on “Mully & Hanley” since the demise of The Game WGWG 87.7 LPFM, the short-lived sister station of Tribune Media's WGN 720 AM.
Jimmy deCastro, who became senior vice president and market manager for WSCR-AM and Entercom Communications’ other Chicago radio stations late last year, pulled the plug on the nine-month Game experiment, which made use of a low-powered TV frequency to air on the FM band as well as stream online.
“In the case of 87.7 and wgn.fm, the economics haven't dictated the ability for us to make money, and we're in the business of making money,” deCastro told the Tribune at the time.
Connor McKnight, another Game alumnus, was installed as Dan Bernstein’s midday cohost in March during another major upheaval at The Score under deCastro.
That shakeup saw Bernstein moved out of afternoon drive time, where he had been paired with Jason Goff. Moving into their old slot was Danny Parkins and returning WSCR host Dan McNeil.
A Twin Cities man cited the Maryland newspaper shootings when he made threats against the St. Paul media company where he used to work, authorities said Monday.
According to The Star-Tribune, Rusty Arntson, 36, of Brooklyn Center, was charged Monday in Ramsey County District Court with one count of felony threats of violence.
Arntson once worked for Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. (HBI) in St. Paul, which operates TV station KSTP.
“Arntson said that he made reference to the incident in Maryland as a warning to HBI that if they continued to treat their employees badly one of them may come back to hurt them,” court documents said.
According to the criminal complaint: Arntson was fired from his job at HBI in 2017 after he had a “confrontation with a female coworker who he blamed for causing him to have a previous suspension.” His job at the time was not specified in the complaint.
According to wincities.com, on June 21, 2018, security for the company learned that he had been on company property and “made several disturbing comments” to the employee, including saying that “police had extracted things from his body” during interactions he had with law enforcement, the complaint said. “Arntson said that women were like black widow spiders, but he reassured the male employee by saying, ‘I won’t kill you because you’re a man.'”
Security left Arntson a message on June 25. He returned the call on June 29, the day after five Capital Gazette employees were shot and killed.
Arntson allegedly said he wanted his job back and that HBI needed to change its policies.
“You know what happened yesterday in Maryland,” he said, according to the documents.
Arntson, who has a permit to carry, was arrested and allegedly told police he did not intend to hurt anyone “but was only trying to protect the company from their own malicious behavior,” the complaint said. He told the investigator “he is a Christian and has no plans to hurt anyone because if he were to do so he would burn in hell.”
The investigator noted that Arntson “made several bizarre statements” and Arntson told him “that he is a legally abandoned child under the law and that NATO has been paying his bills,” the complaint said. “Arntson made reference to the Department of Justice and the FBI being involved with (Hubbard Broadcasting) in regards to his dispute with the company over unemployment insurance.”
American General Media Albuquerque has announced the hiring of Randy Fox as Program Director of heritage Rhythmic KKSS 97.3 FM and upstart Hot A/C KKRG 105.1 FM effective Monday, July 23rd.
Randy Fox
Randy Fox joins AGM from CBS Radio in Sacramento as PD of KSFM. Fox had held several positions with CBS Radio prior to the PD position, including Creative Services Director for two brands. Randy was with CBS Radio Sacramento for 16 years. Additionally he has held various programming, on air, production and creative services positions in Austin, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona, El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
“I am very happy to welcome Randy to the AGM cluster in Albuquerque. We actually competed with each other in California. It’s nice to now have such a pro on our team here!” said Larry Lemanski, GM for American General Media/Albuquerque
Robert Lewis, Regional Director of Operations & Programming for American General Media/Albuquerque, NM and Bakersfield, CA added, “It’s not easy finding Program Directors today – especially one who embodies the talent and skill to manage a heritage brand on one hand and the tenacity and grind needed to launch a new brand on the other. Randy has all of those skills and more and we could not be happier to have as skilled and dynamic a programmer on the AGM team.”
KKSS 97.3 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
Randy Fox stated, “I am very excited to be joining the American General Media family. It is an honor to be trusted with the success and future of KKSS and KKRG. I would like to thank Rogers Brandon, Larry Lemanski and Bob Lewis for their confidence and vision. I look forward to working with the incredible team at AGM Albuquerque.”
