Today in Broadcast History

IT WAS SEPT. 11th .. when the Miss America Pageant was televised coast-to-coast for the first time. Future TV star Lee Meriwether won the crown … When the last of Gillette’s Friday Night Fights was seen on free, home TV. Veteran Don Dunphy handled the blow-by-blow as he had on radio & TV for 23 years… When the Canadian newsmagazine “W-5” launched on CTV,,, ..and when the Carol Burnett Show premiered on CBS, with the first of 278 episodes over the next 10-and-a-half years. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 10th … when vaudeville star Jimmy Durante made his first radio appearance on Eddie Cantor’s “Chase and Sanborn Hour” on NBC… When Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King took to the radio to announce that Canada was now at war with Germany (WWII)…. When comedian/singer Eddie Cantor moved from radio to television, as he hosted the Colgate Comedy Hour on NBC TV… ..and when Seattle’s KING TV introduced the first local TV newscast west of Minneapolis and north of Los Angeles, anchored by Charles Herring (pictured). ALL the milestones for Sept. 10th INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 9th .. when the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was formed as a broadcasting service of the Radio Corporation of America, with partners General Electric & Westinghouse. 26 stations made up the US’s first national radio network … When the 1st broadcast of the long-running TV soap “Love of Life” aired on CBS… When 54 million viewers (82.6 percent of the U.S. television audience) turned their TV dials to the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ on CBS to see 21-year-old Elvis “The Pelvis” Presley … .. and when NBC-TV’s “Huntley-Brinkley Report” (pictured), their evening newscast, expanded from 15 to 30 minutes, as had the CBS News (with Walter Cronkite) a week earlier. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 8th … when The Hoboken Four, featuring a 19-year old Frank Sinatra as lead singer, appeared on Major Bowes Amateur Hour on WOR radio, and won the week … When Canada’s first English-language TV station, CBLT in Toronto started operations… two days after Montreal’s French-languageCBC station… When “Bat Masterson,” a western starring Gene Barry, began its 108-episode run on NBC-TV… ..and when the pioneering space series “Star Trek,” starring Montreal-born William Shatner, debuted on NBC-TV. ALL the milestones for Sept. 8th INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 7th … when pioneer Vancouver radio station CKFC first took to the air from First Congregational Church… When the final episode of (pictured) the original “Dick Van Dyke Show” featuring Mary Tyler Moore, as well as the last “Beverly Hillbillies” episode, aired on CBS-TV… When ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, made its debut on US cable TV as the world’s first fulltime sports TV station… .. and when CJRY-FM Edmonton signed on as Shine-FM, with 100,000 watts at 105.9 MHz. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT 6th … when the first prizefight to be broadcast blow-by-blow was heard on WWJ Detroit, as heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey scored a third-round knockout … When (pictured) Lionel Barrymore introduced us to his latest crowd-pleasing character as ‘Mayor of the Town’ debuted on the NBC Red radio network, co-starring Agnes Moorehead… When Canadian television debuted as Montreal’s CBFT aired the drama ‘Oedipus Rex’ in French…. ..and when the hit radio sitcom “Fibber McGee and Molly” ended after an almost 25 year run. ALL the milestones for Sept. 6th INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 5th .. when the populat daytime drama ‘Life Can Be Beautiful’ began its 16 year run on NBC radio… When Frank Sinatra was instrumental in the reuniting of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin live on Jerry’s Labor Day telethon… When the US got its first network hour-long news show as the Public Broadcasting System’s “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” expanded to 60 minutes… ..and when “American Bandstand,” hosted by Dick Clark on ABC, was cancelled after 30 years on television. ALL the milestones for Sept. 5 INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 4th … when BC-born actor Raymond Burr starred in the last original episode of the CBS-TV courtroom drama, Perry Mason… When Jerry Butler & the Impressions made their national TV debut on ABC-TV’s “American Bandstand”… When the short-lived Carol Burnett-Richard Hayes Show, a 20-minute nightly variety package, debuted on CBS Radio… ..and when the last of 98 original episodes of “Gilligan’s Island” aired on CBS-TV. It would continue for decades in syndicated reruns. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 3rd .. when CHAB-TV Moose Jaw and CHRE-TV Regina switched to CBK call letters as Moffatt completed their forced sale to the CBC… When ‘The Lawrence Welk Show’ aired for the last time on ABC-TV, enroute to becomng a syndicated property… When enormous ratings were racked up for the finale of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” on CBS-TV.,, ..and when Jerry Lewis smashed all previous records for TV charity fund-raising, as $32,074,566 was pledged on the Labor Day Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS SEPT. 2nd … when the radio show “15 Minutes with Bing Crosby” debuted on CBS. For the first six months it ran six nights a week…. When “The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” expanded from 15 to 30 minutes, becoming US television’s first half-hour nightly newscast… When the CJOR call letters and its News/Talk format disappeared from 600 on Vancouver’s AM dial, as Classic Rock CHRX was born in its place… ..and when Hootie & The Blowfish made their national T.V. debut on NBC’s Late Night With David Letterman. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!