Today in Broadcast History

Ronald Colman (pictured with wife Benita Hume) debuted in their own weekly NBC radio series, ‘The Halls of Ivy.’ The Global Television Network began with a toehold in Southern Ontario; That same day the CBS Radio Mystery Theater with host E.G. Marshall began its 9-year run; And zookeeper Marlin Perkins introduced his wildlife TV series that would run for 25 years, ‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.’ ALL the milestones for Jan. 6th INSIDE.

Radio’s longrunning mystery show ‘The Shadow’ began its 22 year run on the networks. Vancouver’s Alan Young (pictured) starred in episode 1 of TV’s talking horse show ‘Mr. Ed.’ Pat Boone signed in as the mystery guest on CBS-TV’s ‘What’s Mty Line’; And the ABC daytime drama ‘All My Children’ debuted. ALL the milestones for Jan. 5th INSIDE.

It’s the date that NBC debuted one of radio’s first variety shows, ‘The Dodge Victory Hour’ starring Will Rogers and Al Jolson. Bob Hope (pictured) made his first national radio appearance on NBC’s ‘The Intimate Review.’ Victoria’s CHEK-TV left the CBC and became a fulltime CTV affiliate; and several lengthy TV runs came to a close on CBS Jan. 4th, ‘Rawhide’ (which introduced Clint Eastwood) and ‘The Twentieth Century,’ hosted by Walter Cronkite. Come INSIDE for ALL the milestones.

Happy Birthday to Dabney Coleman, Van Dyke Parks, Mel Gibson and Stephen Sills. On this date William S Paley (pictured) incorporated the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS.) And a future General Manager of the station Hal Davis joined CKNW as Chief Copywriter. The 100th episode of ‘The Jeffersons’ aired on CBS, and ABC telecast the 100th episode of ‘Hart to Hart.’ ALL the milestones for Jan. 3rd INSIDE.

Cuba Gooding Jr, Taye Diggs, Jack Hanna, Dax Shepard, and Kate Bosworth. Bing Crosby began his 10-years as host of NBC radio’s ‘Kraft Music Hall’; the CBC opened its second national AM hookup, the ‘Dominion Network.’ ‘The Life of Riley’ with William Bendix came to NBC-TV, and two years later so did ‘The Bob Cummings Show.’ Nanaimo’s CHUB AM 1570 was flipped to FM, becoming THE WAVE 102.3. As we neared the end of the network radio era, CBS dropped ‘The Road of Life’, ‘Our Gal Sunday,’ and two other longrunning soaps. Jan. 2nd obits include Dick Powell, Alan Hale Jr, Anne Francis, CNN’s Jim Huber, and Manitoba’s Jack Carson (pictured). ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Long time radio man, Ron Robinson of Victoria is 92 today. On this day in 1958 beginning at midnight, CKWX Radio staffers Red Robinson, Bill Davis and Bob McGavin began 100 hours of continuous broadcasting from the station’s PNE studio to celebrate B.C.’s Centennial year. actress Donna Douglas, who played  Elly May Clampett on CBS-TV’s hit 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, succumbed to pancreatic cancer at age 82. In 1966, “The Sounds of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel topped the charts and stayed there for 2 weeks.

Happy Birthday to Burton Cummings, Ben Kingsley, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Val Kilmer and Bebe Neuwirth. Seattle radio station KOMO debuted at 980 KHz; Guy Lombardo played ‘Auld Lang Syne’ on CBS radio to bring in 1930, and a tradition was born; ‘Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve’ debuted on NBC-TV (it moved to ABC two years later); CNN’s second channel ‘Headline News’ debuted on US cable systems; the BBC began using the chimes of Big Ben as its ID; and ‘The Doctors’ ended its 19 year run on NBC-TV. Among the obits for Dec. 31 are Vancouver big bandleader Dal Richards, Nashville pianist Floyd Cramer, Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, pop singers Rick Nelson and Natalie Cole, and actress Eileen Heckart. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Tracey Ullman, Meredith Vieira, Sean Hannity and sitcom guru James Burrows. Also born this day were Bert Parks, Jack Lord, Dennis Morgan and Jeannette Nolan. Canada’s first radio network hooking up Montreal with Ottawa broadcast the CNR’s Anniversary Show; the famous Jack Benny feud with Fred Allen kicked off on NBC radio; the first black and white TV sets sold for $1,175 US; James Arness, soon to be Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke, made his TV acting debut on the Lux Video Theatre; ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ with Winnipeg’s Monty Hall (pictured) debuted on NBC-TV; and the same network, after 25 years, cancelled ‘The Wonderful World of Disney.’ Among the obits for Dec. 30th were composer Richard Rodgers, bandleader Ralph Flanagan, and ’60/’70’s Seattle radio DJ Lan Roberts. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Ted Danson, Jon Voight, Dinah Christie, Patricia Clarkson and Ashleigh Banfield. Radio soap favorite ‘Young Dr. Malone’ began 4 seasons on CBS-TV; WMCA’s Good Guys became the first N.Y. radio station to play ‘The Beatles’; Jane Pauley ended her 13 years as co-host of NBC-TV’s ‘Today Show”; and Sly and the Family Stone headlined CBS-TV’s ‘Ed Sullivan Show.’ And passing away at age 77 was the ‘King of Jazz,’ Paul Whiteman (pictured). ALL the milestones for Dec. 29th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Dame Maggie Smith, Denzel Washington, Seth Meyers,, Nichelle Nichols and John Legend. The last episode of ‘Ding Dong School’ with Miss Frances aired on NBC-TV; trumpeter Hugh Masekela guested on CBS-TV’s ‘To Tell the Truth’; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau gave a year’s end interview to CTV; ‘The Edge of Night’ wrapped up its 28 year run on CBS and later NBC-TV; CNN boss Ted Turner was named TIME Magazine’s Man of the Year; and Ed Bradley interviewed an emotional Michael Jackson on CBS-TV’s 60 Minutes. Dec. 28th obits include Clayton Moore (TV’s Lone Ranger), Jerry Ohrbach of ‘Law & Order,’ William Demarest (‘My Three Sons’), music men Billy Taylor and Freddie King, and singer/comedienne Kaye Stevens. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.