Today in Broadcast History

Happy Birthday to Canadians Gordon Lightfoot, Lorne Michaels and Rachel McAdams. Also born this date were the late Rock Hudson, Archie Campbell and Jack Lescoulie. Calgary’s CHQR began broadcasting at 810 KHz with 10,000 watts; Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy became overnight sensations after guesting on NBC radio’s ‘Rudy Vallee Show’; Rush Limbaugh returned to the airwaves after a month in drug rehab;FOX-TV aired the US’ first condom ad; longtime CBS newsman Roger Mudd (pictured) began working for NBC News; and Elton John recorded his next album live on New York’s WABC-FM. Passing away Nov. 17th were Chicago radio children’s favorite Ireene Wicker, big band singer Bob Eberly, announcer Bill Baldwin, and country music’s Don Gibson. Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It’s the date of birth for Burgess Meredith, Daws Butler, Eddie Condon, Mary Margaret McBride, Guy Stockwell and Jim Jordan (of ‘Fibber McGee’ fame). NBC began a two night showiing of ‘The Godfather,’ for which it paid $10 million; Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jerry Lee Lewis performed on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show; the 100th episode of ‘The X-Files’ aired on FOX; Walter Cronkite hosted ‘Sinatra: an American Original’ on CBS-TV; and David Bowie’s first TV special aired on NBC’s ‘Midnight Special.’ Tennessee Ernie Ford’s ‘Sixteen Tons’ began an 8 week run as the #1 song; Patsy Cline recorded her next Top 10 hit ‘I Fall to Pieces’; and The Beatles recorded their second performance for Radio Luxembourg. ALL the milestones for Nov, 16th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Ed Asner, Judge Wapner, Sam Waterston, C.W. McCall, Kevin Eubanks, Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, newsman John Roberts, Shalene Woodley and Jack Burns. The National Broadcasting Company began operations with 24 radio stations; Bellingham’s KVOS AM 1200 fired up with 100 watts; TV’s first remote occurred when the cameras of NBC New York’s W2XBT covered a fire; Edmonton’s CKRA-FM (‘Capital FM’) signed on to 96.3 MHz; ‘Dallas’ episode 100 was seen on CBS-TV; and the Rolling Stones made their first appearance on NBC-TV’s primetime ‘Hullabaloo.’ Obits this date include Lionel Barrymore, Enid Markey, Dennis Cole, former CBS owner Larry Tisch, Cincinnati baseball broadcaster Joe Nuxhall, and (pictured) John Morgan of the Royal Canadian Air Farce. ALL the milestones for Nov. 15th INSIDE.

It's the date of birth for actors Dick Powell, McLean Stevenson (pictured), Josh Duhamel, Betsy Brandt, Rosemary DeCamp, and Brian Keith, and singers Martha Tilton, Morton Downey and Johnny Desmond. Chicago radio station KYW was the first to air a professional opera as it was being staged; the BBC began domestic radio service; the Go-Go’s made their national TV debut as guests on NBC’s Saturday Night Live; and the Dave Clark Five performed ‘Over & Over’ on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show. It’s the day Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra recorded their legendary ‘Opus #1′; and Eddie Fisher recorded his 3rd #1 hit ‘Oh My Pa-Pa.’ And the date we lost the first anchorman who did yeoman work on both radio & TV, Robert Trout of CBS News. ALL the milestones for Nov. 14th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Kimmel, Steve Zahn, Garry Marshall, Peter Arnett and Madeleine Sherwood. Arturo Toscannini led the NBC Symphony in its first radio broadcast; the North West Territories got its first radio station as CJCD Yellowknife debuted; Izzy Asper’s Canwest Global launched a $636-million takeover bid for Vancouver’s Western International Communications; the 200th episode of ‘Frasier’ ran on NBC-TV; and Canadian impressionist Andre-Philippe Gagnon (pictured) guested with Johnny Carson on NBC’s ‘Tonight Show.’ The New Vaudeville Band performed their hit ‘Winchester Cathedral on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show, while Sonny & Cher reunited to perform ‘I Got You Babe’ on David Letterman’s late night NBC show. ALL the milestones for Nov. 13th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Neil Young, Al Michaels, Ryan Gosling and Megan Mullally. It’s the day Vancouver’s Red Robinson began his 60-year radio career at CJOR AM600; San Francisco’s clear channel KPO became KNBC (now KNBR); Winnipeg got the city’s first private TV station; the BBC aired TV’s first gardening show; ABC-TV aired the 100th episode of ‘Full House’; and Bon Jovi performed on NBC-TV’s Today Show. Brenda Lee was on CBS-TV’s ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ to sing ‘Fool #1′; and Foo Fighters made their 4th appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Bowing out this date were Eve Arden (pictured) of ‘Our Miss Brooks’, Penny Singleton of ‘Blondie,’ and Dave Willock of scores of light comedy supporting roles, ALL the milestones for Nov. 12th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Demi Moore, Calista Flockhart and Adam Beach. Also born Nov. 11th were Jonathan Winters, LaVern Baker and Robert Ryan. This was the day that radio star Kate Smith first sang ‘God Bless America’; the juvenile adventure ‘Mandrake the Magician’ debuted on New York’s WOR Radio; NBC-TV aired the first movie with an AIDS theme, ‘An Early Frost’; the first video recorder was demonstrated in Los Angeles and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees guested on NBC-TV’s ‘Boy Meets World’. ‘Rocky and his Friends’ debuted as a TV cartoon show, and Courtenay’s CFCP Radio flipped to FM to become ‘Magic FM.’ Obits include Shirley Mitchell, Jane Ace, Dayton Allen, and the voice of the Cleveland Indians Herb Score. Details INSIDE.

It’s the day of birth for Miranda Lambert, Tracy Morgan, Mackenzie Phillips, sportscaster J. Paul McConnell, plus the late Richard Burton, Jane Froman, and (pictured) announcer George Fenneman. ‘The Magnificent Montague’ debuted on NBC as the last original sitcom of the network radio era; Canada’s Board of Broadcast Governors was created to replace the CBC as the industry regulator; ‘Sesame Street’ debuted on the predecessor to PBS in the US; Canada’s national 10-station radio news network CKO closed down, bankrupt; and singer Jose Feliciano appeared in a dramatic role on NBC-TV’s ‘MacMillan and Wife.’ Leaving this mortal coil were Seattle’s voice of baseball Dave Niehaus , actors Jack Palance, Laraine Day and Chuck Connors, and BC broadcaster and station owner Joe Chesney, Details INSIDE.

Born on this date were Ed Wynn, Hedy Lamarr, Tommy Dorsey (pictured), Mary Travers, Nick Lachey and Tom Fogerty. ‘This is Your Life’ debuted on NBC radio; Soundgarden played on Conan’s late night TV show, the same nght that Bon Jovi were guests on David Letterman; John amd Yoko met for the first time, Brian Epstein saw The Beatles play for the first time; David Bowie sang on Cher’s prime time CBS-TV hour; and Donna Reid joined the cast of the CBS-TV show ‘Dallas’. Obits for Nov. 9th include ’60 Minutes’ Ed Bradley, Art Carney of ‘The Honeymooners,’ and deep voiced radio leading man Gerald Mohr. Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Mary Hart, Bonnie Raitt, Alfre Woodard, Rickie Lee Jones and Canadian-born journalists Morley Safer and Craig Oliver. Red Robinson retired from daily broadcasting on C-ISL 650; Vancouver’s CBU-FM began programming separately from its AM counterpart; Kelowna got a new radio station as CKIQ 1150 signed on; ‘Days of Our Lives’ debuted on NBC-TV; and the late night talk show ‘Conan’ had iits premiere on TBS and CTV. Glenn Miller’s Orchestra recorded the big band classic ‘String of Pearls’, Johnny Mathis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show singing ‘Misty’, and singer Ricky Nelson (pictured) appeared in a dramatic role on CBS-TV daytime. ALL the milestones for Nov. 8th INSIDE.