Today in Broadcast History

IT WAS AUG. 8th ... when the one-week-old US cable channel MTV aired its first concert in stereo, starring REO Speedwagon in a performance at Denver... When two jurors from the Michael Jackson molestation trial were interviewed on NBC's 'Today' show. They admitted to the national audience they now wished they'd returned a guilty verdict... When Lamont Tilden (pictured), one of the best known CBC announcers and news readers in the Golden Age of Canadian radio, and the early years of television, died at age 98... ..and when 16-year old Brian Hyland went to No.1 on the Billboard pop singles chart with 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.' ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUG. 6th ... when just months before the US was pulled into WWII, WNBT, Channel 4 in New York City, broadcast TV's first audience-participation show in which studio guests played charades.... When Martin Kane, Private Eye was first heard on Mutual radio.... When 16-year-old Paul Anka (pictured) made his U.S. television debut on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, lip-synching to his first hit "Diana"... ..and when the reality series Gene Simmons' Family Jewels had its premiere on the A&E cable network. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUG. 6th ... when one of radio's first serials, Real Folks debuted on NBC radio... When singer Dinah Shore started her own Sunday evening show on the NBC Blue radio network. Later Dinah would also have a successful TV career spanning more than three decades... When Chubby Checker appeared on Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beechnut Show (ABC TV) and introduced ‘The Twist’... ..and after establishing himself on Mexican border powerhouses, Wolfman Jack (pictured) debuted on WNBC Radio New York. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUGUST 5th .. when KDKA Pittsburgh aired the first-ever baseball play by play, with pioneering announcer Harold Arlin at the mike ... When the daily radio drama "Backstage Wife" first aired on a network (Mutual), after proving popular for a few months on Chicago's WGN. It moved to NBC a year later, and to CBS two decades later!... When after becoming a huge TV hit in Philadelphia, Dick Clark's "American Bandstand'' made its debut on ABC... .. and when Prince George (BC) got its second private radio station as CJCI 620 signed on the air. "C.I." stood for Central Interior... ALL the milestones for Aug. 5th INSIDE!

IT WAS AUG. 4th ... when the first tennis match on radio was aired on Pittsburgh's KDKA, the first US commercial station... When the CBC carried out Canada's first television transmission from a helicopter... When the Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to rescind the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine'... ..and when Duncan BC's radio station CKAY 1500 became CJSU (SUN FM) 89.7. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUG. 3rd ... when 36-year-old announcer Frank Blair became news anchor of the NBC-TV Today Show, a job he would keep for the next 22 years!... When CBS-TV war correspondent Morley Safer sent out a Vietnam report showing American troops using their Zippo lighters to set fire to thatched huts in a Vietnamese village ... When 'Tonight Show' host Johnny Carson graced the cover of the Burbank telephone directory... ..and when the ABC-TV news magazine Primetime Live debuted, with Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer headlining. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUG. 2nd .. when the TV station now known as KCPQ (FOX 13) in Tacoma-Seattle, began broadcasting as KMO-TV Tacoma... When Canadian-born CBS correspondent Morley Safer (pictured) sent the first TV report from Vietnam indicating the US was losing the war... When CHUM-owned TV stations in Victoria, London, Barrie, Wingham, Windsor and Ottawa became A-Channels... ...and when radio station WHTZ-FM, Newark, New Jersey (serving New York City and environs) - signed on as "Z100" with Scott Shannon and the "Morning Zoo". It went from "worst to first" in just a few months. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUG. 1st ...when CKWX signed on from studios in Vancouver's Belmont Hotel, after being known previously as CFDC Nanaimo ... When Mutual radio debuted "The Goodwill Hour", with its familiar phrase, "You have a friend and advisor in John J. Anthony"... When Victoria radio station CKDA 1340 moved to AM 1280 and increased its power from 250 watts to 5000 watts... ..and when "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour'' launched on CBS-TV with a short summer run followed by three successful regular seasons. ALL the milestones for Aug. 1st INSIDE.

IT WAS JULY 31st ... when the announcer introduced for the first time 'Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy!' on CBS radio... When TV news anchor Chet Huntley (pictured) retired from NBC, ending "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" after 14 years... When Leeza Gibbons made her first appearance on TV's Entertainment Tonight, where she remained for 11 years... ..and when CBC Newsworld made its debut on Canadian cable. Today it is labelled CBC News Network. ALL the milestones for July 31st INSIDE.

IT WAS JULY 30th ... when radio crime drama 'The Shadow' began its 24 year run, the first two years on CBS.... When the popular radio soap opera, 'The Guiding Light', was seen for the first time on CBS television... When the soap opera "Santa Barbara" debuted on NBC TV; day 1 of an 8 1/2 year run... ..and when NBC's 'L.A. Law' was nominated for 20 Emmy Awards, one shy of the record held by 'Hill Street Blues.' ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.