Today in Broadcast History

IT WAS MARCH 20th ... when the original Lucky Strike Hit Parade premiered on NBC radio, featuring the top 15 tunes of the week... When Eugene Ormandy conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra on CBS in the first symphony concert to be televised in North America... When a protege of Dick Clark Bobby Rydell (pictured) made his first TV appearance, during the second season of Clark's daily "American Bandstand" on ABC... and when Edmonton public radio station CKUA went dark for five weeks after it ran out of money. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE;

IT WAS MARCH 19th ... when the first televised prize fight aired in 'living color' saw Joey Giardello knock out Willie Troy on NBC .... When Vancouver's C-FUN AM 1410 flipped to a Top 40 format .... When singer Lesley Gore guest-starred on the last episode of the ABC-TV sitcom "The Donna Reed Show"... And when the final episode of the iconic "Mary Tyler Moore Show" (pictured) aired on CBS-TV. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MARCH 18th when a daytime drama based on the Bible “Light of the World” was first heard on NBC radio.... When Joan Rivers made the first of some 62 guest appearances with Johnny Carson on NBC-TV's 'Tonight Show'... When the debut episode of "The Greatest American Hero" aired on ABC-TV... and when Pat Cashman (pictured) left KJR-FM after 12 years doing morning drive at various Seattle stations. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MARCH 17th when Kate Smith (pictured) came out of vaudeville to begin a 3-decade radio career with Kate Smith Sings, a quarter-hour several times a week on NBC. When, the live country TV program "Five Star Jubilee" premiered on N-B-C... And when CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show featured singers Paul Anka, the Chad Mitchell Trio and the McGuire Sisters. ALL the milestones for St. Patrick's Day INSIDE.

IT WAS MARCH 16th ... when the president's daughter, Margaret Truman (pictured), made her professional singing debut in an ABC Radio broadcast from Detroit that attracted 15 million listeners .... When the big winners at the Emmy Awards were The Phil Silvers Show, Robert Young and Loretta Young ... When the musical headliners on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show were singers Janis Joplin and Ed Ames, plus Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer and Boots Randolph... And when Bell Canada acquired another 84 radio stations and 35 cable TV channels from Astral Media for $3.38 billion .... Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MARCH 15th... when BC got its second radio station operated by The Vancouver Sun, two days after The Province station debuted... When future Montreal rock radio powerhouse CFOX hit the airwaves, under the ownership of Gordon Sinclair Jr... When CBS television introduced its 'Morning Show' (pictured), hosted by future iconic news anchor Walter Cronkite... and when CBS announced it was cancelling its Sunday night lynchpin 'The Ed Sullivan Show' after 23 seasons. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It was March 13th when Pete Parker, on radio station CKCK Regina, called the world's first play-by-play of a complete professional hockey game, just days ahead of Foster Hewitt... when comedians Fred Allen and Jack Benny (pictured) began their 12-year-long 'feud' in an NBC broadcast from the Hotel Pierre in New York City, attracting the second largest audience in the history of radio... when Arthur Godfrey turned down the chance to sign Elvis Presley for his CBS TV Talent Scouts Show. Instead at the same audition he signed singer Pat Boone... and when ABC-TV aired the final episode of Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It was a March 13th when the radio era officially began hereabouts as the Vancouver Province newspaper started testing its new 2000 watt radio service with music .. and a newscast at 8:30 pm... ...when the Manitoba Givernment Telephone service put Winnipeg's CKY radio on the air for the first time .... ...when Edward R. Murrow (pictured) was first heard on radio, reporting for CBS from Vienna... ..when UK pop singer Tom Jones made his TV performing debut on the BBC .... ..and when the Merv Griffin TV Show made its debut in daytime syndication across the US. In Southwest BC it was seen in prime time via KVOS-TV Bellingham. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It was March 12th when the newly elected President of the US Franklin Roosevelt used radio to deliver his first Fireside Chat... ..when singer Fabian (picgtured) was named "Most Promising New Talent" in a poll of "American Bandstand" viewers... ..when Bob Dylan cancelled an "Ed Sullivan Show" television appearance after being told he could not sing "Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues" because it was too political... ..and when syndicated TV's venerable Entertainment Tonight aired its 3,000th show. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It was a March 11th when Charles Van Doren (pictured) finally lost on NBC-TV's rigged game show "21." He left with $129,000. The scandal over leaked answers to Van Doren had not yet erupted... When the FCC decreed that 8 to 11 pm would be TV's prime time controlled and programmed by ABC, CBS and NBC... When Aerosmith was featured on CBS-TV's 60 Minutes... and when talk show host Glenn Beck singled out Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA" as a perfect example of the progressive politics he said were destroying the country. Details and many more milestones for the date INSIDE.