Today in Broadcast History

Dec. 7th gave us radio’s king of horror writing Arch Oboler, Mary Tyler Moore’s TV newsman Ted Knight, music men Tom Waits and Harry Chapin, and actors Rod Cameron and Ellen Burstyn. Radio brought us the news of Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor; KCTS signed on on Seattle channel 9 bringing Public Television to the Northwest; CHPQ AM1370 in Parksville signed on; some 35 years later KSQM 91.5 Sequim Wash. signed on; Instant Replay was used for the first time on CBS-TV’s telecast of the Army-Navy football game; the Christmas special ‘Frosty the Snowman’ (pictured) debuted on CBS-TV; and The Beatles were seen for the first time on North American television. ALL the milestones for Dec. 7th INSIDE.

It’s the date of birth for the late Agnes Moorehead, Wally Cox and Bobby Van. Calvin Coolidge gave the first presidential address to be carried on radio; ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ was seen for the first time on NBC; ‘Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,’ already a hit on radio, became a simulcast on CBS-TV; psychologist Joyce Brothers (pictured) won the top prize on CBS-TV’s ‘$64,000 Question’; and Moose Jaw’s pioneer radio station CHAB moved to its current dial position at 800 KHz. Obits include singer Roy Orbison, actor Don Ameche, puppeteer Burr Tillstrom of Kukla, Fran and Olly, and ‘Aunt Bee’ of ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ Frances Bavier. ALL the milestones for Dec 6th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to comedian Margaret Cho and actor Frankie Muniz. Bing Crosby (pictured) took over the hosting of NBC radio’s ‘Kraft Music Hall; “The Green Hornet’ aired its last original episode after 15 years on network radio; Jack Webb’s ‘Dragnet’ debuted on NBC-TV; and Bob Dylan gave a rare interview to CBS-TV’s ’60 Minutes.’ Obits Dec. 5th include Canadians Art Hallman and Wilf Carter, Roone Arledge of ABC News, and jazz giant Dave Brubeck. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It’s the birth date of actors Jeff Bridges, Donnelly Rhodes, Marisa Tomei, Patricia Wettig and Victor French; of the music world’s Dennis Wilson, Deanna Durbin, Chris Hillman, Freddy Cannon and Eddie Heywood; and of broadcasters Wink Martindale and Alan Jackson. ‘The Eveready Hour’ began its pioneering radio variety show run on New York’s WEAF; Walter Winchell began his longrunning Sunday night news and gossip radio show on NBC Blue; the iconic radio soap ‘Ma Perkins’ moved from Cincinnati’s WLW to the NBC Red network; Frank Reynolds co-anchored his final ABC-TV evening newscast; and ‘Falcon Crest’ began its 9-year prime time run on CBS-TV. It’s also the date we lost iconic Calgary sportscaster Ed Whalen (pictured). Details and ALL the Dec 4th milestones INSIDE.

Born this date were Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Connee Boswell, Jaye P Morgan, Daryl Hannah and Ozzie Osbourne, ‘The Voice of Firestone’ started a 35 year run on radio; Paul Harvey News & Comment began a 58 year run on ABC Radio; CTV’s Harvey Kirck (pictured) became the frst 20-year man anchoring a Canadian network newscast; the late New York disk jockey Alan Freed was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and CBS-TV aired the 200th episode of ‘Knots Landing.’ Fraser Valley transmitters on the AM band fell silent, as the original stations in Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Hope completed their transfer to the FM band, Details and ALL the milestones for Dec. 3rd INSIDE.

Born this date were Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado, Lucy Liu, Cathy Lee Crosby, Ray Walston and Hy Gardner. ‘The Adventures of Charlie Chan’ debuted on radio’s NBC Blue network; Don Imus brought his shock-jock radio schtick from Cleveland to New York’s WNBC; Jungle Jay Nelson (pictured) did his first morning show on Toronto’s CHUM radio; NBC-TV’s ‘This is Your Life’ surprised their subject of the week Bobby Darin; after nearly half a century the amazing Alan Waters stepped down as head of CHUM broadcasting; and Brian Williams took over the anchor chair at NBC’s Nightly News. Celebrity deaths include folksinger Odetta, actors Robert Cummings and Desi Arnaz, jazz star Bob Haggart, actresses Gail Fisher and Roxie Roker, as well as Canada’s Fifi D’Orsay and broadcast magnate Ted Rogers Jr. Details and ALL the milestones for Dec. 2nd INSIDE.

Actress Mary Martin, perhaps best known today as the mother of the late Larry Hagman, was born. She starred in the three productions of Peter Pan in the mid fifties. Gene Autry began his long association with radio by singing on WLS Chicago for $35 a week. On this day in 1944, Vancouver’s CKWX AM 980 became the first station in Western Canada to join a U.S. network, the Mutual-Don Lee Broadcasting System.

Many celebrities were born this date including Vin Scully, Howie Mandel, Don Cheadle, Diane Ladd, Garry Shandling, Merle Travis, Dagmar, Tom Sizemore, Denny Doherty, and TV newsman Frank Reynolds. NBC radio began using the 3-note chimes; the early radio crime show ‘Calling All Cars’ debuted on the CBS West Coast network; the Chicago puppet show ‘Kukla Fran & Ollie’ (pictured) moved to the NBC-TV network; the Metropolitan Opera was first televised on WJZ-TV; for the first time the ‘Grammy Awards’ made it to TV; and PBS televised a taped concert honoring Bruce Springsteen. Obits for Nov. 29th include Natalie Wood, George Harrison, Gene Rayburn, Ray Smith and Godfrey Cambridge. Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Happy birthday to Jon Stewart, Paul Schaeffer, Randy Newman, Ed Harris, S. Epatha Merkerson and Berry Gordy Jr. It’s the date William Boyd brought his ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ movies to TV; when the Grand Ole Opry debuted on WSM Nashville as ‘The WSM Barn Dance’; the 200th Andy Griffith Show aired on CBS-TV; a few years later CBS broadcast the last live TV soap operas before tape took over; and Phil Donahue moved his TV talk show from Chicago to New York. This was the date we lost entertainment giants Garry Moore and Leslie Nielsen. ALL the milestones for Nov. 28th INSIDE.

It’s the date that brought us Rich Little, Robert Goulet, Ernie Coombs, Tina Turner, Charles Schulz (‘Peanuts’ cartoonist), and Eric Sevareid of CBS News. The CRTC introduced ‘simultaneous substitution’ of US programming to Canadian cable systems; NBC premiered a 30-minute ‘Price is Right’ game show hosted by Bill Cullen; the CBC televised the Grey Cup Game for the first time; Elton John (pictured) guested on FOX-TV’s ‘Ally McBeal’; and ABC telecast the TV special ‘Paul McCartney: Good Evening New York.’ Details and ALL the Nov. 26th milestones INSIDE.