Columns

Happy Birthday to Sally Field, Emma Stone, Ethan Hawke, Bill Henderson of Chilliwack, Fred Penner and Maria Shriver. On this date Windsor’s legendary CKLW came into being when two previous stations were merged; the first commercial TV station WGY Schenectady went on the air; ‘Meet the Press’ debuted on NBC-TV; Phil Donahue’s TV talk show debuted in Dayton, Ohio; ‘The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour’ premiered on CBS-TV; Fox-TV debuted the action series ’24′; and New York’s WOR-TV paid a record $182,000 per episode for reruns of ‘The Cosby Show.” ALL the milestones for the date are INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Bryan Adams, Elke Sommer, Art Garfunkel, Tatum O’Neal and Sam Rockwell. The comic strip ‘The Gumps’ debuted as a series on CBS radio; ‘The Big Show’ debuted as a Sunday night 90-minute radio spectacular on NBC; Vancouver’s CKNW increased power from 1,000 watts to 5,000 at 1320 kc; the ‘Nat King Cole Show’ debuted on NBC-TV; Tom Jones guested on the soundtrack of Fox-TV’s ‘The Simpsons’; and Kenny Rogers and The First Edition made their TV debut on CBS-TV’s ‘Smothers Bros. Comedy Hour.’ Those bowing off the world stage Nov. 5th include Fred MacMurray, Johnny Horton, Bobby Hadfield of the Righteous Bothers, Bobby Nunn and Billy Guy of ‘The Coasters’ (16 years apart); bandleader Guy Lombardo, and career Canadian broadcasters Norm Marshall and Sid Boyling. ALL the milestones for the date are found INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Michael McConaughey, Kathy Griffin, Delbert McLendon, Loretta Swit and Howie Meeker. Also born this date were Will Rogers, Art Carney (pictured), Shirley Mitchell, Kate Reid, and Vancouver-born Court Benson. The longtime radio serial ‘One Man’s Familly’ debuted on NBC Television; Van Morrison was the musical guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’; pioneer Montreal radio station CFCF aired its first commercial show; Vancouver’s CHQM introduced stereo FM to the West Coast; Kelowna’s CKOV signed on with all its 100 watts of glory; and decades later K 96.3 debuted its classic rock format as it signed on, also to serve Kelowna. ALL the milestones for Nov. 4th are found INSIDE.

Ryan Jespersen is one of the great broadcast to podcast success stories. After being relieved from the coveted 9 to noon position at the venerable 630 CHED in Edmonton last year, Ryan hatched a plan to move his audience from terrestrial to digital, and at the same time fill a need for real talk in the digital space.

It’s the date that brought us actors Charles Bronson, Dennis Miller, Roseanne Barr, Lois Smith, Peggy McCay, and singers Lulu and Jane Monheit. The sitcoms ‘The Nanny’ and ‘Dif’rent Strokes’ were seen for the first time; the CBC extended its FM Stereo network coast to coast; ‘Good Morning America’ debuted on ABC-TV; Edmonton’s heritage call letters CFRN were heard for the first time; the ‘Nashville Network’ debuted on North American cable systems; and Geraldo Rivera’s nose was broken as a riot broke out during the taping of his syndicated TV show. Details and ALL the milestones for Nov. 3rd INSIDE.

It’s the day that gave us Burt Lancaster, David Schwimmer, Paul Ford, Jay Black, k.d. lang, and early West Coast newscaster Sam Hayes. The early radio soap opera Myrt & Marge (pictured) debuted on CBS; the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was created; CFGP brought 100 watts of local radio service to Grande Prairie Alta, and years later on this date, CFCW signed on with 250 watts in Camrose. CBC-TV experimented unsuccessfully with a 9 pm newscast, Ted Danson’s ‘Becker’ debuted on CBS-TV, and NBC-TV aired the 100th episode of ‘Third Rock from the Sun.’ Three veteran TV character actors left us on this date, Leonard Stone, Sid Melton and vocalist Paul Frees. ALL the milestones for Nov. 2nd INSIDE.

It’s the date that brought us Victoria’s David Foster (pictured), Bill Anderson, Lyle Lovett, Jenny McCarthy, Toni Collette, and the late Betsy Palmer, Edmonton radio station CFRN was granted its first license; Medicine Hat’s CHAT started up on 1270 kc.; the first English language hockey telecast was called by Foster Hewitt on Toronto’s CBLT; the Dave Clark Five performed on the Ed Sullivan Show; ‘The Lucy Show’ debuted on CBS-TV, and a few years later the same network aired the 100th episode of the sitcom ‘Maude.’ Obits for Nov. 1 include Phil Silvers, Noah Beery Jr., Skitch Henderson, Yma Sumac, Canadian broadcast journalist and politician Rene Levesque, and North Vancouver’s contribution to Air Farce, Dave Broadfoot. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It’s the date of birth of broadcasters Dan Rather and Jane Pauley, singers Dale Evans and Ethel Waters, actors Michael Landon, Barbara Bel Geddes, Ken Wahl and John Candy, and rapper Vanilla Ice. Vancouver’s CHAN-TV (now Global) signed on for the first time; NBC televised ‘Carmen’ as the first opera ever aired ‘in living color’; the 100th episode of ‘The Odd Couple’ was seen on ABC; and Alice Cooper hosted ‘The Monstrous Munster Mash’ marathon on superstation WGN. Bing Crosby’s ‘White Xmas’ began an 11 week run at #1; the Rolling Stones played Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto; and Barry McGuire sang ‘Eve of Destruction’ on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show. ALL the milestones for Oct. 31st INSIDE.

Mike Goral is someone I have only met once, haven't seen in 7 years but we have a long track record of working together.

Happy birthday to Grace Slick, Henry Winkler, Kevin Pollak, Harry Hamlin, Matthew Morrison (formerly of ‘Glee’), and Ben Bailey (formerly of ‘Cash Cab.’). It’s the day CBS radio listeners were terrified by Orson Welles (pictured) and his ‘War of the Worlds’; the 100th episode of ‘Cheers’ was aired on NBC-TV, and 4 years later the same network broadcast the 100th episode of ‘Matlock.’ Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ became a Gold Record. and Frank Sinatra recorded ‘My Way.’ Leaving us on Oct. 30th were Steve Allen, Robert Goulet, Pert Kelton, John Houseman, and Vancouver-born actor John Drainie. ALL the milestones for this date INSIDE.