Columns

IT WAS APRIL 20th … when Radio Specialties Ltd opened the predecessor to Vancouver’s C-FUN & CKMO using 40 watts of power on 450 meters (666 khz). The studios of CFCQ were at 791 Dunsmuir…. When “Your Hit Parade” debuted on NBC Radio as a one-hour Saturday night program, featuring 15 of the week’s top songs… When “The Big Show” with hostess Talullah Bankhead (pictured) completed its two year run on NBC Radio… and when the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave approval for FM stereo broadcasting. ALL the broadcast milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 19th … when the Chicago Barn Dance first aired on WLS. In a few short years it became the National Barn Dance on NBC radio… When the ABC Television Network began operations, only in Philadelphia and Washington at first… When New York AM station WINS became the world’s first all-news radio outlet… and when our TV screens were filled with images of destruction from Oklahoma City, after a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 18th … when future late night TV host Johnny Carson played a bored New Jersey husband with a gift for picking horse-racing winners, in a Playhouse 90 production on CBS-TV… When the reality TV show “Real People” debuted, featuring John Barbour, Sarah Purcell, Byron Allen, Skip Stephenson, and Bill Rafferty… When the TV movie “Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys” aired on ABC… and when Arsenio Hall (pictured)l announced (for the first time) he would end his five-year-old late-night TV talk show the following month… ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 17th .. when San Francisco radio station KPO (now KNBR) took to the airwaves with 50 watts of power… When writer/producer Wyllis Cooper brought Lights Out to NBC radio for what would be acclaimed as the medium’s ultimate horror show… When CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show featured Petula Clark singing “Sign of the Times’, and The Animals performing “Don’t Bring Me Down”… and when comedian Joey Bishop (pictured) got the opportunity to try to unseat the king of late night, Johnny Carson, courtesy of ABC-TV. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 16th … in the early years of radio when Vancouver’s CNRV became CRCV 1100 as the Canadian Radio Commission took over operations from the CNR… When the soon-to-be highly popular “Fibber McGee & Molly” radio program debuted on the N-B-C Blue Network from Chicago… When Polly Bergen (pictured) starred in “The Helen Morgan Story” on CBS TV’s live drama showcase Playhouse 90… and when Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchor of “The CBS Evening News.” ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 15th .. when the world’s first all colour TV station was dedicated. Chicago’s WNBQ-TV has since evolved into WMAQ-TV… When CFRO FM 102.7 Vancouver Co-Op Radio signed on, after three months of trials… When “In Living Color,” FOX-TV’s sketch comedy show starring its creators Keenan Ivory Wayans and Damon Wayans,and introducing Canadian Jim Carrey (pictured), began its four year run… and when Bill Rancic beat out Kwame Jackson to win the first season of NBC’s “The Apprentice” with Donald Trump. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 14th .. when Robert Ripley hosted his first ‘Believe It or Not Broadcast’ on NBC, the beginning of an 18 year radio run… When WGN radio carried the first play-by-play broadcast of a regular season Chicago Cub baseball game… When Chilliwack’s CHWK moved up the dial from 1340 to 1230 KHz, enroute to its longtime home at 1270… When piano virtuoso Van Cliburn appeared on US national TV for the first time, as Jack Paar’s guest on NBC-TV’s ‘Tonight Show’… and when CBS-TV aired the Johnny Cash special ‘Spring Fever’ in prime time, with guests Waylon Jennings, June Carter Cash, and Rosanne Cash. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 13th .. when the weekly radio crime drama ‘Bulldog Drummond’ began its 8-year run on the Mutual Broadcast System… When the CRTC’s first public hearings on Cable Television were held… When “The Grand Ole Opry,” a Saturday night radio staple from Nashville that holds the longevity record for any live broadcast, came to cable TV (Nashville Network) … and when the cast of “The Andy Griffith Show” reunited for the NBC-TV film “Return To Mayberry.” It attracted the largest audience of any TV-movie that year. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 12th when Canadian broadcaster J. Frank Willis began his legendary 69 hour marathon coverage from a mine surface in Nova Scotia (pictured), after an explosion trapped three miners down below … When ‘The Life of Riley’ family comedy was heard for the first time on the CBS radio network, as a Saturday morning half-hour… When CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show featured Brook Benton singing his first hit, “It’s Just A Matter Of Time”… and when the first episode of “21 Jump Street” starring a young Johnny Depp, aired on the Fox Network. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 11th .. when the first live sports event on radio, a boxing match, was heard blow-by-blow over Pittsburgh’s pioneer station KDKA… When hockey play-by-play legend Danny Gallivan (pictured) was born in Montreal… When Lesley Gore and Paul Anka headlined the final broadcast of NBC-TV’s pop music showcase, ‘Hullabaloo!’… and when the Tommy Hunter Show, after a nearly 27 year run, was seen for the last time on CBC TV. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.