Columns

IT WAS AUG. 28th .. when U.S. radio’s first commercial was heard on WEAF in New York, as announcer H.M. Blackwell touted Hawthorne Court, a group of apartment buildings in Queens. The realty company had bought 10 minutes of commercial air time for $100… When 16 years after leaving the CBC air, Canada’s Happy Gang musical troupe reunited for two sold out reunion concerts at Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition… When the 40th Annual Emmy Awards gave top honors to 30something, The Wonder Years and Richard Kiley… ..and when The Jamie Foxx Show began its 4-and-a-half-year run on the WB network. ALL the milestones for Aug. 28th INSIDE!

IT WAS AUG. 27th … when CBLT Toronto moved down the dial from Channel 9 to Channel 6… When the country program that had first showcased the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves, Johnny Horton and Lefty Frizell, ‘Louisiana Hayride,’ aired for the last time on KWKH/1130 AM in Shreveport… When singer Connie Francis signed in as the celebrity mystery guest on CBS-TV’s panel show ‘What’s My Line?’… ..and when Diane Sawyer became the fifth reporter on the top-rated TV newsmagazine, ’60 Minutes,’ alongside (pictured) Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner and Ed Bradley. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS AUG. 26th … when pioneer Calgary radio station CHCQ became CFAC, its third set of new call letters in three months… When Ted Rogers Sr. manufactured the world’s first commercial AC (alternating current) radio tube… When the radio program “Arch Oboler’s Plays” featured the NBC Symphony as the musical backdrop for the drama, “This Lonely Heart”…. ..and when Red Barber (pictured) announced the first televised baseball games — on experimental TV station W2XBS in New York, the predecessor to WNBC. Brooklyn Dodgers hosted Cincinnati Reds in a doubleheader. ALL the milestones for Aug. 26th INSIDE!

IT WAS AUG. 24th .. when the CBC’s CBX AM1010 signed on with 50,000 watts at Lacombe Alberta, in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to serve both Edmonton and Calgary with one transmitter … When Montreal-born William Shatner appeared for the first time on the cover of TV Guide, with fellow Star Trek actors Deforest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy … When a spinoff of the sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes,” “The Facts of Life” debuted on NBC-TV, starting a nine year run…. ..and when NBC TV’s Jay Leno was the host as Microsoft officially rolled out their Windows 95 operating system in the Seattle suburb of Redmond. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS AUG. 23rd …when singers Billy Jones and Ernie Hare, “The Happiness Boys”, first appeared on New York’s WEAF radio, sponsored by Happiness Candy stores.,, When the BBC’s experimental TV service featured the first televised boxing match between Archie Sexton and Laurie Raiteri, almost 15 years before the TV era began … When Seattle radio station KKND “The End” FM 107.7 was born, billing its music as “The Cutting Edge of Rock.” The format helped give birth to Seattle’s famed Grunge movement… ..and when Richard Hatch was revealed as the winning castaway on the first season of CBS’ “Survivor.” ALL the milestones for Aug. 23rd INSIDE!

IT WAS AUG. 22nd … when the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began its first experimental TV broadcasting from London… When “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy” became a three-times-a-week 30-minute feature on ABC radio, after 14 years as a daily quarter-hour strip… When Toronto’s CBLT-TV Channel 9 did its first test broadcast, covering the opening of the 73rd Canadian National Exhibition… ..and when Vancouver radio station CKLG AM730 scrapped it’s Middle-Of-The-Road programming and switched to a Top 40 format in direct competition with C-FUN 1410.. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUG. 21st … that gave us career broadcasters Ken Carpenter, Chris Schenkel, Jack Buck, Harry Smith, and actor Billy Idelson of the Vic & Sade radio show … When The Four Preps and the Lionel Hampton Orch. were the musical guests on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show… When NBC News fired their Canadian-born TV reporter Arthur Kent (pictured), nicknamed ‘the scud stud’ for his reporting during the first Iraq war, after he refused an assignment to war-torn Croatia… ..and when the CRTC approved the sale of Victoria’s CKDA-AM and CFMS-FM, CKDA to the owners of The Q 100.3, CFMS to become ‘The Ocean’ under Rogers ownership. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE!

IT WAS AUG. 20th .. when the first U.S. commercial radio station, 8MK (which later became WWJ), began daily broadcasting in Detroit… When Prince George (BC) TV station CKPG-TV signed on Channel 2 as a CBC affiliate…. When the first episode of the teen sitcom “Saved By The Bell” aired on NBC. It was a Saturday morning favorite for 4 seasons.. When Moffat Broadcasting sold off its empire, two Edmonton stations going to WIC (now Corus), two in Winnipeg going to Rogers, a pair in Calgary going to Golden West, while Vancouver’s CKLG-AM and CFOX-FM were sold to Shaw.... and when two giants of comedy, Jerry Lewis & Phyllis Diller, left this mortal coil. ALL the milestones for Aug. 20th INSIDE!

Josie Fenech has this awesome thing going where she has been apart of a fantastic Ottawa radio story.

IT WAS AUG. 15th .. when CBS inaugurated the first nightly TV news broadcast, a 15-minute feature with anchorman Douglas Edwards reporting the day’s events. At first it was seen only in five cities in the Eastern Time zone… When Peck’s bad boy of Vancouver radio Jack Cullen (pictured) made the move from CKMO to CKNW, taking his Owl Prowl program with him… When Vancouver radio station CKWX moved from 980 to 1130 on the AM dial where it still resides as News 1130… ..and when the CBC locked out 5500 employees coast to coast, all members of the Canadian Media Guild. The labour dispute was not resolved until October. ALL the milestones for Aug. 15th INSIDE.