Today in Broadcast History

Happy Birthday today to David Morse, Joan Cusack, Matt Bomer, Jane Krakowski and Daryl Hall. The ‘American Album of Familiar Music’ began its long Sunday night run on NBC radio; Hugh Downs (Pictured) left both ‘NBC-TV’s ‘Today show’ and ‘Concentration’ for a year off. Canada’s first hockey telecast aired in French on Montreal’s CBFT; Rod Stewart got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; Elton John’s ‘Candle in the Wind’ began its 12-week run atop the charts; and Bob Dylan played Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum. Bowing out this date sadly were CBS newsman Douglas Edwards, ventriloquist Wayland Flowers, singers Connee Boswell, Tex Williams and Russ Hamilton, and actor/sportscaster Gil Stratton Jr. Details and ALL the Oct. 11th milestones INSIDE.

Born this date were Helen Hayes, Peter Coyote, Ivory Joe Hunter, Ben Vereen, Tanya Tucker, Mario Lopez, David Lee Roth and Thelonious Monk. The first of 165 episodes of ’77 Sunset Strip’ aired on ABC-TV; ‘Zorro’ and later ‘The Geena Davis Show’ also had their premieres on ABC. Frank Sinatra recorded his iconic ‘Come Fly With Me’; The Supremes appeared for the 1st time on CBS-TV’s ‘Ed Sullivan Show’; and Queen released ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as a single. Neil Diamond scored his first #1 hit with ‘Cracklin’ Rosie’; the BBC inexplicably banned the PG-rated ‘Monster Mash’; and Victoria got country music back when CKXM AM1200 signed on, replacing CKDA. Obits Oct 10th include Redd Foxx, Eddie Cantor, Christopher Reeve, Alex Karras, Solomon Burke, and announcer Tony Marvin. Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE

Happy Birthday to Nick Cannon, Matt Damon, Bruno Mars, Dawna Friesen, Sigourney Weaver, Angus T. Jones, and Chevy Chase. Ozzie & Harriet (pictured) got married this date, and nine years later to the day began their weekly radio sitcom on CBS. The radio show with the distinctive opening, ‘Grand Central Station’ also debuted on CBS; ‘Quirks & Quarks’ began its long run on CBC Radio; ‘Empty Nest’ and ‘Ed’ had their premieres on NBC-TV, and Royal Canadian Air Farce’ began its weekly TV run on the CBC. ‘Cagney and Lacey’ got their start as a TV movie on ABC; Jerry Lee Lewis recorded his smash hit ‘Great Balls of Fire’; and Stan Freberg’s satirical ‘St. George and the Dragonet’ was the #1 hit recording. Details and ALL the milestones for Oct. 8th INSIDE.

It’s the birthday of Simon Cowell, Joy Behar, John Mellancamp, Toni Braxton, plus the late Andy Devine and Vaughn Monroe. The Fox News channel began programming on US cablesystems; the CBC began an ill-fated experiment with a 9 pm TV newscast; the original Hawaiian Eye aired the first of its 134 episodes on ABC-TV; The Rolling Stones performed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live; Bruce Springsteen was interviewed on CBS-TV’s 60 minutes; and Dennis Reid received the OK to sell his three Cariboo radio stations in BC. Alanna Morissette became the first Canadian woman to top the Billboard album chart; and obits include singers Billy Daniels and Mario Lanza, as well as Winnipeg media mogul Izzy Asper. ALL the milestones for Oct..7th INSIDE.

It’s the birthday of Kate Winslet, Bob Geldof, Daniel Baldwin, Steve Miller, and the late Bernie Mac, Allen Ludden (pictured) and Godfrey announcer Tony Marvin. CBS radio’s ‘Hollywood Hotel’ became the first major national show to originate from Hollywood; ’The Honeymooners’ were seen for the first time on the old Dumont Network. ‘Inner Sanctum Mysteries’ aired for the final time on ABC Radio, while ‘Gilmour’s Albums’ began its 40 year run on CBC radio, and Danny Finkleman began his 20 years hosting ‘Finkleman’s 45′s’ Saturday night on the CBC. ‘Meet the Press’, still with us more than 70 years later, aired for the 1st time on Mutual radio. Details and ALL the milestones for Oct. 5th INSIDE.

It’s the date when Victoria’s 2nd TV station, ‘The New VI’ signed on; when Gordon MacRae hosted and sang on radio’s very first ‘Railroad Hour’; and when two pioneering East Coast US radio stations aired game one of the first complete World Series to be broadcast. Bryant Gumbel began his run as co-host of NBC-TV’s Today Show; Barbara Walters became the first woman to co-anchor a network newscast (ABC); CBS premiered the TV shows December Bride, Playhouse 90 and Leave It To Beaver. CBC Vancouver telecast its first live hockey game, and CBC News aired the first show in the controversial ‘This Hour Has Seven Days’ series. Louis Armstrong and Pat Boone were headliners on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show; and Blondie starring Penny Singleton made the move from comic strips and radio to the TV screen. ALL the milestones for Oct. 4th can be found INSIDE.

James Herriot wrote “All Creatures Great and Small” which led to the successful BBC TV series. (Pictured) On this day in 1938, rocker Eddie (Ray Edward) Cochran was born. Come inside and see who else was born... On this day in 1945, ten-year-old Elvis Presley made his first public appearance in a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show, singing “Old Shep.” On this day in 1951, “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! On this day in 1983, Vancouver’s CKNW AM 980 began broadcasting in AM Stereo, which didn't seem to last too long.... Come on Inside and read much more...

Born this date were Groucho Marx, Bud Abbott, Kelly Ripa, Don Maclean, Lorraine Bracco, and movie critic Rex Reed. The Lutheran Hour debuted on radio, as did The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (w/Basil Rathbone), The Cisco Kid, and the predecessor to the longrunning daytime radio soap Pepper Young’s Family. The Aldrich Family began a 4-year run on NBC-TV, Combat and Ben Casey had their premieres on ABC-TV, while The Twilight Zone and Edward R. Murrow’s celebrity interview show, Person to Person, got their starts on CBS-TV. Obituaries include Rock Hudson, Frank Lovejoy, Gene Autry, Lon Clark, Nipsey Russell, Harriet Nelson and Canadian bandleader Denny Vaughan. More milestones for Oct. 2nd INSIDE.

Jimmy Pattison, still driving and here he is filling up with gas. (Pictured). A huge date in Canadian broadcasting, as the CTV network was born with stations from Vancouver to Halifax. CBC-FM also went coast to coast for the first time, and the CBC's Montreal station produced Canada's first colour telecast. Vancouver's CJOR moved down the dial to its longtime home at 600 KHz; Duncan BC got its own radio station as CKAY AM1500 debuted; the second national CBC radio network (The Dominion network) went dark as more national advertising migrated from radio to 1st broadcast milestones INSIDE.

It’s the birthdate of Johnny Mathis, Angie Dickinson, Fran Drescher, Eric Stolz, Jenna Elfman, DJ Chuck Chandler and country music’s Marty Stuart. The BBC finally started its own pop music station, and yet exactly five years later Radio Caroline resumed broadcasting its pirate radio servce. Vancouver’s 1410 AM radio station resumed using the C-FUN call sign it had given up for an ill conceived all-news service. The first World Series telecast was seen on the US East Coast, ‘Cheers’ and Red Skelton debuted on NBC-TV, ‘The Rifleman’, ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘Alias’ got started on ABC-TV; and ‘The Friendly Giant’ began its long run on CBC-TV. Obits for Sept. 30th include James Dean, Edgar Bergen, Mary Ford, Freddy Martin, Al ‘Jazzbo’ Collins, Monty Hall and Barbara Ann Scott. Come inside for the details and ALL the milestones for this date.