Today in Broadcast History

IT WAS APRIL 24th .. when Jack Webb introduced his short-lived pre-Dragnet detective-adventure radio show Johnny Madero: Pier 23 on Mutual, with Gale Gordon and William Conrad in the cast ... When Dick Powell (pictured) appeared for the first time as 'Richard Diamond, Private Detective' on NBC radio... When 'X-Minus One', a quality show for science fiction fans, was first heard on NBC radio, offering some of the best drama of the era... and when 'Your Hit Parade' ended after a nine-year run on NBC TV and many more years on network radio. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 23rd .. when Lucille Ball made the first of her 34 appearances on the cover of TV Guide ... When Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, and Vicki Carr, with comedian Bob Newhart were Glen Campbell's guests on his weekly CBS-TV variety show... When NBC-TV aired the pilot of 'Baywatch,' the show that introduced the world to Ladysmith BC's Pamela Anderson ... and when Toronto-born conductor/composer Robert Farnon (pictured), who got his start in the 1930's playing trumpet on CBC Radio's "Happy Gang," died in England at age 87. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 22nd ... when the Army-McCarthy hearings became a big hit in the daytime for peviously little-watched ABC-TV.... When Barbara Walters was officially named a co-host of NBC-TV's Today Show, after doing the job without the title for 5 years... When the final episode of the "All in the Family" spinoff, "Maude" aired on CBS-TV... and when Johnny Carson gave advance notice that he intended to retire from NBC-TV's "Tonight Show" the following year. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS APRIL 21st .. when the quiz show with a top prize of $64, 'Take it or Leave it" made its debut on CBS radio ... When ten-year old Leonard Ross became TV's youngest big money prize winner with $100,000 won on "The Big Surprise"... When the Beach Boys (pictured) appeared on ABC-TV's pop music showcase "Shindig!" performing "Help Me Rhonda" and "Do You Wanna Dance".. and when the final episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" aired on CBS-TV. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

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 Hal (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 "The Apprentice" on NBC. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.