Columns

The medium of television was first demonstrated on Jan. 26th, in London by John L Baird. Singer & radio star Jack Smith took over from Art Baker as host of one of early TV’s most popular shows, “You Asked for It.” The Global Television Network began operations as a six-transmitter regional service covering southern Ontario. ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ made its debut on ABC-TV in the post-midnight slot formerly filled by Bill Maher. And we lost the long-faced Abe Vigoda (pictured) who added so much to ABC’s ‘Barney Miller’ police station sitcom. ALL the milestones for Jan. 26th INSIDE.

The daytime soap opera. ‘The Guiding Light,’ began its 72-year broadcast run on this date on NBC radio, later moving to CBS-TV. Vancouver’s CBR 1130 moved down the dial & became CBU AM 690. B.J. Thomas sang his current Top 20 hit “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” on CBS-TV’s ‘Ed Sullivan Show.’ President John F. Kennedy’s first press conference became the first such event to be carried live on radio & TV. ALL the milestones for Jan. 25th INSIDE.

Lori Lewis is back on our show for the third time? Why so often? Because the world of social media moves that quickly. The last time we had Lori on the show, Instagram Stories was just starting to become a thing and Tik Tok wasn't even a thing.

Vancouver radio station CKWX (AM980) opened a new 5,000 watt transmitter on Lulu Island (now Richmond.) The UK’s ‘The Animals’ and ventriloquist Shari Lewis headlined CBS-TV’s ‘Ed Sullivan Show.’ The short-lived Norman Lear sitcom, “Hot-L Baltimore” debuted on ABC TV. The O.J. Simpson murder trial got underway, making CNN must-see TV for the next 8 months. It was also Jan. 24th when legendary Canadian broadcaster and author Peter Gzowski (pictured) lost his battle with emphysema at age 67. ALL the milestones for Jan. 24th INSIDE.

The outstandingly popular miniseries “Roots” by Alex Haley debuted on ABC and ran for 8 consecutive nights. Radio station WOR moved from Newark New Jersey to New York City. What would become an iconic police station sitcom, ‘Barney Miller’ premiered on ABC-TV. Mr. T became a TV action celebrity as ‘The A Team’ began its 5-year run on NBC. The ‘Donny & Marie’ variety show debuted on ABC-TV. The sitcom ‘about nothing’ Seinfeld’ began a nine-year run on NBC-TV. And it’s the date we lost TV superstars Johnny Carson and Bob Keeshan (Capt.Kangaroo.). ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

CKNW threw the switch boosting power from 250 to 1,000 watts on 1320 KHz. One of Irna Phillips’ early daytime dramas ‘The Right to Happiness’ moved from the NBC Blue network to CBS radio. The hilarious ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In’ began as a weekly series on NBC -TV. And New Westminster’s Raymond Burr starred for the 1st time as Captain Lee Quince in the debut of “Fort Laramie” on CBS radio. ALL the milestones for Jan. 22nd INSIDE.

It’s the date the legendary deejay Wolfman Jack (pictured) was born. The portly detective show ‘The Fat Man’ began its 5-year run on ABC radio, Patsy Cline sang ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’ on ‘Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts’ on CBS and became the winner for the week. ABC-TV aired the debut of ‘The Johnny Cash Show’ in a regular season primetime slot, after 15 successful weeks as a summer replacement. And singer Jackie Wilson and Canadian comedians Wayne & Schuster headlined ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ on CBS-TV. ALL the milestones for Jan. 21st INSIDE.

Radio Tuktoyaktuk went on the air, serving the Northwest Territories in English and Inuktutuk. This was the date a US television show was transmitted live through an outlet in Canada for the first time, when CBS TV’s “Studio One” was fed from Buffalo to CBLT in Toronto. Singers Sonny James and Ivory Joe Hunter headlined the ‘Ed Sullivan Show.’ And Fred Silverman (pictured) quit as boss of programming at ABC-TV to become president of CBS. ALL the milestones for Jan. 20th INSIDE.

Joe Chesney (pictured) got his own Langley (BC) radio station CJJC on the air at 850 KHz. The first episode of the soon-to-be-iconic ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’ was filmed. 68% of all US TV sets were tuned in as Lucy gave birth on CBS-TV’s ‘I Love Lucy.’ Two years later, CBS-TV debuted ‘The Millionaire” with Marvin Miller. And three decades later, that same network introduced the first edition of the newsmagazine show ’48 Hours.’ ALL the milestones for Jan. 19th INSIDE.

This was the date that Canadian content music quotas first came into effect for AM radio stations. Victoria’s second radio station CKDA started broadcasting, some 27 years after the first station debuted. Lee Majors’ starring vehicle, ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ premiered on ABC-TV. CBS-TV aired the 100th episodes of both the sitcom ‘Good Times’ and ‘Northern Exposure,’ 17 years apart. And prolific producer Norman Lear scored yet another sitcom spinoff as ‘The Jeffersons’ (as pictured) debuted on CBS-TV. ALL the milestones for Jan. 18th INSIDE.