Columns

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!

IT WAS AUG. 19th …. when “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the 15 minute nightly radio comedy starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, made its network debut on the NBC Blue chain… When Edmonton got its latest AM station CHQT (1110 KHz) and Yorkton Sask. got its first and only one CJGX AM 1340… When WINS radio in New York City announced it would no longer play white artist cover versions of R&B hits. For example, the DJs were instructed to play Fats Domino’s “Ain’t It A Shame,” not Pat Boone’s… ..and when the 58th and final episode of the rock ‘n’ roll sitcom “The Monkees” aired on NBC-TV. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS AUG. 18th .. when Vancouver radio station CKNW moved from 1320 on the AM dial to 980, the spot vacated the previous year by CKWX. That same day, CKLG moved from 1070 to 730… When the ABC-TV music special ‘The 5th Dimension Traveling Sunshine Show’ featured The Carpenters, Merle Haggard and Dionne Warwick… When former L.A. TV reporter and news anchor John Tesh started a decade as Mary Hart’s co-host on the syndicated “Entertainment Tonight”… ..and when a PetroCan pump attendant Dick Assman of Regina made a cameo appearance on CBS’s Late Show With David Letterman (pictured), after months of ‘Ass Man’ jokes. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Jeff Winskell is a bit of an anomaly in radio. Most folks attend university courses specifically tailored to broadcast, which leads them into the industry naturally, but Jeff went from film student to radio show producer in just a few years.

IT WAS AUG. 17th … when Norman Corwin’s first success debuted on CBS radio. It was ‘Passport for Adams’, starring Robert Young as a small town newspaper editor… When Italian pop vocalist Domenico Modugno appeared on CBS-TV’s “The Ed Sullivan Show” singing his hit single “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)”… When a revolution in the world of music got underway, as the first audio CDs were manufactured… ..and when David Caruso (pictured) quit the cast of ABC’s “NYPD Blue” to pursue a movie career, a move that didn’t pan out. ALL the milestones for Aug. 17th INSIDE.

Frank Gifford was born in Santa Monica Calif, Elvis Presley had died in his Memphis mansion at the age of 42. Jack Paar replaced Walter Cronkite as host of CBS-TV’s “The Morning Show.” longtime host of CBC-TV’s Man Alive, Roy Bonisteel, succumbed to cancer at age 83. Plus who is celebrating a birthday today, and hit songs over the early years

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.