Industry News

Religion claimed 2,040 signals as of Dec. 28, 2019, up from 1,948 one year earlier, according to an exclusive Inside Radio report that tallies monthly Format Counts. That narrowed the gap with top-ranked Country, which added 20 outlets to finish the year with 2,199 stations.

Happy Birthday to Dabney Coleman, Van Dyke Parks, Mel Gibson and Stephen Sills. On this date William S Paley (pictured) incorporated the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS.) And a future General Manager of the station Hal Davis joined CKNW as Chief Copywriter. The 100th episode of ‘The Jeffersons’ aired on CBS, and ABC telecast the 100th episode of ‘Hart to Hart.’ ALL the milestones for Jan. 3rd INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Cuba Gooding Jr, Taye Diggs, Jack Hanna, Dax Shepard, and Kate Bosworth. Bing Crosby began his 10-years as host of NBC radio’s ‘Kraft Music Hall’; the CBC opened its second national AM hookup, the ‘Dominion Network.’ ‘The Life of Riley’ with William Bendix came to NBC-TV, and two years later so did ‘The Bob Cummings Show.’ Nanaimo’s CHUB AM 1570 was flipped to FM, becoming THE WAVE 102.3. As we neared the end of the network radio era, CBS dropped ‘The Road of Life’, ‘Our Gal Sunday,’ and two other longrunning soaps. Jan. 2nd obits include Dick Powell, Alan Hale Jr, Anne Francis, CNN’s Jim Huber, and Manitoba’s Jack Carson (pictured). ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zBzZJd-nfw Marty Robbins continued his story telling with El Paso in 1975. 1975 Marty Robbins ... Chuck Benson – Started his broadcast career in 1960 as a writer at CKYL,...

Jan. 1st saw many broadcast firsts, including the debut of the Canadian ‘Bravo’ cable channel, the start of VH1 in the US, the debut of ESPN Radio and the CBS-TV series ‘ Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman’ (pictured). The first broadcast of the Rose Bowl game was heard on KHJ Los Angeles, and 4 years later, the Rose Bowl went coast-to-coast on NBC radio. Lorne Green was named voice of the new CBC national news service; Vancouver’s CKNW moved from 1230 to 1320 KHz with 250 watts of power, CKWX Radio went to 24 hour service with ‘Concert Under the Stars’ from midnight to 5, and CHQM amended its Easy Listening music format to include Light Rock. The final episode of ABC-TV’s ‘Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet’ was filmed, and CBS-TV’s ‘The Karen Carpenter Story’ became the most-watched TV movie of the year. ALL the milestones for Jan. 1st INSIDE.

On Griffin's long-running TV talk show that began in 1962, the fun-loving Sheldon was front and center for 16 years after being hired for Mort Lindsey's band and enjoyed rich comic banter with the host, a big band singer himself.

A mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Cross Catholic Church at 4049 Gordon Head Road in Saanich on Friday January 10th, 2020 at 10am. A short reception will be held in the adjoining hall immediately following the service.

Happy Birthday to Burton Cummings, Ben Kingsley, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Val Kilmer and Bebe Neuwirth. Seattle radio station KOMO debuted at 980 KHz; Guy Lombardo played ‘Auld Lang Syne’ on CBS radio to bring in 1930, and a tradition was born; ‘Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve’ debuted on NBC-TV (it moved to ABC two years later); CNN’s second channel ‘Headline News’ debuted on US cable systems; the BBC began using the chimes of Big Ben as its ID; and ‘The Doctors’ ended its 19 year run on NBC-TV. Among the obits for Dec. 31 are Vancouver big bandleader Dal Richards, Nashville pianist Floyd Cramer, Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, pop singers Rick Nelson and Natalie Cole, and actress Eileen Heckart. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Kurtis Vanel co-owned R&D Studio, where the Poppy Family recorded Vancouver’s first million selling record, Which Way You Goin’, Billy? He was a bit of a hoarder, and never seems to have thrown out any of his old tapes.

Happy Birthday to Tracey Ullman, Meredith Vieira, Sean Hannity and sitcom guru James Burrows. Also born this day were Bert Parks, Jack Lord, Dennis Morgan and Jeannette Nolan. Canada’s first radio network hooking up Montreal with Ottawa broadcast the CNR’s Anniversary Show; the famous Jack Benny feud with Fred Allen kicked off on NBC radio; the first black and white TV sets sold for $1,175 US; James Arness, soon to be Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke, made his TV acting debut on the Lux Video Theatre; ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ with Winnipeg’s Monty Hall (pictured) debuted on NBC-TV; and the same network, after 25 years, cancelled ‘The Wonderful World of Disney.’ Among the obits for Dec. 30th were composer Richard Rodgers, bandleader Ralph Flanagan, and ’60/’70’s Seattle radio DJ Lan Roberts. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.