1954 in radio

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The year 1954 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.

Events

20 January – The National Negro Network is formed in the United States.
25 January – First broadcast of Dylan Thomas's radio play Under Milk Wood, two months after its author's death, with Richard Burton as 'First Voice', on the BBC Third Programme.
1 February – KECA and KECA-FM, two Los Angeles stations, change their call letters to KABC and KABC-FM respectively, reflecting their new ownership by ABC-United Paramount Theaters.
1 April – ABC-United Paramount Theaters, owners of WENR-Chicago, purchase time-share counterpart WLS-Chicago from Sears, Roebuck and Co., and merge both stations under the WLS call sign (their FM sister station would keep the WENR call sign until 1965).
15 July – The Nippon Broadcasting System initiates its first official regular broadcasting service in Tokyo, Japan.
18 October – Texas Instruments announces the development of the first commercial transistor radio. The Regency TR-1 goes on sale the following month.
17 November – WJW (AM) in Cleveland, Ohio (later WKNR) is sold by William M. O'Neill to Storer Broadcasting.

Debuts

3 January – Man's Right to Knowledge debuts on CBS.^[1]
3 January – WSTN debuts as a 1 kW daytimer at St. Augustine, Florida.
9 January – Roadshow debuts on NBC. Starring Bill Cullen, the three-hour weekly program is considered a forerunner of the network's Monitor, which began a year later.^[2]
6 April – Crime and Peter Chambers debuts on NBC.^[3]
2 September – Dr. Sixgun debuts on NBC.^[3]
25 October – WMSN in Raleigh, North Carolina debuts as a 500 watt daytimer at Raleigh, North Carolina.^[4]
2 November – Hancock's Half Hour debuts on BBC radio.^[5]

Endings

3 January – Quiz Kids ends its run on network radio (CBS).^[2]
6 January – Dr. Christian ends its run on network radio (CBS).^[2]
15 January – Double or Nothing ends its run on network radio (ABC).^[2]
16 January – The Baron and the Bee ends its run on network radio (NBC).^[3]
5 March – Family Skeleton ends its run on network radio (CBS).
12 March – House of Glass ends its run on network radio (NBC).^[3]
26 March – Front Page Farrell ends its run on network radio (NBC).^[3]
27 March – Twenty Questions ends its run on network radio.^[2]
28 March – Bulldog Drummond ends its run on network radio (Mutual).^[3]
30 March – Rocky Fortune, a half-hour detective drama starring Frank Sinatra, aired its final episode on NBC.^[3]
22 May – The Armstrong Theater of Today ends its run on network radio (CBS).^[3]
27 May – Time for Love ends its run on network radio (CBS).^[3]
18 June – The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ends its run on network radio (ABC).^[3]
24 June – The Six Shooter ends its run on network radio (NBC).^[3]
9 July – Can You Top This? ends its run on network radio (NBC).^[3]
1 August – Broadway Is My Beat ends its run on network radio (CBS).^[3]
7 September – Crime and Peter Chambers ends its run on network radio (NBC).^[3]
25 September – Escape ends its run on CBS.^[3]
25 September – Stars over Hollywood ends its run on network radio (CBS).^[3]
30 September – On Stage (radio show) ends its run on network radio (CBS).
3 September – The Lone Ranger ends its run of original radio shows.
27 November – The Falcon ends its run on network radio (Mutual).^[3]
26 December – Man's Right to Knowledge ends its run on network radio (CBS).^[6]
(undated) – The Jack Berch Show ends its run on network radio (ABC).^[3]

Births

12 January – Howard Stern, American shock jock radio personality
22 August – Kurt Andersen, American novelist, columnist and public radio host
26 August – Steve Wright, English DJ
27 August – Andrew Marshall, English comedy scriptwriter
8 September – Joe Cipriano, American voice over actor and radio personality
3 October – Al Sharpton, American activist, minister, and radio talk show host
20 November – Steve Dahl, American radio personality and humorist
27 November – Arthur Smith, English comedian and radio presenter
5 December – Peter Arbogast, American sportscaster

Deaths

10 January – Chester Wilmot, Australian war correspondent, killed in accident to BOAC Flight 781 (born 1911)
4 November – Joy Hathaway, Canadian-born American actress of the Golden Age of Radio

References

^ "Dr. Kirk to Preside at Radio Lectures". The New York Times. 20 December 1953. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3848-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
^ "Newest Radio Station Put on Air Here", Raleigh News & Observer, 27 October 1954, page 11.
^ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-102715-9.
^ "C.B.S. Will Resume Series of Lectures". The New York Times. 18 September 1954. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.

[1] "Dr. Kirk to Preside at Radio Lectures". The New York Times. 20 December 1953. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.

[coxotd-2] Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3848-8.

[dunningota-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.

[4] "Newest Radio Station Put on Air Here", Raleigh News & Observer, 27 October 1954, page 11.

[5] Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-102715-9.

[6] "C.B.S. Will Resume Series of Lectures". The New York Times. 18 September 1954. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.

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