1979 in radio
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The year 1979 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.
Events
- March 25: Prokofiev's opera Maddalena receives its world premiere as a BBC Radio 3 broadcast (from a studio recording) in the UK, with Jill Gomez in the title role.[1]
- September: KDWB-FM in Minneapolis, Minnesota breaks away from their Top 40 AM sister, becoming album-oriented rock as "K101".
- October 8-November 3: The engineers and airstaff of WCCO-AM-FM-TV go on strike.
- October 22: A Pittsburgh court receives a $7 million libel lawsuit from county politician Cyril Wecht over remarks the city controller made of him during a radio interview.[2]
- Undated: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, long time rocker KRST flips to country music, becoming the city's first FM country radio station. KRST continues playing country music.
Debuts
- February 5: Sears Radio Theater debuts on CBS in the United States.[3]
- May 31: RTÉ Radio 2 signs on the air in the Republic of Ireland as a national pop music station: "Like Clockwork" by The Boomtown Rats is the first song on air, played by Larry Gogan.[4]
- November 5: The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio in the United States.
- Undated: WIXK-FM signs on the air in Minneapolis–Saint Paul.
Endings
- November 4: KUAC ends AM after 12 years. It is replaced by Morning Edition (see above in Debuts).
Births
- May 4: Wes Butters, English broadcaster.
- July 23: Peter Rosenberg, American radio personality.
Deaths
- April 9: Staats Cotsworth, 71, American actor perhaps best known for playing the title role in Casey, Crime Photographer.
- September 27: Gracie Fields, 81, English wartime singer, actress and broadcaster on BBC and Radio Luxembourg.[5]
- October 27: Charles Coughlin, 88, Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest who used radio to reach a mass audience during the 1930s. This radio program included praises of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
References
- ↑ Adam, Nicky, ed. (1993). "Jill Gomez". Who's Who in British Opera. Aldershot: Scolar Press.
- ↑ O'Toole, James; Dietrich, Charlie (2006-01-21). "Wecht no stranger to controversy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
- ↑ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 603. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
- ↑ "RTÉ 2fm". Rte.ie. Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ Larkin, Colin (1995). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Guinness. p. 1443. ISBN 978-1-56159-176-3.
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