It appears that Internet radio can soon celebrate its 21st birthday. The New York Times identified what is arguably the first Internet radio station in an article posted by reporter John Markoff on March 4, 1993. “Talk radio is coming to desktop computers,” Markoff wrote from San Francisco. “Within a few weeks, a Virginia-based entrepreneur […]
Archive | History
California Historical Radio Society Finds New Home for Radio Museum
As 2013 drew to a close, the California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) announced that it had signed an agreement to purchase a building in Alameda, California to house the Bay Area Radio Museum and Hall of Fame. CHRS currently operates out of the historic KRE building in Berkeley and its days there have been numbered […]
How the FCC helped win World War II
I am reading Tim Weiner’s diverting book Enemies: A History of the FBI and have learned something about the Federal Communications Commission as well. Its Radio Intelligence Division played a critical role in anti-Fascist counterespionage in the southern hemisphere. Weiner writes: “The civilians of the Radio Intelligence Division intercepted clandestine Germany communications with spies in […]
More radio history books for the holidays (or any time)
I am endlessly buying books about the history of radio. Here are some updated recommendations for the holidays. The Hits Just Keep on Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio: Ben Fong-Torres’ immensely fun history of Top 40 radio explores the lives, accomplishments, and antics of the great Top 40 deejays. Frank, engaging, lots of […]
Remembering WABC radio’s 1963 “Mona Lisa” contest
Much of what you read about radio station contests these days is depressing. At best, some operation botches a game by misrepresenting the rules or winnings and winds up paying the Federal Communications Commission a fine. At worst, a signal launches an ill-advised water drinking marathon that literally kills a contestant. To be fair to […]
50 Years Ago Today Student Radio Broke News of JFK Assassination
As people are reflecting back on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago today, many of them may remember hearing the news over the radio. College radio stations were among the media outlets breaking the news on this tragic day in history. The WMUC archives actually contain audio from the University of […]
Radio News Round-Up: Dallas station to air tapes from JFK assassination, Iggy Pop holiday broadcasts
Here’s a quick radio news roundup to round-out your Thursday afternoon: Nielsen just released its annual Music 360 study that shows 63% of music listeners still turn to terrestrial radio to discover new music, and that radio drives many listeners to look for music on YouTube. The Radio and Internet Newsletter talked with David Bakula, […]
Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon and KRE Events Tomorrow
San Francisco Bay Area radio fanatics will be in 7th heaven tomorrow, when a bunch of California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) events are taking place. The morning starts with a vintage radio swap meet in Berkeley at the historic KRE building beginning at 9am. Then, from 11:30am to 3:00pm the Bay Area Radio Hall of […]
75th Anniversary of “War of the Worlds” Broadcast Marked by Festivities
On Wednesday, radio fans all over the globe celebrated the 75th anniversary of the famed “War of the Worlds” broadcast, a radio drama directed and narrated by Orson Welles that presented a chilling H.G. Wells story about a Martian invasion. At the same time, there are questions as to whether or not listeners were actually […]
The KCBS reporter who informed for the FBI
I am reading Seth Rosenfeld’s extraordinary book Subversives: The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power. There are many radio references in the 734 page tome. Among the most interesting to me are mentions of KCBS radio reporter Dick Leonard, who offered “clandestine help” to the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the […]