1949 in radio
Encyclopedia
The year 1949 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.
Events
- 1 April – The facilities and staff of the Broadcasting Corporation of NewfoundlandBroadcasting Corporation of NewfoundlandThe Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland was the government-owned public radio service of the dominion of Newfoundland. Following Newfoundland's admission as a Canadian province in 1949, the BCN was absorbed into the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and its three main AM radio transmitters...
are transferred to the Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCanadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
. - 15 April – KPFAKPFAKPFA is a listener-funded progressive talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on-the-air April 15 1949, as the first Pacifica Station...
94.1 FMFrequency modulationIn telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
in Berkeley, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, begins broadcasting as the first listener-sponsored radio station in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the first of five stations founded by the Pacifica RadioPacifica RadioPacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
networkBroadcast networkA broadcast network is an organization, such as a corporation or other voluntary association, that provides live television or recorded content, such as movies, newscasts, sports, Public affairs programming, and other television programs for broadcast over a group of radio stations or television...
.
Debuts
- 9 January – Screen Director's PlayhouseScreen Director's PlayhouseScreen Director's Playhouse is a popular radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949...
premiers on NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. - 18 February – Yours Truly, Johnny DollarYours Truly, Johnny DollarYours Truly, Johnny Dollar was a radio drama of "the transcribed adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account — America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator." The show aired on CBS Radio from January 14, 1949 to September 30, 1962...
(1949–1962) debuts on CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. - 3 June – DragnetDragnet (series)Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
premiers on NBC. - 26 June – WWON-FMWWKXWWKX is a Rhythmic Contemporary station serving the Providence area. The Cumulus Media outlet operates with an ERP of 1.15 kW and is licensed to Woonsocket, Rhode Island.-History:...
/105.5-Woonsocket, Rhode Island begins broadcasting at 390 watts. It is the sister station of WWONWOONWOON is Woonsocket, Rhode Island's oldest radio station, having taken to the air on November 11, 1946 as WWON, a callsign it kept until the current WOON became available in 1992. The change in call became effective on February 3, 1992. On June 26, 1949 WWON added a sister station with WWON-FM on...
/1240 in the same community. - 22 December – WPEP/1570-Taunton, Massachusetts begins broadcasting from studios atop the Roseland Ballroom, north of downtown Taunton.
Births
- Neal ConanNeal ConanNeal Conan is an American radio journalist, producer, editor, and correspondent. He is senior host of the National Public Radio talk show Talk of the Nation....
, NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
host, producer, editor, and correspondent. During the 1991 Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
he was captured by the IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i Republican GuardIraqi Republican GuardThe Iraqi Republican Guard was a branch of the Iraqi military during the presidency of Saddam Hussein. It later became the Republican Guard Corps, and then the Republican Guard Forces Command with its expansion into two corps....
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