1970 in radio
Encyclopedia
The year 1970 in radio saw the debut of a nationally sydicated music countdown show and the incorporation of NPR
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NPR
NPR, 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...
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Events
- April — KKDAKKDA (AM)KKDA is an AM radio station broadcasting as Soul 73 serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The station is licensed in Grand Prairie, Texas, and is owned and operated by Service Broadcasting.-History:...
in Dallas, TexasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
returns to rhythm and bluesRhythm and bluesRhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
format. - July 11 — "American Top 40American Top 40American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...
", hosted by Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
radio personality (and show co-founder) Casey KasemCasey KasemKemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
, is launched in national syndication. Created by Kasem and Don Bustany, and distributed by Watermark Inc.Watermark Inc.Watermark Inc. was a radio syndication company that was founded in 1969 by Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Watermark's best known programs were American Top 40 and its spinoff American Country Countdown. Both shows were created by Casey Kasem and Don Bustany....
, the program features the top 40 hits from Billboard magazine's Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart. The show is a success and sets the standard for radio countdown programs for years to come.
No dates
- Alex Bennett and his wife/producer Ronni move their show from WMCAWMCAWMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
to WPLJWPLJWPLJ is a radio station in New York City owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media. WPLJ shares studio facilities with sister station WABC inside 2 Penn Plaza in midtown Manhattan, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building. The station currently plays a Hot Adult...
in New York. - The Pop Chronicles broadcast by American Forces Radio and Television Service.
Debuts
- July 11 — "American Top 40American Top 40American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...
." - October — KBEM-FM in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
signs on. - October 5 — BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
first broadcasts consumer affairs magazine programme You and YoursYou and YoursYou and Yours is a British radio consumer affairs programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.-History:It began broadcasting in October 1970, its first presenter was Joan York. In the great rescheduling of April 1998 it was increased from a 25 minute programme to 55 minutes. In the 1980s it briefly ran...
; it will still be running forty years later.
No dates
- National Public Radio incorporated, taking over the National Educational Radio NetworkNational Educational Radio NetworkThe National Educational Radio Network was a means of distributing radio programs in the United States between 1961 and 1970. With funding from the Ford Foundation, the network began broadcasting on six radio stations on April 3, 1961....
. - Syndicated broadcasts of Adventures in Good MusicAdventures in Good MusicAdventures in Good Music, hosted by Karl Haas, was radio's most widely listened-to classical music program, and aired nationally in the U.S. from 1970 to 2007. Adventures in Good Music was also syndicated to commercial and public radio stations around the world...
with Karl HaasKarl HaasKarl Haas was a German-American classical music radio host, whose distinctively sonorous voice and humanistic approach to making music appreciation contagious made him well-received by many...
across the U.S. began, from WCLVWCLVWCLV — branded WCLV 104.9 — is the classical radio station licensed to Lorain, Ohio serving Greater Cleveland and western parts of surrounding Northeast Ohio; WCLV is one of the few remaining classical music stations in the United States....
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Closings
- National Educational Radio NetworkNational Educational Radio NetworkThe National Educational Radio Network was a means of distributing radio programs in the United States between 1961 and 1970. With funding from the Ford Foundation, the network began broadcasting on six radio stations on April 3, 1961....
absorbed into the new National Public Radio.
Births
- February 14 - Simon PeggSimon PeggSimon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...
, British comedian, film and television actor, radio personality - August 16 - Bonnie Bernstein, American television and radio sports reporter and anchor.
- November 23 - Zoë BallZoë BallZoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
, British television and radio presenter