Birth of CBS Radio Network

On January 27th in 1927, United Independent Broadcasters Inc. began a Radio network which consisted of 16 stations bought by William S. Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paley's guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States and then one of the big three American broadcast television networks. In 1974, CBS dropped its full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired the network in 1995 and eventually adopted the name of the company it had bought to become CBS Corporation. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which coincidentally had begun as a spin-off of CBS in 1971. In late 2005, Viacom split itself and reestablished CBS Corporation with the CBS television network at its core. CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, its parent.

Wikipedia | William S Paley

Radio World: Prometheus: LPFM Window Now Expected in Late 2012

Radio World: Prometheus: LPFM Window Now Expected in Late 2012

Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian and actor.

On January 23rd in 1919, innovative TV comedian Ernie Kovacs was born in Trenton NJ. He was the first to treat television as a unique medium; prior comics had used it as merely an extension of vaudeville, film & radio. He also hosted a quirky 1959 quiz show, Take a Good Look. Kovacs was killed in a single-vehicle LA car crash in a rainstorm Jan 13, 1962. He was ten days short of his 43rd birthday.

Wikipedia | SHOP: Ernie Kovacs

Robert 'Robin' MacNeil, (born January 19, 1931)

Robert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil, is currently a novelist and formerly was a television news anchor and journalist who had paired with Jim Lehrer to create The MacNeil/Lehrer Report in 1975.

Wikipedia | SHOP: Robert MacNeil

There ARE laws against copyright violations...why kill the goose?

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill - PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House - to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity.

See this timeline of SOPA and PIPA events and the activist backlash.

PHILADELPHIA in the '50's

Dwight Weist announcer in radios's golden age

January 16th in 1910, one of the great announcers of bigtime radio, Dwight Weist, was born in Palo Alto California. As well as being the commercial announcer on Inner Sanctum Mysteries & host of We the People, among many announcing assignments, he also had acting roles as the very first Mr. District Attorney, one of several Commissioner Westons on The Shadow, and one of the male actors to play Burton on the soap The Second Mrs. Burton. He was one of the movies theaters news reel voices. He suffered a fatal heart attack July 16 1991 at age 81. MORE, NYTIMES OBIT

ED SULLIVAN CBS RADIO

On January 12th in 1932, columnist & future TV host Ed Sullivan joined CBS radio in a program of gossip and interviews. Wikipedia

Charles Osgood (born January 8, 1933)

Charles Osgood (born Charles Osgood Wood, III on January 8, 1933) is a radio and television commentator in the United States. His daily program, The Osgood File, has been broadcast on the CBS Radio Network since 1971. He is also known for being the voice of the narrator of Horton Hears a Who!, an animated film released in 2008, based on the book by Dr. Seuss. On television, Osgood has been hosting CBS News Sunday Morning since 1994, having succeeded former host Charles Kuralt. Osgood's tenure as host has now exceeded that of Kuralt. He has also anchored the CBS Afternoon News and the CBS Morning News. Before joining CBS News in September 1971, Osgood was an anchor/reporter for WCBS News Radio 88 in New York. Prior to that, he worked for ABC News, was the general manager of WHCT-TV Hartford, Conn., and the program director and manager of WGMS-FM Radio Washington, D.C.

Assorted Videos | Wikipedia | SHOP: Charles Osgood

Birth of FM Broadcasting

On January 5 in 1940, the Federal Communications Commission got its very first demonstration of FM radio. The new medium, free of interference, static, and noise in thunderstorms, was developed by Major E.H. Armstrong. The first FM transmitter was put in operation in 1941.

Wikipedia | Edwin Howard Armstrong

RCA Victor Long Playing Records

On January 4th in 1950, RCA Victor announced that it would manufacture long-playing (LP) records, a format pioneered by Columbia records while RCA was pushing the 45 RPM discs. In 1950, realizing that Columbia's LP format had become successful and fearful that RCA was losing market share, RCA Victor began issuing LPs themselves. Among the first RCA LPs released was a performance of Gaîté Parisienne by Jacques Offenbach, played by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, which had actually been recorded in Boston's Symphony Hall on June 20, 1947; it was given the catalogue number LM-1001. Non-classical albums were issued with the prefix "LPM." When RCA later issued classical stereo albums (in 1958), they used the prefix "LSC." Non-classical stereo albums were issued with the prefix "LSP." In the 1950s, RCA had three subsidiary or specialty labels: Groove, Vik and "X". Label "X" was founded in 1953 and renamed Vik in 1955. Groove was an R&B specialty label founded in 1954.

Wikipedia

New Year's Eve with The Joy Boys of Radio

Early TV test patterns