1962 in radio

Jack Kotschack in a picture taken on June 30, 1962, when he visited the transmitter ship Bon Jour on Radio Nord's last day of broadcasting.

The year 1962 in radio involved some significant events.

Events

• May 19 – XHDL-FM begins broadcasting on 98.5 FM in Mexico City under the name XELA-FM. ^[1]
• July – After its first few months on the air with a community format, KHAK (98.1 FM) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, takes up a country music format at the station, a format that has remained intact to this day.
• July 1 – KRSI-FM in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, signs on the air as KRSI-FM. ^[2]
• October 2 – KUAC, Fairbanks, first FM Station, begins broadcasting at 104.7, with the morning Show AM on October 3.
• December – KLOU 103.3 in St. Louis, Missouri, begins broadcasting as KMOX-FM.
• December 15 – Storm over the North Sea: Belgian pirate radio station Radio Uylenspiegel is knocked off the airwaves, never to operate again.

No dates

• In Sweden, Sveriges Radio begins trial broadcasts in preparation for the establishment of a third national channel – P3 – as an alternative to commercial pirate radio.
• KRZY in Dallas, Texas, becomes KPCN and flips to a country music format.

Debuts

• October 13 – Svensktoppen , a weekly record chart, is launched by Sveriges Radio.
• Bud Ballou begins his radio career as disc jockey at WOLF.

Closings

• February 1 - My True Story ends its run on network radio (Mutual). ^[3]
• September 30 – CBS broadcasts the final episodes of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar , marking what some consider the end of the Golden Age of Radio.

Births

• June 10 – Akie Abe, Japanese radio DJ
• September 20 – Jim Al-Khalili, Iraqi-born British science broadcaster
• October 12 – Chris Botti, American jazz trumpeter, composer and radio host
• October 28 – Dan "Elvis" Lay, American radio personality, co-host of The Dog House
• November 6 – Frank DeCaro, American writer, performer and SIRIUS OutQ radio show host
• November 22 – Steve DeOssie, American sportscaster, former NFL player
• December 12 – Mike Golic, American football player and radio host

Deaths

• February 17 – Joseph Kearns, 55, American radio and television actor
• October 2 – Frank Lovejoy, 50, American radio and television actor
• December 7 – Kirsten Flagstad, 67, Norwegian soprano whose nationwide personal appeals to radio listeners during Saturday matinee intermissions raised money for the Metropolitan Opera. ^[4]
• December 31 – Bella Alten, 85, Polish-born operatic soprano who gave concerts and radio broadcasts until 1936

References

1. 1962 concession
2. Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 page B-100
3. Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-3848-8.
4. Vogt, Howard: Flagstad: Singer of the Century (Specker and Warburg, London, 1987)