1981 in radio

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Last updated June 27, 2024

The year 1981 in radio involved some significant events.

Debuts

March – KWNT (1580 AM) of Davenport, Iowa, switches from its longtime country music format – which it had held since the 1950s, including under its previous call sign KFMA – to a golden oldies format, emphasizing music of the 1930s through early 1950s. It is the first in a series of format switches at the frequency over the next 19 years – formats ranged from oldies to soul to black gospel – all of them unsuccessful.
March 1 - DJ Larry Monroe signs on at Austin's NPR station KUT and stays for 29 years.^[1]
March 30 – Radio stations across America interrupt regular programming following an assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
April 12 – WJOI/Pittsburgh flipped from beautiful music to Top 40, branded as "B94", and adopted the new call letters "WBZZ." That fall, WWJ-FM, a beautiful music station in Detroit, picks up the WJOI calls.
June 1 – CJCB-FM Sydney, Nova Scotia flips from Easy Listening to Country. Along with the format change, the station changes its call letters to CKPE-FM.
September 22 – WCAU-FM in Philadelphia debuts a new Hot Hits format called "98 Now!" which sweeps the local ratings and inspires parent company CBS to look at converting its other FM stations to similar formats.
October – "The Weekly Country Music Countdown," a three-hour weekly countdown program featuring the top 30 country hits of the week as reported by Radio & Records magazine. Hosted by radio personality Chris Charles, the show is the first successful rival to "American Country Countdown."

Births

July 1 – Clemency Burton-Hill, English classical music presenter

Deaths

February 10 – Leonard Plugge, English commercial radio promoter and politician (b. 1889)
March 10 – Bob Elson, American "pioneer in broadcast journalism" best known for his broadcasting of baseball games of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox (b. 1904)^[2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCBS-FM</span> Adult hits radio station in Los Angeles

KCBS-FM is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts an adult hits music format branded as "93.1 Jack FM".

KQQL is a commercial radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market and is licensed to suburban Anoka. It plays classic hits and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Utica Avenue South in St. Louis Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWPR-FM</span> Urban contemporary radio station in New York City

WWPR-FM is an urban contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. WWPR-FM is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan; its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building. The station is the flagship station of the nationally syndicated morning show, The Breakfast Club.

WSAN is a commercial radio station licensed to Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the Lehigh Valley radio market. It broadcasts an oldies radio format, with its studios and offices in the iHeart Broadcasting Center in Whitehall Township. It is the oldest station in the Lehigh Valley.

WRXS is a commercial radio station licensed to Brookfield, Wisconsin, and serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The station is owned by Saga Communications, and operates as part of its Milwaukee Radio Group. It broadcasts an oldies radio format, known as "Pure Oldies," concentrating on 1950s, 60s and 70s hits. It switches to Christmas music during the holiday season.

WBMX is a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a classic hip hop radio format.

WBGB – branded as Big 103 – is a commercial adult hits FM radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves Greater Boston. The WBGB studios are located in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton, while the station's transmitter resides in nearby Newton. Besides a standard analog transmission, WBGB broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online via Audacy.

KDKA-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC and broadcasts a sports radio format. Studios are located at Foster Plaza near Green Tree while the broadcast tower used by the station is located near Mount Washington, next to its former studios in Pittsburgh's South Shore neighborhood at.

KBOB is a radio station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, and airs a sports format. The station's frequency is 1170 kHz, and broadcasts at a power of 1 kW. Its transmitter is in Knoxville Road just outside of Milan, Illinois.

WWDJ is a Catholic radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by Relevant Radio, Inc., the station serves Greater Boston. WWDJ does not broadcast any local programming, functioning as a repeater for the Relevant Radio network. WWDJ's studios and offices are co-located with the network in Lincolnwood, Illinois, and the station transmitter are located in Lexington.

KCMO-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Shawnee, Kansas, and serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. The station is owned by Cumulus Broadcasting and airs a classic hits radio format, switching to all-Christmas music from mid-November to December 25. KCMO-FM's studios and offices are located in the Corporate Woods area in Overland Park, Kansas. The transmitter is off Menown Avenue in Independence, Missouri.

WREW is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Fairfield, Ohio, and serving the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The station broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The studios and offices are on Kennedy Avenue, in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati where they have been since August of 2021.

WXYT-FM is a commercial radio station in Detroit, Michigan, serving Metro Detroit and much of Southeast Michigan. It airs a sports radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios and offices are located in the nearby suburb of Southfield.

WRDT is a commercial radio station licensed to Monroe, Michigan, and serving Metro Detroit. It is owned by Crawford Broadcasting and it broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. The studios and offices are on Capitol Avenue near Burt Road in the Weatherby section of Detroit.

KXL-FM is a commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Alpha Media and broadcasts a news/talk radio format. The studios are on SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland. KXL-FM is the flagship station for the nationally syndicated Lars Larson Show. In addition to news blocks in weekday AM and PM drive time, KXL-FM also carries syndicated shows from Chad Benson, Markley, Van Camp and Robbins, Red Eye Radio, This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal and America in the Morning.

WHIO-FM – branded AM 1290 and News 95.7 WHIO – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to serve Pleasant Hill, Ohio, covering Dayton, Ohio and the Dayton metropolitan area. Owned by Cox Media Group, WHIO-FM acts as a full-time simulcast of WHIO. The WHIO-FM studios are located at Cox Media Center building in Dayton, while the transmitter is located in nearby Piqua. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WHIO-FM streams online.

WREE is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States, the station serves the Champaign-Urbana area. The station is owned by Saga Communications under licensee Saga Communications of Illinois, LLC, and operates as part of its Illini Radio Group. The station calls itself "Rewind 92.5." The playlist ranges from hits of the 1960s to the 1990s, switching to Christmas music for part of November and December.

WWDK is a radio station broadcasting a classic country format. Licensed to Jackson, Michigan, it first began broadcasting on July 14, 1958 as WMKZ-FM. The station broadcasts from a tower near Springport, Michigan.

WLZW is a commercial radio station in Utica, New York, serving the Utica-Rome radio market. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and calls itself Lite 98.7. It is part of a cluster with news-talk station WIBX, country-formatted WFRG-FM, classic hits station WODZ-FM, and classic rock-formatted WOUR.

KMZT is a commercial radio station licensed to Beverly Hills, California. Owned by Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, the station serves Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. The KMZT studios are located in Los Angeles' Westwood neighborhood, while the station transmitter resides in the nearby Mission Hills neighborhood. Besides a standard analog transmission, KMZT broadcasts over through the HD Radio in-band on-channel standard for AM stations, is simulcast on low-power Los Angeles translator K252FO and the second HD digital subchannel of KKGO, and is available online.

References

↑ Corcoran, Michael (March 1, 2014). "In Memoriam: Larry Monroe King of the "segway"". Lone Star Music . Retrieved April 10, 2020.
↑ Condon, David (March 11, 1981). "Ex-Sox, Cubs Broadcaster Elson dies at 76". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2015.

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[1] Corcoran, Michael (March 1, 2014). "In Memoriam: Larry Monroe King of the "segway"". Lone Star Music . Retrieved April 10, 2020.

[trib034481-2] Condon, David (March 11, 1981). "Ex-Sox, Cubs Broadcaster Elson dies at 76". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2015.

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