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Topic: RE: PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA RADIO ARCHIVES
John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda (August 8, 1913 – September 26, 1984) was an American broadcaster and sports announcer. He was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for NFL Films. Through his work with NFL Films, Facenda was known by many NFL fans as "The Voice of God".
For more historical information and audio from Philadelphia radio visit http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/
Through most of the 1960s and well into the 1970s, Chuck Dougherty worked in Philadelphia (WIP and WPEN), except for one year in New York City (WNEW). When asked who his favorite interview was through the years, Dougherty is quick to respond that it was Tony Bennett. "This one time I did a radio show with Tony at WIP in Philly. He was great and it was a lot of fun," he started. "Fast forward to that night and I'm at the R.D.A. Club (in Philadelphia) and there's nobody there, except for two couples and me sitting at the bar. All of a sudden Tony slipped in. And on stage is a combo doing Tony's songs. Tony asks me to be quiet as he slips up behind the kid singing and takes the mic out of his hand. I thought this kid was going to faint." Bennett took over the stage with that kid's band, and proceeded to sing. "Tony gave us 30 minutes, just two couples and me," Dougherty added with a laugh. "He's such a nice guy."...READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
The DJ is Vince Lee...note the size of the RCA transcription turntables which played 78rpm...45rpm...and 33 and third rpm. Some clunky gear shifting was required and on rare occassions they may have played a disc at the wrong speed. The air levels were controlled by the studio engineers in 'Master Control Room' who ran gain from the DJ turntables in the studios. Note LP attached to the peg wall behind the microphone. This was an RCA recording of the Melachrino strings 'Music for Dining' to be grabbed in an emergency i.e. loss of NBC network or national tragedy. Also to the right on the wall is the 45rpm 12" segue platter. Used to configure the large hole discs when slip cueing 45 singles on the small spindle centered turntables. I took a series of photos while interning as a teenager at the 1619 Market Street studios and offices. See 1956 photos section at http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/photos.html
In 1977, the station was sold to Cox Broadcasting.
The eighties and nineties were less kind to WFIL. AC, country and a return to oldies were tried and failed. The station was sold and lost its heritage calls, becoming WEAZ(AM) and simulcasting beautiful music WEAZ-FM 101.1, then continuing with easy listening as "Wish 560" after the FM broke away, then changing calls to WBEB and simulcasting the FM again.
http://www.fybush.com/site-031016.html
On May 13, 1963, Dave Kurtz, then an engineer with Philco Electronics, turned on the master switch of WDVR-FM in the Barker building at 18 W. Chelten Ave. in Germantown. Within four months, the station's mix of "familiar music" such as Mantovani, Percy Faith, and Lawrence Welk made it the number one FM station in Philadelphia. At this time, the world was dominated by AM radio. Few FM stations had ever shown a profit, nor were they able to compete with AM stations in ratings, advertisers, or recognition. Indeed few people had FM radios, or ever bothered to listen to FM. Most car radios, even in new cars, were equipped with "AM only" radios, and sales were slow for FM sets in general. AM was considered "real broadcasting" and FM was considered "hobby broadcasting." With few listeners, and even fewer dollars, a small number of FM stations were beginning to experiment with recently approved stereo broadcasting. Their stereo schedules usually totaled no more than a few hours a week. WDVR started an industry trend by broadcasting in stereo 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This was not the only groundbreaking event undertaken by Kurtz and business partner Jerry Lee. WDVR became the first FM station anywhere to gross $1 million a year. The station also created the first big money giveaway in radio ($101,000), and the first professional TV spot to promote radio. http://members.aol.com/philaradio/curr1011.html
happy
Prizes- The first 5 correct answers will win an audio CD copy of this station's aircheck from 1968.
To enter- Put the stations call letters, location, and frequency in the subject line of an e-mail along with the your address in the text box (to mail your CD, if you are a winner), and e-mail your entry to worldsupercaster@yahoo.com
More than 1 entry per household or e-mail address will disqualify the entrant.
Rich Franklin,
1- Had more listeners in its coverage area then any other Philly station. (Outrated them all!)
2- Was approved by the FCC for 50,000 watts with a special antenna array that was engineered to give 500,000 watts of effective radiated power giving it by far the strongest signal in Philadelphia and all the way to Atlantic City!
4- Would have seriously kicked butt in Philadelphia, but decided not to.
Radio trivia host
No spam, just FUN!
worldsupercaster@yahoo.com
Posted by BSB, editor
at 7:38 PM EDT
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Updated: Monday, 25 July 2005 11:18 AM EDT
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