1979 in radio explained

The year 1979 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.

Events

• September: KDWB-FM in Minneapolis, Minnesota breaks away from their Top 40 AM sister, becoming album-oriented rock as "K101".
• October 8-November 3: The engineers and airstaff of WCCO-AM-FM-TV go on strike.
• October 22: Pittsburgh court receives a $7 million libel lawsuit from county politician Cyril Wecht over remarks the city controller made of him during a radio interview.

Debuts

• Undated: WIXK-FM signs on the air.
• February 5: Sears Radio Theater debuts on CBS.^[1]
• November 5: The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio.
• Undated: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, long time rocker KRST flips to country music, becoming the city's first FM country radio station. KRST is still playing country music.

Endings

• November 4 - KUAC Ends AM after 12 years. It's replaced by Morning Edition (see Above in Debuts)

Births

• May 4 - Wes Butters, British broadcaster
• July 23 - Peter Rosenberg, American radio personality

Deaths

• April 9: Staats Cotsworth, 71, actor perhaps best known for playing the title role in Casey, Crime Photographer.
• October 27: Charles Coughlin, 88, Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest who used radio to reach a mass audience during the 1930s. This radio program included praises of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

References

Notes and References

1. Book: Dunning, John . On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio . John Dunning (detective fiction author) . 1998 . Oxford University Press . New York, NY . 978-0-19-507678-3 . 603 . Revised . 2019-09-27.