1954 in radio

The year 1954 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.

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Events

• 20 January – The National Negro Network is formed in the United States.
• 25 January – First broadcast of Dylan Thomas's radio play Under Milk Wood, two months after its author's death, with Richard Burton as 'First Voice', on the BBC Third Programme.
• 1 February – KECA and KECA-FM, two Los Angeles stations, change their call letters to KABC and KABC-FM respectively, reflecting their new ownership by ABC-United Paramount Theaters.
• 1 April – ABC-United Paramount Theaters, owners of WENR-Chicago, purchase time-share counterpart WLS-Chicago from Sears, Roebuck and Co., and merge both stations under the WLS call sign (their FM sister station would keep the WENR call sign until 1965).
• 15 July – The Nippon Broadcasting System initiates its first official regular broadcasting service in Tokyo, Japan.
• 18 October – Texas Instruments announces the development of the first commercial transistor radio. The Regency TR-1 goes on sale the following month.
• 17 November – WJW (AM) in Cleveland, Ohio (later WKNR) is sold by William M. O'Neill to Storer Broadcasting.

Debuts

• 3 January – WSTN debuts as a 1 kW daytimer at St. Augustine, Florida.
• 9 January – Roadshow debuts on NBC. Starring Bill Cullen, the three-hour weekly program is considered a forerunner of the network's Monitor, which began a year later.[1]
• 6 April – Crime and Peter Chambers debuts on NBC.[2]
• 2 September – Dr. Sixgun debuts on NBC.[2]
• 2 November – Hancock's Half Hour debuts on BBC radio.[3]

Endings

• 3 January – Quiz Kids ends its run on network radio (CBS).[1]
• 6 January – Dr. Christian ends its run on network radio (CBS).[1]
• 15 January – Double or Nothing ends its run on network radio (ABC).[1]
• 16 January – The Baron and the Bee ends its run on network radio (NBC).[2]
• 5 March – Family Skeleton ends its run on network radio (CBS).
• 12 March – House of Glass ends its run on network radio (NBC).[2]
• 26 March – Front Page Farrell ends its run on network radio (NBC).[2]
• 27 March – Twenty Questions ends its run on network radio.[1]
• 28 March – Bulldog Drummond ends its run on network radio (Mutual).[2]
• 30 March – Rocky Fortune, a half-hour detective drama starring Frank Sinatra, aired its final episode on NBC.[2]
• 22 May – The Armstrong Theater of Today ends its run on network radio (CBS).[2]
• 27 May – Time for Love ends its run on network radio (CBS).[2]
• 18 June – The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ends its run on network radio (ABC).[2]
• 24 June – The Six Shooter ends its run on network radio (NBC).[2]
• 9 July – Can You Top This? ends its run on network radio (NBC).[2]
• 1 August – Broadway Is My Beat ends its run on network radio (CBS).[2]
• 7 September – Crime and Peter Chambers ends its run on network radio (NBC).[2]
• 25 September – Escape ends its run on CBS.[2]
• 25 September – Stars over Hollywood ends its run on network radio (CBS).[2]
• 30 September - On Stage (radio show) ends its run on network radio (CBS).
• 3 September – The Lone Ranger ends its run of original radio shows.
• 27 November – The Falcon ends its run on network radio (Mutual).[2]
• (undated) – The Jack Berch Show ends its run on network radio (ABC).[2]

Births

• 12 January – Howard Stern, American shock jock radio personality
• 22 August – Kurt Andersen, American novelist, columnist and public radio host
• 8 September – Joe Cipriano, American voice over actor and radio personality
• 20 November – Steve Dahl, American radio personality and humorist
• 27 November – Arthur Smith, English comedian and radio presenter
• 5 December – Peter Arbogast, American sportscaster

Deaths

• 10 January – Chester Wilmot, Australian war correspondent, killed in accident to BOAC Flight 781 (born 1911)
• 4 November – Joy Hathaway, Canadian-born American actress of the Golden Age of Radio

References

1. 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.
2. Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
3. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-102715-9.