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Jim O' Brien's death in 1983: How the radio stations in town covered it.

J

Jul

Guest
Good afternoon. Would it be possible that someone could post audio of assorted airchecks from the Philly radio stations from 9/25/26/83 talking about the death of WPVI's Jim O Brien. I'm curious to hear how the coverage sounded on the AM/FM stations in town.
 
I wish I had airchecks from that day, but I can tell you from memory how WIP broke the news. I was listening to the Eagles game that afternoon on WIP. In the middle of the broadcast newsman Bill Gallagher broke in with the bulletin that Jim O'Brien died. You have to remember that O'Brien was a huge star in Philadelphia at that time. Everyone watched him on Action News, and he was only a few years removed from his radio days, so many remembered him from WFIL as well.
I'm sure you're familiar with famous56.com. They have a whole page dedicated to Jim O'Brien's death. I hoped this helped somewhat.
 
I remember one watching one snowy night when Jim was on Action News. He was outside in a raging snowstorm for the mid-broadcast tease. When they cam back from commercial break, Jim Gardner was reading the news when a snowball him squarely on the lapel. He nonchalantly brushed it off and continued with the broadcast. When he tossed to the weather, he quipped something like, "Nice shot, Jim." Jim replied, "Not really, I was aiming at your head." It sounded like everyone in the studio burst out laughing.

It was that kind of family atmosphere that helped to make Action news so big, even in those early days. That and the smiley and frowny face magnets on the weather map. Like most, I really miss Jim O'Brien.
 
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