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KDKA IS 90 THIS YEAR!

blackgold

blackgold

Can you imagine that KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh is 90 years old, having begun broadcasting on Election Night 1920?! I wonder if KDKA has any plans to commemorate that anniversary. It will be the first USA radio station to hit the big 9-0! WBZ in Boston will hit 90 next year, and who else will in the coming years? Any ideas?
By the way, you can visit http://radiothebig90.blogspot.com to weigh in your thoughts.
 
So is most of its audience!
 
Aside from the cuts on here, this really is a tremendous achievement.

Even to this day, KDKA is the one station everyone has listened to. We turned to it for the news, sports or the weather. We have pleasant memories of hearing a great Pirates game on it and the fun of an entertaining talk show.

Who knows? Maybe even Perry helped the little old lady find her wedding ring!

When we feared for our lives on 9/11, it was where we had our dial. When we were away from home and wanted to know what was going on in Pittsburgh, it's what we had on overnight in our car.

There are no more iconic call letters in broadcasting than KDKA. They are a part of every broadcasting class in America.


All I wonder is at what time did they call the election for Harding?
 
As I meant to say in my original post, WBZ Radio in Boston will turn 90 next year, as well, I'm sure, a lot of our radio stations(particularly here in the Eastern Time Zone). And some of these AM radio stations are finding new homes on FM!
 
I just checked on the Wikipedia entry, and it doesn't say. I'm sure, however, that on November 2nd., mid-term election day, they will have some kind of celebration.
 
KDKA and WBZ have nothing on KCBS/San Francisco, which last year celebrated its 100th anniversary.

... on second thought, maybe they do: KCBS was an experimental station in the beginning, and did not become a legit licensed radio station until December 1921.
 
DToTheJ said:
KDKA and WBZ have nothing on KCBS/San Francisco, which last year celebrated its 100th anniversary.

... on second thought, maybe they do: KCBS was an experimental station in the beginning, and did not become a legit licensed radio station until December 1921.
Click to expand...

Most of the stations from that era were experimental, and most of them were broadcasting before KDKA got the first government license in 1920. KDKA was on the air as an experimental station for a long time before it got its license.
 
Pratte4Life said:
Aside from the cuts on here, this really is a tremendous achievement.

Even to this day, KDKA is the one station everyone has listened to. We turned to it for the news, sports or the weather. We have pleasant memories of hearing a great Pirates game on it and the fun of an entertaining talk show.

Who knows? Maybe even Perry helped the little old lady find her wedding ring!

When we feared for our lives on 9/11, it was where we had our dial. When we were away from home and wanted to know what was going on in Pittsburgh, it's what we had on overnight in our car.

There are no more iconic call letters in broadcasting than KDKA. They are a part of every broadcasting class in America.


All I wonder is at what time did they call the election for Harding?
Click to expand...

That is really what is being celebrated....the memory of KDKA past. Of Rege Cordic, Ed Schaughency, Art Pallan, Perry Marshall and Bob Prince. Hard to imagine people having a lot of warm fuzzies about Mangino and Griffin on future anniversaries.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
That is really what is being celebrated....the memory of KDKA past. Of Rege Cordic, Ed Schaughency, Art Pallan, Perry Marshall and Bob Prince. Hard to imagine people having a lot of warm fuzzies about Mangino and Griffin on future anniversaries.
Click to expand...

More precisely, the memory of KDKA long past. KDKA has been coasting on its (well deserved) reputation for several decades now.
 
Talk_Dude said:
FreddyE1977 said:
That is really what is being celebrated....the memory of KDKA past. Of Rege Cordic, Ed Schaughency, Art Pallan, Perry Marshall and Bob Prince. Hard to imagine people having a lot of warm fuzzies about Mangino and Griffin on future anniversaries.
Click to expand...

More precisely, the memory of KDKA long past. KDKA has been coasting on its (well deserved) reputation for several decades now.
Click to expand...

And to be fair, you can say that about an awful lot of legacy 50kW stations these days.
 
What else can they do? At least they have an on-air staff. They report the news. They have a local person doing a talk show. That's better than alot of the FMs.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Talk_Dude said:
FreddyE1977 said:
That is really what is being celebrated....the memory of KDKA past. Of Rege Cordic, Ed Schaughency, Art Pallan, Perry Marshall and Bob Prince. Hard to imagine people having a lot of warm fuzzies about Mangino and Griffin on future anniversaries.
Click to expand...

More precisely, the memory of KDKA long past. KDKA has been coasting on its (well deserved) reputation for several decades now.
Click to expand...

And to be fair, you can say that about an awful lot of legacy 50kW stations these days.
Click to expand...

It's the nature of the AM band. It's not dead, yet. It's just dying and on its last legs.

hypwr said:
What else can they do? At least they have an on-air staff. They report the news. They have a local person doing a talk show. That's better than alot of the FMs.
Click to expand...

Why should they do anything else? Old AM stations are like old people. They do what they can still do, as well as they can do it, and wait to eventually die. It's not an insult to say that an old AM radio station is on its last legs and coasting on past glories. That's just how things work in the world.
 
hypwr said:
What else can they do? At least they have an on-air staff. They report the news. They have a local person doing a talk show. That's better than alot of the FMs.
Click to expand...

More interesting hosts who appeal to 25-54s would be a start. The guys on the morning show are pretty much just traffic cops, getting in and out of segments. Marty Griffin is, well, Marty Griffin. And the evening shift could be lighter and more entertaining... not devoid of politics or controversy, but a little more relaxed. John Hancock, who does evenings on WBT in Charlotte, is great at this. Steve Hansen also acquitted himself pretty well in the brief times he was on the air there (although it was a riot to hear the old folks who had NO CLUE who he was, or that he had been on the air here for years). Scott Paulsen, anyone?
 
Parttimer said:
hypwr said:
What else can they do? At least they have an on-air staff. They report the news. They have a local person doing a talk show. That's better than alot of the FMs.
Click to expand...

More interesting hosts who appeal to 25-54s would be a start. The guys on the morning show are pretty much just traffic cops, getting in and out of segments. Marty Griffin is, well, Marty Griffin. And the evening shift could be lighter and more entertaining... not devoid of politics or controversy, but a little more relaxed. John Hancock, who does evenings on WBT in Charlotte, is great at this. Steve Hansen also acquitted himself pretty well in the brief times he was on the air there (although it was a riot to hear the old folks who had NO CLUE who he was, or that he had been on the air here for years). Scott Paulsen, anyone?
Click to expand...

And how would that help? It's not like people 25-54 routinely change their radios to AM and surf through the dial. No matter what KDKA puts on the air, the only people who are going to hear it are people who already listen to KDKA. The days of rotary tuners sliding through every station on the dial are gone.

As for the evening shift, why would anyone aged 25-54 turn off the TV and turn on the radio, especially AM radio?
 
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