1944 in radio
Encyclopedia
The year 1944 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.
Events
- 11 January: Fireside chatFireside chatsThe fireside chats were a series of thirty evening radio addresses given by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944.-Origin of radio address:...
: State of the Union Message to Congress. - 28 March: New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
radio station WQXR (now WQEWWQEWWQEW is a Radio Disney affiliate licensed to New York City. Its transmitter is located in Maspeth, Queens. WQEW has a transmitter power of 50,000 watts and is listed as a Clear-channel station...
) bans singing commercials from being broadcast on its station. - 30 April: (Six days before D-DayD-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
) The American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) is established, transmitting from the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian to resistance movementResistance movementA resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
s in mainland Europe. - 5 June: Fireside chatFireside chatsThe fireside chats were a series of thirty evening radio addresses given by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944.-Origin of radio address:...
: On the Fall of Rome. - 12 June: Fireside chatFireside chatsThe fireside chats were a series of thirty evening radio addresses given by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944.-Origin of radio address:...
: Opening Fifth War Loan Drive (last fireside chat). - 25 July: The New York Times acquires the Interstate Broadcasting Company, parent of WQXR (now WQEWWQEWWQEW is a Radio Disney affiliate licensed to New York City. Its transmitter is located in Maspeth, Queens. WQEW has a transmitter power of 50,000 watts and is listed as a Clear-channel station...
) and WQXQ-FM (later WQXR; frequency is now home to WXNY) from John V. L. Hogan for $1 million American dollars. The Times would program the AM station until December 1998, and own the FM station until October 2009.
Debuts
- 25 January: The black maid character Beulah, played by Marlin HurtMarlin HurtMarlin Hurt was an American stage entertainer and radio actor who was best known for originating the dialect comedy role of Beulah made famous on the Fibber McGee and Molly program and the first season of the Beulah radio series.A saxophone player and vocalist, Hurt was once a singer with the...
, debuts on Fibber McGee and MollyFibber McGee and MollyFibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series which maintained its popularity over decades. It premiered on NBC in 1935 and continued until its demise in 1959, long after radio had ceased to be the dominant form of entertainment in American popular culture.-Husband and wife in real...
. In 1945, Beulah received her own spin-off showBeulah (series)The Beulah Show is an American situation-comedy series that ran on CBS radio from 1945 to 1954, and on ABC television from 1950 to 1952. The show is notable for being the first sitcom to star an African American actress.-Radio:...
. - 7 March: Columbia Presents Corwin, hosted by Norman CorwinNorman CorwinNorman Lewis Corwin was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing...
, debuts on CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. - 8 October: The radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
show The Adventures of Ozzie and HarrietThe Adventures of Ozzie and HarrietThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
debuts.
Births
- 7 January: Jim BohannonJim BohannonJames E. "Jim" Bohannon is an American broadcaster who has worked in both television and radio.During the 1980s he was a fill-in for Larry King when King had his popular nighttime national radio program. He also does much work with the Smithsonian Associates...
, television and radio personality and nationally syndicated talk show host - 28 March: Rick BarryRick BarryRichard Francis Dennis Barry III , better known as Rick Barry, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is considered by many veteran basketball observers to be one of the greatest pure small forwards of all time as a result of his very precise outside shot, uncanny court vision,...
, former NBA player and broadcaster - 24 August: Mike BarnicleMike BarnicleMichael "Mike" Barnicle is an award-winning American print and broadcast journalist as well as a social and political commentator. He is a frequent contributor and occasional guest host on MSNBC's Morning Joe and Hardball with Chris Matthews and is frequently seen on NBC's Today Show with...
, long-time newspaper writer and radio personality based in Boston - 24 October: Dr. Joy Browne, radio psychologist syndicated by the WOR Radio NetworkWOR Radio NetworkThe WOR Radio Network is a slate of nationally syndicated radio programming produced and distributed by flagship radio station WOR in New York City...
. - Christine CraftChristine CraftChristine Craft is an attorney, radio talk show host and former television news anchor. She became known in the broadcast industry in the 1980s for her age and sexual discrimination lawsuit against a television station that had demoted her from news anchor to reporter.- Early life :Craft was born...
, radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
talk showTalk showA talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
host and former televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
anchorperson.
Deaths
- 16 November: Boake CarterBoake CarterHarold Thomas Henry Carter , aka Boake Carter, was an American national news commentator in the 1930s and early 1940s. He was born in Baku, Russian Empire , where his father, Thomas Carter, worked for a British oil company...
, 45, American news commentator in the 1930s1930sFile:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
and early 1940s1940sFile:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
.