1977 in radio
Encyclopedia
In the year 1977, significant events in radio broadcasting included the President of the United States
participating in a call-in radio program.
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
participating in a call-in radio program.
Events
- KSTP-FMKSTP-FMKSTP-FM is a radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area. It is one of the flagship stations of Hubbard Broadcasting, which also owns several other TV and radio stations across the United States, along with other properties...
in St. Paul, Minnesota adopts its long-running soft rockSoft rockSoft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
format. - 18 February – Belgischer RundfunkBelgischer RundfunkBelgischer Rundfunk is the public-service broadcasting organization serving the German-speaking Community of Belgium...
(BRF) is founded and takes over responsibility for public-service radio broadcasting in the German languageGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
in Belgium. - March 5 - President Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
participates with Walter CronkiteWalter CronkiteWalter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
in the Dial-a-President radio program 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...
. - May 12 - WTIC-FMWTIC-FMWTIC-FM is a radio station primarily serving the Hartford, Connecticut market, though its signal can be picked up throughout most of Connecticut and into Springfield, Massachusetts. It currently broadcasts a Hot Adult Contemporary format. It is located on the dial at 96.5 MHz...
in Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, ConnecticutHartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
switches from classical music to a new Top 40 format designed by consultant Mike Joseph. This successful new approach will later be termed Hot HitsHot HitsHot Hits was a radio format created by consultant Mike Joseph in the 1970s. That concept, which helped spur the birth of what is now known as CHR, also revitalized the Top 40 format and would play a role in bringing the format to the FM band throughout the 1980s.The concept was to play only the...
.
Closings
- 29 May: NBC Radio's all-news "News and Information Service" ceases operations, citing a low number of affiliates. Most stations switch to different formats, but KQVKQVKQV is a radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is the only broadcast station owned by Calvary, Inc., broadcasts at 1410 kHz, with 5000 watts of power day and night. KQV's call letters reportedly stand for King of the Quaker Valley...
in PittsburghPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
launched a locally-based production for its all-news format, which it maintains to the present day.
Deaths
- Bud BallouBud BallouBud Ballou was an American disc jockey and radio personality active for fifteen years on several commercial radio stations during the 1960s and 1970s....
, radio disc jockeyDisc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys... - Sid CollinsSid CollinsSid Collins was an American broadcaster best known as the radio voice of the Indianapolis 500 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network from 1952-1976...
, (55, American broadcaster best known as the radio voice of the Indianapolis 500Indianapolis 500The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio NetworkIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio NetworkThe Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network , is an in-house radio syndication arrangement which broadcasts the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar, and the Brickyard 400 to radio stations covering most of North America....
from 1952-1976. - Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, 74, American singer, actor and early radio personality.