Broadcast Pioneers; Innovators in Philadelphia Communications!
Awarded HONORABLE MENTION for BEST INFO SITE by Time Magazine!
Almost a Half-Century in Philadelphia with more than 380 Members; Bigger Than Ever!

Broadcast Pioneers; the Official Historians of Philadelphia Radio & Television!

A Celebration of "45 Years of Eyewitness News"
LUNCHEON AND KYW-TV REUNION!
LESS THAN 2 WEEKS AWAY!

Just a quick word about our Wednesday, September 15th luncheon. It all takes place at the beautiful Bala Golf Club, 2200 Belmont Avenue in Philadelphia! Just minutes away from Channels 6, 10 and 17 plus the radio stations in Bala Cynwyd. Tons of free parking and for those who want it, there's also valet service. Meet and greet is at noon with lunch served at 12:30 pm. The price is still $25 (no increase in 5 years).

Our moderator will be Broadcast Pioneers member Dick Sheeran.

On the panel, we will have:

Carol Erickson. KYW-TV, CBS 3 Meteorlogist and Reporter
Trudy Haynes, former KYW-TV, Eyewitness News reporter
Larry Kane, Former CBS 3 News Anchor & the Dean of Philly News
Al Primo, the Creator of the Eyewitness News & former News Director
Marciarose Shestack, former Eyewitness News, Channel 3 News Anchor
Ukee Washington, CBS 3 News Anchor for "Eyewitness News"

The Eyewitness News Team
KYW-TV, now CBS 3
1967

Introductory remarks by Jon Hitchcock, President and General Manager of CBS 3 and the CW Philly 57 and Jon will be introduced by Broadcast Pioneers Steve Levy.

Plus, we will have Broadcast Pioneers member "Big Al" Meltzer speaking live on the telephone with former Eyewitness News AnchorsVince Leonard and Mort Crim, both members of the Broadcast Pioneers..

Reservations can be made by calling (856) 365-5600. This looks like another huge luncheon as we already have over 50 reservations and the luncheon/reunion is about 2 weeks away.

FYI: Because we are staffed by volunteers, you are reserved whether you talk to a real person or leave your reservation on the answering machine. Because of the huge volume and volunteer staffing, we normally do NOT call back to say you are confirmed.

Meet and greet (networking) starts at 12 noon with a full-course lunch including salad, coffee or tea and dessert being served at 12:30 pm. There's also a crudité and cheese table. Cash bar available! The cost is still only $25 per person (over five years without a price increase) and is open to all our members, any person in the industry or associated fields; both people now active and retirees. You do NOT have to be a member to attend. Make your reservations now by calling (856) 365-5600. It's going to be a great turn out. Attending this luncheon is the biggest "no-brainer" on the planet! Be there and say hi to old friends (and make some new ones).

1977 VIDEO!

Here's a three-minute clip from a couple 5:30 pm Channel 3 newscasts. In it, you'll see Vince Leonard, Bill Kuster, Mort Crim, Jessica Savitch, Beverly Williams, Malcolm Poindexter, Beverly Williams, Dick Sheeran and Bob Bradley. It starts with Mort & Jessie just BEFORE they went on the air. That's why there's no audio at the very beginning. It ends the same way, with Vince Leonard on camera AFTER they went into commercials. In our opinion, the Real Video file is slightly better in quality.

Watch with Real Video!
Watch with Windows Media!

WE WANNA SEE YOUR FACE IN THAT PLACE!

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
Person of the Year/Hall of Fame Banquet!

What an evening this is going to be! It's a who's who of broadcasting. Anyone who is anyone will be there.

Our Person of the Year for 2010 is Kelly Ripa who started her TV career right here in Philly by being a regular dancer on "Dancin' on The Air" on Channel 17 and "Dance Party USA." Both shows were produced by Broadcast Pioneers members Frank Nise and his son Michael. Michael serves on our Board of Directors.

Our 42nd Annual "Person of the Year/Hall of Fame" banquet takes place on Friday, November 19th at the beautiful Bala Golf Club, 2200 Belmont Avenue, Philadelphia. Reception is at 6 pm with a tasty dinner being served at 7 pm. There's plenty of free parking (valet parking also available). It's conveniently located and a five minute drive from Channels 6, 10 and 17 and the radio stations in Bala Cynwyd. CASH BAR ALL NIGHT LONG! Ticket prices are $80 for our members and $95 for everyone else. Price includes salad, a delicious three course dinner, dessert and your choice of coffee or tea. There's also a crudité table. You do NOT have to be a member to join in for the fun, excitement, great times and wonderful food & drink. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

Our Hall of Fame inductees for 2010 are:

Carol Erickson, meteorologist and news reporter for CBS 3, KYW-TV
Peggy King, former girl singer on "The George Gobel Show" on TV
Linda Munich, Vice-President of Public Affairs for 6ABC, WPVI-TV
Dave Neal (Dave Gomberg), news producer at Channels 3,6 and 10
Joe Pellegrino, all round sports guy at Channel 6 and WCAU-TV
Glenn Schwartz, the chief meteorologist for WCAU-TV, NBC 10
Dick Sheeran, former reporter and anchor for KYW-TV, CBS 3
Rick Williams, co-anchor of the noon and 5 pm for Action News, 6ABC
John Zacherle, the cool ghoul, host "Roland" of WCAU-TV's "Shock Theater"

We will also induct the following people posthumously in our Hall of Fame. They are:

Al Alberts, star of the "Al Alberts Showcase" for three decades on 6ABC
Herb Denenberg, consumer reporter and former PA insurance commissioner
Jack Downey, former VP/GM for WCAU Radio, now WPHT Radio
Joe Earley, who was Mr. Rivets on Channel 3 & the postman on "Gene London"
Ed Elias, former Engineering Supervisor for WPVI-TV for a half-century
Steve (Mr. Movie) Friedman, former movie expert and telephone-talk host
Paul Harron, Jr., head of Harron Communications for decades
Paul Harron, Sr., pioneer radio and TV owner including WIBG and Channel 12
Irv Homer, well-known tv personality and radio telephone-talk show host
Sarajane "Cissie" Hurst, TV producer at Channels 3, 6, 10; WPEN PR Director
Bob Klein, innovator of "Urban Contemporary Radio;" GM at WDAS AM & FM
Ed McMahon, sidekick to Johnny Carson, host of several local 50s TV shows
Bob Menefee, former longtime Philadelphia radio host and air personality
Jim Nettleon, one of the original Philadelphia WFIL, Famous 56 "Boss Jocks"
Frank Nise, innovator of modern-day broadcasting lines and TV producer
Nat Wright, the All-Night Rat, host of the Dawn Patrol/WIP Radio for 20 years

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE!

Important information! Each member may order ONLY ONE TICKET at the discounted $80 member price. Spouses, family, friends, guests and everyone else must order at the $95 price. Tables of ten are available for $950. We do have a limited number of tables seating twelve on a strict first come, first served basis.

The only way to reserve your place is by purchasing your tickets now. Note that this is a different procedure than for our monthly luncheons. Avoid being disappointed. This event is always sold out. Plenty of tickets available right now but they are going fast. More than 25% of the seats are already gone, so don't wait. Send in today.

You can print the order form from this page!

Proceeds benefit the Broadcast Pioneers Scholarship Fund and other educational activities. We are a federally recognized, state chartered charity with 501(c)(3) status for federal income tax purposes. Monies raised from last year's banquet plus extra gifts and grants allowed us this past April to give away thirteen $1,000 scholarships to area college students!

Help Us Save Our History!


The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia since our beginning in 1962 has maintained archival material of broadcast related items for our market. Help us save our past! Please!

We are looking for donated materials. If you have or know of anyone willing to contribute any broadcast memorabilia, please contact us at 856-365-5600 or e-mail the Broadcast Pioneers at pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com. This would include photos, scans, audio, video and articles. This material may also be used on our website.

Our Mystery Photo for September 2010

Click on the photo for more information!

OUR MAIN SECTIONS

Check out Our Photos, History, Bios, Audio and Video Areas
 Our Photo Section - to 1960  Our Photo Section - from 1961
 Our Video Section  Our Audio Section
 Broadcast History Section  Our Biography Section
 Our Hall of Fame  Our Persons of the Year
 Future Broadcast Pioneers  Our 2009 Banquet
 Our Bylaws  Our Officers and Board
 October 2009 Symposium Scholarship Information
 Our Screensaver Oral History Projects
 Join Broadcast Pioneers  Calendar of Events
 Who Are We?  Our Newsletter
 Our Presidents Our Chairmen of the Board

There's a nice, huge story on the Time Magazine website about Philadelphia Television in the Fifties. It mentions our website and draws from our material. Author Richard Corliss refers to this site as "invaluable...a trove of early TV memories for Delaware Valley nostalgiaholics." Visit it at: TIME MAGAZINE

Our encoding of audio and video has been upgraded for clearer, sharper and less choppy video with better sounding audio. We are using the latest technology and this may require you to download (it's free) the latest version of the Real Player.. Items previously on our website will still work with older versions. All items will play on the most current. Once you download the latest free player, you still may be required to download older codes for everything to work. This is normal and very easy. Just follow the prompts. We have also started to encode our audio and video in the Windows Media format. That player is usually installed as part of Windows when you purchased your computer.

Some of our older files of our audio and video rolls. That is, it goes from one files directly into the next segment. This is done for faster loading. We are also encoding with surestream. This means the file actually contains two streams. One is for dial-up connections and the other is for DSL, Cable and other broadband connections. Your computer will automatically select the correct stream. Newer uploads usually are in one segment (this is because of an increase in technology).

Unless you state otherwise, all e-mail messages, photos and other material sent to us become the property of "The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia" and you have given us implied permission to use all or part of your message on our website including the use of your name & to store the correspondence in our archive. All items sent to us via U.S. Mail, other carriers or electronically, become property of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. With such submission and donation, you also transfer any legal rights (including reproduction rights) you may have (if any) to said material. This includes photos, articles, audio, video and all other items including but not limited to the usage of your name.

None of the material contained on this website may be reproduced elsewhere without the express permission of "The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia." Where material is owned by others who have given us permission to use their property, you must also gain their approval and authority before use. None of our material falls under "Fair Use" provisions of copyright laws.

The material published on this website is like any other published work and subject to the same copyright protection. Some research used on this site is exclusive. It is the property of the researcher and cannot be reproduced in any form without permission.

We do NOT make or sell copies of any material in our archives. We just do not have the staff to do this. Hardly any local show is available for home use anywhere.

This website is protected under U.S. Copyright (2010)
by The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com

Server space for this site provided through the generosity of
Broadcast Pioneers Life Member Jerry Klein and public relations firm,
Anne Klein Communications Group