VIDEO:

Hit After Hit, Smash After Smash, Blockbuster After Blockbuster... Here was another "monster" lunch where the "stars" don't wait to come out at night. They were there at lunchtime!

You came (over 100 of you) and relived the glory days of WIBG Radio when it was the POWERHOUSE in the Philadelphia Market. The 50s and 60s. We relived so many wonderful memories.

On MC for the afternoon was Broadcast Pioneers member Jerry Del Colliano who was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2016. Jerry was at WIBBAGE twice, one time as their Program Director. Introductory remarks were by Broadcast Pioneers Board Member T. Morgan who was inducted into our Hall of Fame last year. He also was a former Program Director for WIBG.

Our speakers were (in alphabetical order):

Bob Backman, President of WRDE-TV, also known as Cool Bobby B
Billy Carlucci, one of the top doo-wop singers from the fifties and sixties
Bob Hamilton, former WIBG Radio air personality from 1969 to 1971
Arlene Sullivan, popular dancer on the TV show, "American Bandstand"
Dean Tyler, one of the most popular and loved WIBBAGE Good Guys
Bill Wright, Sr., the Rebel with a Cause, an original WIBG Good Guy

Member Eddie Collins (former music director for the Drifters) was with us and he helped us recreate what WIBBAGE sounded like.

This all took place at the beautiful and historic Bala Golf Club, 2200 Belmont Avenue (across the street from the state police) in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia. Only minutes away from Channels 6, 10 and 17 and the radio stations in Bala Cynwyd.

Complete Video from our YouTube Channel!

(video courtesy of Broadcast Pioneers VP Brad Seecof and Metramedia Broadcasting & Studios)

AUDIO:

"Cinderella Weekend" was a local program, but was syndicated. The show was what was called in the early days of television, "a package show." It was created and developed by a company called "VIP, Inc." of New York City. That company owned the title, controlled the format and actually picked up the tab. In return, each station paid a fee for the rights. Each station carrying the program had their own local host. Therefore, it was always be a local show.

We obtained a complete radio broadcast from Monday, August 20, 1956, hosted by Ed Harvey. It originated on tape from the Tower Theater at 69th Street in Upper Darby. We have the original air tape. Long-time WCAU tech Charlie Higgins who worked on these broadcasts said:

The mixers we used then were RCA Remote Amplifiers such as OP-7 (a four position mixer) and an OP-6 (a single position mixer) that had a VU meter on it for monitoring levels. The OP-7 was fed to the OP-6 of course. As an emergency, we also carried an RCA OP-5 a four position battery operated mixer.

Listen with Real Audio!
Listen with Windows Media!

Broadcast Pioneers members Ed Sciaky and T. Morgan interviewed Elton John 44 years ago. On December 3, 1974, while working at WMMR Radio, Ed along with T., spoke with Elton John over the telephone. We have that recording in digital form in our archive. Morgan told us that until he heard the broadcast recently, he didn't even remember doing it. It's our job to preserve it. History is only what gets saved.

Listen to the Elton John interview in Windows Media!

Today's News Becomes Tomorrow's History!
(This is what our Digital Archival Project, DAP, is all about!)

A LITTLE BIT OF BROADCAST HISTORY!

IN TOUCH WITH OUR MEMBERS:

Last month, we caught an episode of "Baker Dave" on TUTV (Temple University Television). He has been the pastry chef for Aramark at the dorms of Johnson and Hardwicke Halls at Temple University. He's been there for over a decade. Well, on the episode we caught, we saw him cooking a Cheese Steak Omelet with Broadcast Pioneers member David Murphy (a meteorologist for 6abc). It looked really good. You can catch David mornings doing the weather on WPVI's, Action News. David Murphy was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2016.

Anne Klein, wife of former Broadcast Pioneers president and chairman Jerry Klein, was the "Lifetime Legacy" honoree at the Women of Excellence Awards sponsored by SJ Magazine in June. Anne was cited for her long career of leadership and accomplishment. Anne, the founder of Anne Klein Communications Group, is the author of a new book, "On the Cusp: The Women of Penn '64," (available on Amazon.com) which chronicles the lives of 19 remarkable women who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964 and went on to accomplished careers in an era when opportunities for women were very limited. It's available through Amazon.com and when you order, sign on through their SMILE program (most everything on Amazon is available through it) and Broadcast Pioneers gets a portion of the sale as a donation. It costs you no more to do so.

Last month, Action News on WPVI, 6abc, did a nice package about member Alan Tripp who is 100 years old. He got a minute and 42 seconds of air time. Quite a feat in this age of 20 second stories. It was all about "The Art of Aging." The piece told us his career. Alan said that he wanted to be a song writer until he found out it was incompatible with eating. His mom was a newspaper reporter. Tripp says that his mother is responsible for his creative products. If you remember the TV commercial for Choo Choo Charlie and Good & Plenty, well, that's a creation of Alan Tripp. By the way, he says, that they ran it for decades and he got paid for it only one time. Tripp served as one of our board members from 1996 to 2011. He is currently a Board Member Emeritus, a position he has held since 2011.

Broadcast Pioneers member Bob Charger tells us that he is now with RVN-TV, an online television service. Bob is the host of their "Morning Coffee" program and will be interviewing guests from various businesses. Charger says that if you feel you have a story that they should be airing, please contact him. He has a new e-mail address, tvbobcharger@gmail.com. Bob was also elected Vice-President of the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame a few weeks ago.

Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame inductee Jerry Del Colliano is honored and proud to be joining the music business program at NYU Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions as a professor. As a former TV, radio, publishing and digital entrepreneur whose roots are in Philadelphia, Jerry, a former clinical professor at The University of Southern California, hopes to pass along some of the exciting things in the music/media space that he will continue to track daily as publisher and editor of InsideMusicMedia.com.

There's been a change on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. All the local shows stay where they are. However, beginning July 7, the highly rated Mark Levin program airs in the evening 6 to 9 pm slot. Levin, a lawyer, was Chief of Staff for Attorney General Ed Meese. Mark is a graduate of Cheltenham High School and Temple University. He has a weekend TV show on Fox News.

The change moves Sean Hannity into the 9 pm to midnight slot. Note that Sean will now be competing with himself. He's on TV daily for an hour right in the middle of that radio broadcast. How is all this possible? Sean airs live on radio at 3 pm nationally and is delayed on WPHT.

Broadcast Pioneers member David Yadgaroff (Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom Philadelphia) said: “We couldn't be more excited to add Mark Levin to our already impressive list of marquee hosts.... As a native Philadelphian, Mark’s show is the ideal complement to our local hosts, Chris Stigall, Dom Giordano and Rich Zeoli.”

Today's News Becomes Tomorrow's History!
(This is what our Digital Archival Project, DAP, is all about!)

The FM Dial Card, Part One!

This was written by Broadcast Pioneers member Marlin Taylor and originally appeared on his website. Marlin was the original Program Director and Station Manager for WDVR Radio (today known as More FM). Taylor was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2015. We'll be running the WDVR story in three parts. The first now, and the second and third episodes in August and September. Here's his first installment.

All evidence says that the first appearance of what was called an “FM Dial Card” appeared on the last page of “Stereo Notes,” the program guide of WHFS in Bethesda, Maryland … which began publication in the summer of 1962.

However, it was not a “card” as such, rather a listing of the FM stations serving the Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D. C. markets on a page in the guide, which was a subscription publication.

While there is a picture of the WDVR dial card and its story in my memoir … let me share the fuller story and show the cards in color and their evolution.

Whether “my cohort” Jerry Lee had seen it printed in card form somewhere, I do not know; however, it’s my belief that this promotional concept was pioneered by us at WDVR in Philadelphia.

This is the back side of our first card, which we began distributing not long after our first day of broadcasting on May 13, 1963. Month later, when it came time to print another batch of cards, the primary change was updating the list of song titles and artists. Between the two editions of the card, you are looking at the distribution of at least a quarter of a million of these cards … placed in any location in the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey region which sold any kind of FM radio receiver.

You’ll note that both of these editions display the same address, located in the Germantown section, in the northwestern portion of Philadelphia … which was its home from sign-on in 1963 until the latter part of 1967.

We'll continue this story next month.