The year 1972 in radio involved some significant events. __TOC__

Events

*Two new Top 40 stations launch in major

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

cities, as

CFTR Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a membrane protein and anion channel in vertebrates that is encoded by the ''CFTR'' gene. Geneticist Lap-Chee Tsui and his team identified the ''CFTR'' gene in 1989 as the gene lin ...

Toronto abandons its simulcast of beautiful music

CHFI-FM CHFI-FM (98.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an Adult contemporary format. The studios are in the Rogers Building on th ...

for Top 40 early in the year, and in Ottawa, CKPM becomes CFGO on June 21. * June 6 - KPOO-FM signs on in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, becoming the first black-owned non-commercial radio station in the western United States. *July 7 –

WCBS-FM WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) is a radio station owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. licensed to New York, New York, and broadcasting a classic hits format. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

debuts its

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format. *August 28 – WOC-FM (103.7 FM) in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

flips from a format that formatted beautiful music and also simulcasted WOC's AM signal to a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format, and adopts the call sign KIIK-FM, or KIIK 104 as it would be known to fans. It is the Quad Cities market's first FM top 40 station and – with the advantage of an FM stereo signal – will be the first serious challenge to KSTT (1170 AM), the market's top-rated station at the time. The initial broadcast day was 5 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. before switching to 24 hours shortly after the new format began. *November 19 – Seán Mac Stíofáin, chief of staff of the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

, is arrested for membership of the IRA in the Irish Republic after giving an interview on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

's '' This Week'' radio programme.

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs Gerry Collins dismisses the entire RTÉ authority for permitting the broadcast.

Also

*Bill and Becky Ann Stewart sell WPBC and WPBC-FM, both of

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota. An inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis, Richfield is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and Fort Snelling to the east, Bloomington to the south, ...

, to Fairchild Industries. Later that year, both stations become WYOO. *

WDRQ WUFL (93.1 MHz) is an FM radio station licensed to Detroit, Michigan. Owned by Family Life Broadcasting, it broadcasts a contemporary Christian radio format, with some Christian talk and teaching programs. Its studios are located in the Fish ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, having debuted the previous year as a news/talk station, flips to

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

, as does WAAM in nearby

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

(dropping its longtime MOR format). Detroit also loses a Top 40 station on April 25, 1972, as

WKNR WKNR (850 AM) – branded as ''850 ESPN Cleveland'' – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio and the AM flag ...

changes from "Keener 13" to beautiful music as

WNIC WNIC (100.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station city of license, licensed to Dearborn, Michigan, and serving the Metro Detroit media market. Owned by iHeartMedia, WNIC broadcasts an Adult contemporary music, ...

, simulcast with its FM sister (formerly WKNR-FM). *

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sells off their

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

radio stations ( WKYC-AM and WKYC-FM) to Ohio Communications, headed by

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

and

Cleveland Arena Cleveland Arena was an arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built and privately financed by local businessman Albert C. Sutphin during the height of the Great Depression in 1937 as a playing site for Sutphin's AHL team, the Cleveland Barons. The ar ...

owner Nick Mileti, and radio executive Jim Embrescia. The stations were renamed "3WE" WWWE-AM and "M105" WWWM-FM, with the AM station attaining flagship rights to the Indians and Cavaliers, and hired pioneering sports/talk host Pete Franklin for "Sportsline." *

Metromedia Metromedia, Inc. (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio station, radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in ...

sells off their

stations, WHK and

WMMS WMMS (100.7 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, commonly identified as "The Buzzard". Widely regarded as one of the most influen ...

, to the Detroit-based Malrite Communications Group. After protests and pleas from WMMS' devoted following, Malrite vows to maintain the FM stations'

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

format, and relocates their corporate headquarters to Cleveland. Farther west in Toledo, progressive rock fans get a Christmas gift as WCWA-FM becomes WIOT-FM on Christmas Day.

Debuts

*'The

Pop Chronicles The ''Pop Chronicles'' are two radio documentary series which together "may constitute the most complete audio history of 1940s–60s popular music." They originally aired starting in 1969 and concluded about 1974. Both were produced by John G ...

Presents The Forties' on

KSFO KSFO (810 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, featuring a conservative talk radio format. Owned by Cumulus Media, KSFO's studios are on Battery Street in the SoMa portion of San Francisco's Financial Di ...

Closings

* April 30 - Arthur Godfrey Time ends after a 27-year run.

Births

*January 27 - Wynne Evans, Welsh singer and radio presenter *March 9 - Spencer Howson,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n radio announcer * July 20 - Jay Barker, American and

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

player and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

radio personality *November 9 - Doug Russell, American radio personality *September 8 -

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (born September 8, 1972), referred to mononymously as Kennedy, is an American libertarian political commentator, radio personality, author, and former MTV VJ. She is a commentator on Fox News Channel, a primary guest host ...

, American disc jockey and political

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

Deaths

* January 1,

Jane Morgan Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer and recording artist of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six gold re ...

, 92, British-born American actress whose career encompassed concert halls, vaudeville, the legitimate stage, radio, television and film. * January 10, Al Goodman, 81, American orchestra leader and music director for various radio network shows including '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air'' (1932), '' Palmolive Beauty Box Theater'' (1935–1937), ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...

'' (1935–1938), ''

The Fred Allen Show ''The Fred Allen Show'' was a long-running American old-time radio, radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's and ...

'' (1945–1949) and his pet program, ''The Prudential Family''. * September 26,

Charles Correll Charles James Correll (February 2, 1890 – September 26, 1972) was an American radio comedian, actor and writer who was best known for his work in the radio ''Amos 'n' Andy'' radio series with Freeman Gosden. Correll voiced the main character, ...

, 82, American radio

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, best known for his work on the ''

Amos 'n' Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' was an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago then later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio sho ...

'' show with

Freeman Gosden Freeman Fisher "Gozzie" Gosden (May 5, 1899 – December 10, 1982) was an American radio comedian, actor and pioneer in the development of the situation comedy form. He is best known for his work in the '' Amos 'n' Andy'' radio series. Life and ...

Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 6. * October 15, Douglas Smith, 48, English radio announcer. * November 15,

Freddie Grisewood Frederick Henry Grisewood OBE (11 April 1888 – 15 November 1972) was a British broadcaster, who had a long and varied career with the BBC. He was perhaps best known for being the host of ''Any Questions?'' from its inception in 1948 until ...

, 84, English radio presenter.

References

{{clear Radio by year