1995 In Radio

The year 1995 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.

Events

* January 1 – KAEV in Lake Arrowhead, California changes to KCXX with an alternative rock format.
* January 28 - The final original American Top 40 airs internationally only. The final Long Distance Dedication is "Move On" by James Brown, from host Shadoe Stevens to the show's listeners.
* February 15 – After nine years as a "Pure Rock" station, Long Beach's 105.5 KNAC flips to a Mexican music format as KBUE (Que Buena). KNAC was, however, resurrected in 1998 as the internet-based radio station knac.com.
* March – After several years of playing contemporary Christian music, KQCS (93.5 FM) in Bettendorf, Iowa switches to an active rock format and adopts the call letters KORB.
* March – After 22 years as KRVR (106.5 FM), under a format that had evolved from beautiful music to a hybrid of beautiful, easy listening and adult contemporary and had been known to locals as "K-River," the call letters and format are changed for this Davenport, Iowa station. The new call sign is KCQQ and – known as Q106 and Q106.5 – the format is switched to classic hits, eventually evolving to classic rock.
* March 4- Partners For Christian Media signs Contemporary Christian station J103 on the air in Chattanooga TN.
* March 28 – KJJO in Minneapolis, Minnesota flips to smooth jazz as KMJZ.
* May 12- Mora, Minnesota gets its first radio outlet, as new FM station KBEK signs on with 25 kW of power on 95.5 MHz.
* June: WUAE/Providence signs on for the first time.
* July - Evergreen Media acquires Pyramid Broadcasting's 12 station group for $306.5 million; the sale closes the following January.
* August - Chancellor Broadcasting announces it will acquire Shamrock Broadcasting's 19 station group for $365 million.
* September 27 – The BBC in the United Kingdom and Sveriges Radio in Sweden both begin Digital Audio Broadcasting.
* September 30 – "SoundWave" (now known as 96.4FM The Wave) – sister network to Wales's first local commercial radio station Swansea Sound – goes on air.

Debuts

* July – Cigar Dave hosts the first broadcast of ''Smoke This!''
* August - '' 95.1 RW'' begins broadcast in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines.

Closings

* January 28 – Final broadcast of the original ''American Top 40''.
* October 6 — Ken Beatrice's last show on WMAL in Washington, DC.
* December 1 – Final broadcast of ''Chippie'', a German program on computer topics, produced by the Hessischer Rundfunk (Hessian Broadcasting).

Deaths

* Tom Clay, 66, American radio personality and disc jockey.
* Bob Cruz, 42, American Disc Jockey hired to replace Jay Reynolds at WABC (AM) in 1976.
* Gary Dee, 60, pioneer in controversial talk radio, mostly in Cleveland, Ohio.
* Gerald Durrell, 70, British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and radio and television presenter
* Simon Gellar, 75, owner of WVCA: Gloucester, Ma. (now WNKC) on July 11.
* J. P. McCarthy, 62, American radio personality
* Vivian Stanshall, 51, English comedian, writer, artist, broadcaster, and musician (born 1943)
* 1 June, Dallas Townsend, 76, an American broadcast journalist who worked for CBS Radio and television for over 40 years.Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. .
* 2 February, Willard Waterman, 80, a character actor in films, TV and on radio, remembered best for succeeding Harold Peary as the title character of ''The Great Gildersleeve'' at the height of that show's popularity.
* Wolfman Jack, 57, American disc jockey

See also

*Radio broadcasting

References

Radio by year

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