The year 1999 in radio involved some significant events. __TOC__

Events

March 31 Events Pre-1600 * 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian. * 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging ...

– Chilean radio station Radio Minería closes down. *

May 4 Events Pre-1600 * 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull ''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''. * 1415 – Religious reformer John Wycliffe is condemned a ...

–

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

' official merger with

Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

is consummated. *

May 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1027 – Robert II of France Robert II ( 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious () or the Wise (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Juni ...

– US radio station

WENZ WENZ (107.9 FM) is a commercial mainstream urban radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. The station is owned by Urban One since 1999, its studios are located on Oak Tree Blv ...

/Cleveland flips from modern rock to

mainstream urban Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ' ...

as "Kiss 107.9." *

May 20 Events Pre-1600 * 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church. * 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose h ...

– US radio station WZLE/

Lorain Lorain may refer to: Places * Lorain, Ohio * Lorain, Pennsylvania * Lorain, Wisconsin * Lorain County, Ohio ** Lorain County Community College * Lorain Township, Minnesota People * René Lorain (born 1900), French athlete * Sophie Lorain, Canadi ...

flips from

Christian contemporary Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith an ...

to Top 40/CHR as "KISS 104.9", targeting

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 census results, the six-county Cleveland, OH ...

. WZLE owner Clear Channel subsequently filed a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

order against WENZ claiming rights to the

KISS-FM brand KISS-FM is the brand name of a Top 40 music format heard on FM radio stations in many cities in the United States and overseas. iHeartMedia claims ownership of the KISS-FM brand in the United States and operates most KISS-FM formatted stations t ...

in Ohio; WENZ ultimately rebranded as "Z-107.9" on September 1. *

August 28 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna. * 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way ...

– US radio station

WAKS WAKS (96.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Akron, Ohio, known as "96.5 KISS-FM" and featuring a contemporary hit radio format. Owned by iHeartMedia, WAKS's studios are located at the Six Six Eight Building in downtown Cleveland ...

/Tampa flips formats from Top 40/CHR to hot AC as "Mix 100.7"; the station assumes the WMTX calls, while the WAKS calls are transferred to the former WZLE/Lorain. *

October 4 Events Pre-1600 *AD 23 – Rebels sack the Chinese capital Chang'an during a peasant rebellion. * 1209 – Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III. * 1302 – The Byzantine–Venetian War comes ...

– Clear Channel announces a nearly $23.5 billion merger with AMFM, creating America's largest radio group. The deal would close the following year after selling off surplus in multiple markets. This would be the largest broadcast deal in American history, a record that would stand until Clear Channel itself was bought out by private equity in 2007. *September – The

United Press International Radio Network Originally named "UPI Audio," the United Press International Radio Network was a news service for radio and television stations from wire service United Press International. It was the first such service offered by a major news agency and existed ...

closes down after 41 years. *

November 14 Events Pre-1600 * 332 BC – Alexander the Great is crowned pharaoh of Egypt. 1601–1900 * 1680 – German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet to be discovered by telescope. *1770 – Ja ...

– ''Smoke Rings'' breaks the record for the longest-running Swedish radio programme, previously held by ''

Barnens brevlåda ''Barnens brevlåda'' (''"The Children's Letterbox"'') was a Swedish children's radio programme, led by Sven Jerring. It aired totally 1 785 times, between 11 September 1925 and 1972, making it the longest-lasting Swedish radio programme of that ti ...

''.

Debuts

*October 23 –

The BJ Shea Morning Experience BJ & MIGs Mornings was a morning drive time radio show on 99.9 FM KISW in Seattle, Washington, owned by Audacy (previously Entercom). The show aired Monday through Friday, 6–10 a.m. PST and was also available as a stream and a downloadable po ...

makes its debut on

KQBZ KQBZ (96.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 as of th2020 census Brownwood is in the Texas Hill Country and is ho ...

in Seattle, Washington.

Closings

*April 17 – The

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

name was retired by owner

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

, with remaining affiliates switching to

CNN Radio Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news ...

in a deal with

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its ass ...

. On that same day, "

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

"-branded newscasts (by this point, "Mutual" and "NBC" newscasts were produced and anchored by CBS Radio personnel) were also limited only to 5 a.m. – 10 a.m. on weekday mornings, with CNN Radio newscasts airing at all other times.

Deaths

* January 11 – Frank Parker, 95, American singer and television personality * January 30 –

Ed Herlihy Edward Joseph Herlihy (August 14, 1909 – January 30, 1999)Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . was an Ameri ...

, 89, American radio and television announcer for

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 ...

Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . * April 16 –

Regis Cordic Regis John Cordic (May 15, 1926 – April 16, 1999) was an American radio personality and actor, also known and credited as Rege Cordic. His career in entertainment was divided roughly in half. From 1948 to 1965, he was the dominant mornin ...

, 72, American radio personality and actor * May 9 –

Shirley Dinsdale Shirley Dinsdale Layburn (October 31, 1926 – May 9, 1999), better known by her maiden name of Shirley Dinsdale, was an American ventriloquist and television and radio personality of the 1940s and early 1950s. She is best remembered for her dumm ...

, 72, American

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

and television and radio personality of the 1940s and early 1950s * December 15 –

George Elrick George Connell Elrick (29 December 1903 – 15 December 1999), known as 'The Smiling Voice of Radio', was a British musician, impresario and radio presenter, perhaps best known for presenting the popular record request show ''Housewives' Choice ...

, 95 Scottish bandleader and DJ * Ted Mallie, 74, American radio and television announcer

References

{{reflist

Events

Debuts

Closings

Deaths

References

See also