Ellis E. "Woody" Erdman (April 16, 1926,

Ashland, Pennsylvania Ashland is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Schuylkill and Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Columbia counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, northwest of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville. It is part of ...

– February 10, 1997,

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

) was an American sportscaster, television producer, and businessman who served as chairman of Trans-National Communications, International Trade & Commerce Corporation and

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. Ellis Erdman was a combat veteran of World War II, having served with the US Army Air Corps from 1944 to the V-J Day. He was a crew member on several B-29s based on the island of Tinian, and received the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He remained in the Air Force Reserve until after the birth of his third child, and received an Honorable Discharge at the rank of 1st Lieutenant. Erdman's career in broadcasting began while he was a student at Penn State University in the late 1940s, and worked at several radio stations in central Pennsylvania, where he met his future wife, Phebe Mae Weeks, and they were married in 1948. In 1952 they moved to Elmira, NY where Erdman worked for WELM, a Gannett radio station. In 1956, he co-founded WTKO radio in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

with Thomas Cassell and a group of investors, and the family moved to Ithaca. On February 1, 1960, Erdman purchased the

Rural Radio Network The Rural Radio Network (RRN) was an interconnected group of six commercial FM radio stations spread across upstate New York and operated from Ithaca, New York—the first all-radio, no-wireline network in the world. It began operation in 1948 ...

, an interconnected group of six commercial FM radio stations spread across upstate New York. In addition to owning radio stations, Erdman was also a radio play-by-play announcer for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

football team. Erdman was also involved in the ownership of sports teams. Erdman's Trans-National Communications were the majority owners of the

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

from 1969 to 1971 and the

Oakland Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

during the 1969-70 NHL season. Erdman was also the owner of the Carolina Cardinals of the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

. A 1996 investigation of Ellis Erdman and his International Trade & Commerce Corporation by the

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

accused Erdman of being a "confidence man." As chairman of ITC, Erdman was believed to have "orchestrated a classic "

pump and dump Pump and dump (P&D) is a form of securities fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements (pump), in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price (dump). O ...

" scheme," but died in 1997 before ever tried in court. Erdman was married to Phebe Weeks Erdman from 1949 until their divorce in 1985. The couple was reunited in 1992 and were together until his death. They had three children. The Erdmans were residents of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdman, Woody 1926 births 1997 deaths American media executives American sports announcers Television producers from Pennsylvania American white-collar criminals Boston Celtics executives Boston Celtics owners NFL announcers National Hockey League owners New York Giants announcers People from Ashland, Pennsylvania 20th-century American businesspeople