KDKA is a
radio stationRadio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
USAThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Created by the
Westinghouse Electric CorporationWestinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getdoc&DocId=6025&Index=*efd0fee5343905cffa0f0158ab4a751e&HitCount=2&hits=263+297+&SearchForm=F%3a\Reagan_Public_Web\search\speeches\speech_srch_form.htmlhttp://www.reagan.utexas.edu/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getdoc&DocId=6404&Index=*efd0fee5343905cffa0f0158ab4a751e&HitCount=2&hits=50a+54d+&SearchForm=F%3a\Reagan_Public_Web\search\speeches\speech_srch_form.htmlhttp://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=46441&st=pittsburgh&st1=#axzz1Y6b3dQSz, a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in the world to be "commercially licensed". KDKA is currently owned and operated by
CBS RadioCBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
and its studios are located at the combined CBS Radio Pittsburgh facility on Foster Drive in Pittsburgh; its transmitter is in
Allison ParkAllison Park is a census-designated place in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It is a suburb of Pittsburgh and is located within Hampton, Shaler and McCandless townships. It had a population of 21,552 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
Overview
KDKA operates on a clear channel and broadcasts a
newsNews is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
/
talk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
formatA radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
. News and spoken word programming has been a central feature of its programming from its beginning. Its 50 kilowatt signal can be heard in large parts of
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and
West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
during the day. At night, it reaches much of the eastern half of North America. KDKA enjoys
grandfathered statusGrandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
as one of five remaining stations east of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
that have call letters beginning with
K. Three of them are in Pittsburgh, the other two being KDKA-FM, KDKA's sister station, and
KQVKQV is a radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is the only broadcast station owned by Calvary, Inc., broadcasts at 1410 kHz, with 5000 watts of power day and night. KQV's call letters reportedly stand for King of the Quaker Valley...
, as well as KDKA's longtime sister station
KYWKYW is a class A AM radio station on 1060 kHz licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW is owned by the CBS Radio unit of CBS Corporation, and has broadcasted an all-news format since 1965. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, and it transmitters...
in Philadelphia (though the KYW callsign has in the past been used in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Cleveland) and KFIZ in
Fond du Lac, WisconsinFond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The name is French for bottom of the lake, for it is located at the bottom of Lake Winnebago. The population was 42,203 at the 2000 census...
.
The very beginnings
KDKA's roots began with the efforts of Westinghouse employee
Frank ConradFrank Conrad was a radio broadcasting pioneer who worked as the Assistant Chief Engineer for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,...
who operated KDKA's predecessor 75 watt
8XK from the Pittsburgh suburb of
WilkinsburgWilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States adjacent to the city of Pittsburgh. The population was 15,930 at the 2010 census, having lost more than 13,000 in the 70 years since 1940, when 29,853 people were enumerated...
from 1916. Conrad, who had supervised the manufacturing of military receivers during WWI, broadcast phonograph music and communicated with other amateur radio operators via 8YK. On September 29, 1920, the Joseph Horne department store in Pittsburg began advertising amateur wireless sets for $10, which could be used to listen to Conrad’s broadcasts.
Westinghouse vice president and Conrad’s supervisor, Harry P. Davis, saw the advertisement and recognized the economic potential of radio. Instead of it being limited as a hobby to scientific experimenters, radio could be marketed to a mainstream audience. Consequently, Davis asked Conrad to build a 100-watt transmitter, which would air programming intended to create widespread demand for Westinghouse receivers. The KDKA callsign was assigned sequentially from a list maintained for the use of US-registry maritime stations, and on November 2, 1920, KDKA broadcast the US presidential election returns from a shack on the roof of a Westinghouse building in East Pittsburgh. There is some indication that the new license had not been received by that date, and the station may have gone on the air with the experimental call sign of
8ZZ that night. The original broadcast was said to be heard as far away as Canada. KDKA continued to broadcast from the Westinghouse building for many months.
The 1920s
Soon after its successful election coverage, KDKA upgraded to a 100-watt transmitter. Early programming often featured live musical performances from a Westinghouse band. KDKA provided its first remote broadcast by airing a choir, live, from the Pittsburg Calvary Baptist Church in January 1921. On January 15, 1921, at 8 p.m., KDKA broadcast a speech on European relief by Herbert Hoover from the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh that was transmitted ten miles down a telephone line to Westinghouse's East Pittsburgh Works and broadcast on 330 meters. On July 2, 1921, the station featured the first national broadcast with live commentary of the
Jack DempseyWilliam Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
-
Georges CarpentierGeorges Carpentier was a French boxer. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908-26. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and his fighting weight ranged from...
fight via teletype from New Jersey. Also in 1921 the station had the first broadcasts of major league professional baseball games and the first broadcast
college footballCollege football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
gameThe 1921 West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh football game was a college football game between the and the played on October 8, 1921. It was the seventeenth meeting of the Backyard Brawl, an ongoing rivalry game between the two programs....
. KDKA hosted political comedian
Will RogersWilliam "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
in his very first radio appearance in 1922. KDKA played popular music and advertisers began sponsoring special radio programs like
The PhilcoPhilco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
Hour,
The Maxwell HouseMaxwell House is a brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Foods. Introduced in 1892, it is named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. For many years until the late 1980s it was the largest-selling coffee in the U.S. and is currently second behind...
Hour and
The WrigleyThe William Wrigley Jr. Company is a company headquartered in the Wrigley Building in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded on April 1, 1891, originally selling products such as soap and baking powder. In 1892, William Wrigley, Jr., the company's founder, began packaging...
Party.
1930s and '40s
In the 1930s, KDKA began the long-running (1932–1980)
Uncle Ed Schaughency show. It carried up-to-the-minute coverage of the 1936 St. Patrick's Day flood that submerged downtown Pittsburgh as far as Wood Street. KDKA also played popular big band and jazz music every morning as well as hosting the KDKA
Farm Hour. From 1941 to 1959, the
Farm Hour was built around farm reports along with music by Slim Bryant and his Wildcats, who eventually became the top local country music act in the Pittsburgh area.
In 1946, KDKA provided live coverage of the inauguration of
David L. LawrenceDavid Leo Lawrence was an American politician who served as the 37th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1963. He is to date the only mayor of Pittsburgh to be elected Governor of Pennsylvania. Previously, he had been the mayor of Pittsburgh from 1946 through 1959...
as Pittsburgh Mayor as well as presidential and governors' inaugurations. By the end of the decade, the musical and comedy team of Buzz Aston and Bill Hinds, billed as "Buzz & Bill", aired.
1950s
In the 1950s, Ed Shaughnessy was moved from mornings to an afternoon slot, losing his partner, Rainbow (Elmer Walters) in the process. KDKA, impressed with the success Rege Cordic had on WWSW, hired Cordic away. He started his KDKA run on Labor Day, 1954. The
Cordic & Company morning show, featuring a team of bright and innovative personalities, gave birth to today's "morning team" radio format, but in an unconventional way. Cordic and his group played a bit of music, but mainly created on-air mayhem in the form of skits, recurring characters such as "Louie The Garbageman" and space alien "Omicron." When Ed Shaughnessy did the news and read a commercial for a local brand of bacon, a sound effect of frying usually ran with it. One day, Cordic substituted a sound effect recording of explosions, and Shaughnessy barely kept his composure. Cordic's crew included Karl Hardman and
Bob TrowRobert Trow was an American radio celebrity, actor, and craftsman.Raised in the Beltzhoover neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, Trow began his career in radio. He later became well known for his acting roles on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as Bob Dog and Robert Troll, characters from the...
, later known for portraying "Bob Dog" on
Mister Rogers' NeighborhoodMister Rogers' Neighborhood, also known as Mister Rogers, is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages, 2-5, but has been stated by Public Broadcasting Service as "appropriate for all ages"...
.
The 1950s saw a shift to local programming at KDKA as national radio shows were moving to television.
Art PallanArthur E. Pallan was an American radio celebrity in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.He was born in Braddock. After graduating from Brentwood High School he landed first radio job at WWSW. Upon graduating from high school, Pallan took an office job with Procter & Gamble...
, also hired away from WWSW, and Bob Tracey became household names on the KDKA airwaves, playing the popular music of the day. For some years, announcer Sterling Yates, also a musician, played hip, progressive jazz on a Sunday morning broadcast. On January 1, 1951, a couple named Ed and Wendy King launched
Party Line, the station's first radio talk show. Phone lines were flooded with calls to "Party Line" for its 20-year run, which ended with Ed King's death on November 18, 1971. In 1956, newsman Bill Steinbach, began his 36-year career at KDKA. Within 10 years, Steinbach was anchor of the award-winning 90-to-6, Pittsburgh's popular news program. KDKA gradually embraced rock and roll music with artists such as
Bill HaleyBill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
, the Everly Brothers,
Fats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, and
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, in addition to popular vocalists including
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
,
Perry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
,
Peggy LeePeggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
. However, the station's sound remained much more conservative than most Top 40 stations.
1960s
By 1960, KDKA leaned more toward rock and roll as competitor KQV made ratings gains. "Your Pal" Pallan played the hit songs and KDKA carried the sounds of screaming crowds as the Beatles arrived in Pittsburgh in 1964. The major exponent of rock on KDKA radio was disc jockey Clark Race, who also hosted "Dance Party" on KDKA-TV, a local version of Dick Clark's
American BandstandAmerican Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
. Other artists featured on the station included
The Four SeasonsThe Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
,
The VoguesThe Vogues are an American vocal group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original group consisted of Bill Burkette , Don Miller , Hugh Geyer and Chuck Blasko .-Career:...
,
Lou ChristieLuigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
(the latter two Pittsburgh-bred),
The Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
,
The HolliesThe Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
,
The SupremesThe Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
,
Four TopsThe Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...
, and
The TurtlesThe Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
.
After 11 years of waking Pittsburghers with laughter, Rege Cordic moved on to new opportunities at
KNXKNX is an all-news radio station in Los Angeles, California, USA. The station operates on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio. KNX broadcasts from facilities shared with sister stations KFWB, KCBS-FM, KTWV, and KAMP on Los Angeles' Miracle Mile...
in Los Angeles. Pallan and Bob Trow did a two-man show that kept some of the Cordic & Company flavor. "Pallan and Trow, Two For the Show", lasted two and a half years. In April 1968, Jack Bogut moved from Salt Lake City to become the KDKA morning host, a position he held for 15 years. One of Bogut's most memorable contributions to KDKA was his introduction to Western Pennsylvania of the word Farkleberry, which is now a staple of the annual Children's Hospital fund-raising campaign. Other notable personalities included
Big Jack ArmstrongBig Jack Armstrong , aka Jack Armstrong, Jackson W...
, Bob Shannon and
Terry McGovernTerence "Terry" McGovern is an American film actor, television broadcaster, radio personality, voice-over specialist, and acting instructor.-Personal life:...
, the latter two would go on to enjoy lucrative careers in the Film/TV industry as actors.
Also in the 1960s, KDKA was there to cover the highs and lows, from the
PiratesThe Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
' improbable
1960 World SeriesThe 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the New York Yankees of the American League from October 5 to October 13, 1960...
win, to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Sen. Robert Kennedy. In local news reporting, the station pioneered with "on the scene" reports of Mike Levine, the peripatetic former newspaper man whose mobile-unit broadcasts from Tri-State-area fires, floods, bank robberies, and coal mine disasters won numerous journalism awards. His nightly "Contact" show (later "Open Mike") was KDKA's initial venture into the news-based talk radio that would become the station's basic format. In the summer of 1969, KDKA debuted overnight talk with Jack Wheeler launching an anything-goes talk show that ran from midnight to 6 a.m. six nights a week.
1970s
By the early 1970s, KDKA moved to more of an adult contemporary sound mixing the rock and roll hits of the 1960s with what is now considered soft rock. Artists such as
AmericaAmerica is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...
,
The CarpentersCarpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, Doobie Brothers,
Paul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Dawn, and
Neil DiamondNeil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
became core artists. The morning show featured less music because of the news and commercial content. In 1973, KDKA found its new direction for the old "Party Line" slot. It was a completely different approach with the bombastic John Cigna moving over from WJAS to anchor the night talk and urge listeners to "buy American!" In 1974 Perry Marshall replaced Wheeler in the overnight slot, which became known as the "Marshall's Office." In 1975, Roy Fox signed on as the 6 to 9 pm talk host. By now, KDKA was considered a full service adult contemporary radio station.
In 1979, a newsman Fred Honsberger joined the KDKA team and went on to host a successful evening talk show and a top-rated afternoon drive program. Also in 1979, KDKA covered the
Three Mile Island nuclear accidentThe Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
, which was first reported by Harrisburg newsman Mike Pintek. By 1982, Pintek joined the KDKA News staff and later became one of KDKA's most popular talk hosts. He was fired at the end of 2005 in a programming overhaul. In 2007, Pintek became the host of Night Talk on the
Pittsburgh Cable News ChannelThe Pittsburgh Cable News Channel is a 24-hour regional cable news television channel serving the Pittsburgh area with re-telecasts of WPXI newscasts...
. As of January 2009, Pintek was rehired at KDKA to host a talkshow in the 6pm to 10 pm slot. Pintek then took over the Fred Honsberger shows 12 PM-3 PM slot as of January 2010 following the death of Honsberger in December 2009.
1980s
On July 23, 1982, KDKA claims to have become the world's first radio station to broadcast in AM stereo although experimental AM stereo broadcasts were conducted as early as the 1960s on Mexico's
XETRA 690XEWW-AM are the call letters of a border-blaster radio station licensed to the Tijuana / Rosarito area of Baja California, Mexico, with additional studio facilities in Burbank, California, United States. They are a high-power station, with their 77,500 watt signal sometimes reaching as far as the...
.
KDKA's commitment to news and information remained as strong as ever. KDKA kept listeners up-to-the minute on stories such as the 1986 Space Shuttle disaster, the Iran Contra hearings, the deaths of R. Budd Dwyer and Mayor
Richard CaliguiriRichard S. Caliguiri was an American politician who served as the mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1977 until his death in 1988....
and a large oil spill on the
Monongahela riverThe Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
. Through it all, KDKA Radio was the winner of four Joe Snyder awards for outstanding overall news service in Pennsylvania, an honor bestowed by the
Associated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. Throughout the 1980s, KDKA continued an information and news intensive adult contemporary music format, playing four to six songs per hour at drive times and 10 to 12 songs an hour during middays and weekends. At night, the station continued its talk format.
1990s
One of KDKA's biggest changes was in the 1990s. KDKA made the decision to build upon its strengths and switch from a full-service format, which included music, to a news/talk format. The historic moment came in April 1992 when Larry Richert played the last song aired as a regular part of KDKA Radio programming:
Don McLeanDonald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
's "American Pie". For many listeners, it was "the day the music died."
Rush LimbaughRush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
was added to the noon to 3:00 p.m. slot. All-news blocks were added in the 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. and the 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. slots. KDKA also offered extensive coverage of the 1991
Gulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and the crash of
USAir Flight 427US Air Flight 427 was a scheduled flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Pittsburgh, with a final destination of West Palm Beach, Florida...
in September 1994.
In 1997, Bob DeWitt was hired as news director, serving for two years. His award-winning team included Bob Kopler, Dave James, Bob Kmetz, Barbara Boylan, Mike Whitely and Beth Trapani.
Westinghouse merged with CBS at the start of 1996, so KDKA would soon become an Infinity Broadcasting station, after that chain (a previously separate entity from CBS and Westinghouse) was acquired by Westinghouse. Westinghouse would later turn itself into CBS Corporation in 1997.
ViacomViacom , stylized as VIACOM in its current logo, was an American media conglomerate. It was the owner of CBS, Nickelodeon & MTV, among others. Effective December 31, 2005, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation...
bought CBS Corporation in 1999, but five years later transformed itself into
CBS CorporationCBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
, thus making KDKA now a part of CBS Radio.
2000 and beyond
In September 2001, KDKA offered listeners "wall-to-wall" coverage of the attacks on America and provided the KDKA airwaves to listeners who felt the need to talk about the events.
On October 1, 2006, after 52 seasons, KDKA aired its final Pirates game. The Pirates beat the Reds 1-0.
On April 26, 2007, the East Pittsburgh building that was the birthplace for KDKA was razed to make way for an industrial complex.
Future
After the
Hearst CorporationThe Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
sold off the former
WTAE-AMWDDZ is an AM radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, broadcasting at 1250 kHz with a power level of 5,000 watts. The station is an ABC owned and operated station and serves as the Pittsburgh affiliate of Radio Disney...
in 1997 (in effect, splitting the station from
WTAE-TVWTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
, though the two stations still share many news-related resources), KDKA and KDKA-TV became the last remaining heritage TV-radio cluster in the Pittsburgh market, and, until 2010, tied themselves together with both studios located one floor apart from each other in Pittsburgh's
Gateway CenterThe Gateway Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a high-rise building complex with of office space in four buildings. Gateway Center was purchased in 2004 by Hertz Investment Group, a Los Angeles, California based real estate investment company, for US$55 million...
.
However, on July 31, 2008, CBS Corporation announced that it was going to sell off stations in 12 mid-sized markets so that it could concentrate on larger markets. With Pittsburgh being ranked 24 in
ArbitronArbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
's national radio rankings (it is, however, ranked 22nd in
NielsenNielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
ratings for television), this has led to speculation that CBS may sell off KDKA as well as its three other sister stations (WBZW-FM
WZPT-FMWBZZ may refer to:*WBZZ, a radio station licensed to serve New Kensington, Pennsylvania, United States*WQSH, a radio station in Malta, New York, United States licensed as WBZZ from 2006 to 2011...
, and
WDSY-FMWDSY-FM is located in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and broadcasts at 107.9 FM. It is a country music station commonly known as Y108. Its slogan is: "Pittsburgh's Best Country Variety."-History:...
); however due to the history of KDKA it is that station that has garnered the most concern.
Although CBS has not announced which stations are for sale, CBS has announced on the day of first-round bids (September 22, 2008) that KDKA will not be on the auction block. This was reassured on February 15, 2010, when WBZW-FM switched from a
CHRContemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
format to a
sports radioSports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
format and changing its
call signIn broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
to KDKA-FM, with the sports director from KDKA also running KDKA-FM.
"90 Years of Serving You"
On Tuesday, November 2, 2010, KDKA celebrated its 90th anniversary on the air with its special election coverage, exactly the same way that they had every Tuesday, November 2, since its beginning in 1920. The 90th anniversary celebration was primarily sponsored by
Westinghouse Electric CompanyWestinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
, a nuclear power company which had its roots going back to the original Westinghouse.
The world's first commercially licensed radio station?
By 1921, the Westinghouse publicity department was asserting that KDKA was the world's first radio station, despite the fact that XWA (later CFCF) in
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada had preceded it. In his seminal book on broadcasting history, Eric Barnouw noted that 8MK (today WWJ in Detroit, Michigan) went on the air before KDKA, on 20 August 1920, and it also broadcast the presidential election returns. Inventor Lee DeForest claims to have been present during 8MK's earliest broadcasts, since the station was using a transmitter sold by his company.
Further, the assertion that KDKA was the first commercially licensed station is also incorrect, as there were no commercial licenses till the summer of 1921. The first station to receive the commercial license was
WBZWBZ is the call sign for an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts owned by CBS Radio, itself owned by the CBS Corporation. Originally based in and broadcast from Springfield, Massachusetts, WBZ was the first commercial radio station in the United States...
, then in Springfield MA. Lists provided to the Boston Globe by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed that WBZ received its commercial license on 15 September 1921; another Westinghouse station,
WJZWABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
, then in Newark NJ, received its commercial license on November 7, the same day as KDKA did.
No matter which was the first licensed station, KDKA, since its beginning, continues to use its famous tagline: the "Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World".
Challenging stations
Although KDKA claims to be the world's
true first radio station, this is disputed. Contenders for initial broadcasts include:
- KCBS
KCBS is an all-news radio station in San Francisco, California, that is a key West Coast flagship radio station of the CBS Radio Network and Westwood One. Its transmitter is located in Novato, California. KCBS currently has studios on Battery Street, where it shares the location with co-owned KPIX...
, currently licensed to San Francisco, California: Charles HerroldCharles David 'Doc' Herrold, was an American radio broadcasting pioneer who in 1909 created the world's second radio station....
of San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
started broadcasting voices (as opposed to Morse Code) in 1909. He used several different call signs over time (FN, SJN, 6XF, and 6XE), but had to shut down during World War I. After the war, he started up again as 6XF/6XE. The station received a commercial license in 1921 and became KQW. The station broadcasts today as KCBS.
- 2XG: Launched by Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
in the HighbridgeThe High Bridge is a steel arch bridge, with a height of almost 140 feet over the Harlem River, connecting the New York City boroughs of The Bronx and Manhattan...
section of New York City, that station began daily broadcasts in 1916. Like most experimental radio stations, however, it had to go off the air when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, and did not return to the air.
- 1XE: Launched by Harold J. Power in Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
, 1XE was an experimental station that started broadcasting in 1917. It had to go off the air during World War I, but started up again after the war, and began regular voice and music broadcasts in 1919. However, the station did not receive its commercial license, becoming WGIWGI was a pioneering United States radio station based in Medford Hillside, Massachusetts, originally using the experimental callsign 1XE.-Early history:...
, until 1922.
- 2XN, broadcasting from the City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
- 2ZK, broadcasting in New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
- WWJ
WWJ is Detroit, Michigan's only 24-hour all-news radio station. Broadcasting at 950 kHz, the station is owned and operated by CBS Corporation subsidiary CBS Radio. The station first went on the air on August 20, 1920 with the call sign 8MK...
in Detroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, formerly known as 8MK, which had regular scheduled daily broadcasts since August 1920.
- WWV, the U.S. Government time service, which had believed to have started 6 months before KDKA.
- XWA, Marconi
The Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company...
's broadcast station in Montreal, Canada, since 1919 (was CFCF, later CINW and shut down in February 2010)
- WRUC
WRUC-FM is a college radio station owned by, and staffed by, the students of Union College in Schenectady, New York. The 100-watt station broadcasts on and streams on Internet radio at...
, located on Union CollegeUnion College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
in Schenectady, New YorkSchenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
; was launched as W2XQ
- WHA (AM)
-External links:*Jeff Miller . *Randall Davidson. PortalWisconsin.org...
, located at the University of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, Madison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
; was launched as 9XM.
- KQV, one of Pittsburgh's five original AM stations, signed on as amateur station "8ZAE" on November 19, 1919, but did not receive a commercial license until January 9, 1922.
- On August 27, 1920 the Argentina Station started the first transmission from Coliseo Theatre at Buenos Aires, Argentina. Later that station received the name LOR Radio Argentina, and finally LR2 Radio Argentina. That station was in service until 31 December 1997 at 1110 kHz.
Programming
KDKA is the area's predominant news talk radio station. KDKA's program lineup is predominantly local talent: Marty Griffin, Mike Pintek and Robert Mangino in addition to news blocks in morning and afternoon drive. KDKA also has a local Tradio program on weekends, one of the largest stations in the country to offer such a service, which is traditionally a staple of small-town radio.
- Monday - Friday
- 5:00-9:00 am
KDKA Morning News with Larry Richert and John Shumway
The Inside Story with Marty Griffin
The Mike Pintek Show
KDKA Afternoon News with Paul Rasmussen and Rose Ryan-Douglas
The Robert Mangino Show
The
Jim BohannonJames E. "Jim" Bohannon is an American broadcaster who has worked in both television and radio.During the 1980s he was a fill-in for Larry King when King had his popular nighttime national radio program. He also does much work with the Smithsonian Associates...
Show
Overnight America with John Grayson
During the weekend,
12:00 midnight to 3:00 am
Dr Knowledge (also has Knowledge in a minute Syndicating over the country daily)
External links