KDKA (AM)

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KDKA
City of license	Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast area	Pittsburgh, PA
Branding	"Newsradio 1020 KDKA"
Slogan	"The Voice of Pittsburgh"
Frequency	1020 kHz (Also on HD Radio)
First air date	November 2, 1920
Format	News/Talk
Power	50,000 watts
Class	A
Facility ID	25443
Owner	CBS Radio
Sister stations	WDSY-FM, WBZW, WZPT
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.kdkaradio.com

KDKA (1020 AM) is a radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station operates on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio. KDKA's studios are co-located with sister station KDKA-TV (channel 2) at the Gateway Center complex in downtown Pittsburgh, and its transmitter is in Allison Park, Pennsylvania.

KDKA broadcasts a news/talk radio format. Its 50 kilowatt (or 50,000 watt) signal can be heard in large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia during the day. At night, it reaches much of the eastern half of North America. KDKA enjoys grandfathered status as one of four remaining stations east of the Mississippi River that have call letters beginning with K. Two of them are in Pittsburgh, the other being KQV; there are also KYW in Philadelphia (though the KYW callsign has in the past been used in Chicago and Cleveland) and KFIZ in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

[edit] History

KDKA started broadcasting on November 2, 1920, as the first commercial radio station in the United States. (The oldest non-commercial station is WWV, which began operation in May 1920). KDKA also claims to be the first commercial radio station broadcasting on a regular schedule. That claim is complicated by the fact that radio prior to 1920 was mostly experimental and good records are not available for all "experimental" signals of contesting stations. Further, another radio station in North America, XWA-AM in Montréal, Québec, Canada (renamed CFCF on November 4, 1920, and currently CINW), began its commercial, regular broadcast programming schedule on May 20, 1920 — nearly six months before KDKA aired its first regularly scheduled broadcast.

KDKA's roots began with the efforts of Frank Conrad who operated KDKA's predecessor 75 watt 8XK from the Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania from 1916. Conrad's musical offerings proved unexpectedly popular and his operations continued until his employer, the Westinghouse Electric Company, realized the potential of this new medium and applied for an official broadcasting license. 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.

The radio station continued to broadcast from the Westinghouse building for many months. The station continued to get upgrades and increased range, and within five years received reception reports from as far away as Australia and Antarctica.

In the 1920s, KDKA played popular music and on July 2, 1921, the station featured the first national broadcast with live commentary of the Jack Dempsey - Georges Carpentier fight via teletype from New Jersey.^[1] Also in 1921 the station had the first broadcasts of major league professional baseball games. KDKA hosted political comedian Will Rogers in his very first radio appearance in 1922. Advertisers began sponsoring special radio programs on KDKA like The Philco Hour, The Maxwell House Hour and The Wrigley Party.

[edit] 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 St. Patrick's Day 1936 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. Lawrence 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.

[edit] 1950s

In the 1950s, Uncle Ed turned his focus to news and a creative guy named Rege Cordic found entertaining ways to wake up Pittsburgh radio listeners. 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 Schaughency 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 Schaughency barely kept his composure. Cordic's crew included Karl Hardman and Bob Trow, later known for portraying "Bob Dog" on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

The 1950s saw a shift to local programming at KDKA as national radio shows were moving to television. Art Pallan 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 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, a young newsman, Bill Steinbach, began his 36-year career at KDKA. Within a few 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 Haley, the Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, and Elvis Presley, in addition to popular vocalists including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Peggy Lee.

[edit] 1960s

By 1960, KDKA leaned toward rock and roll as it swept the nation. "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, which was a local version of Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Other artists featured on the station included The Four Seasons, The Vogues, Lou Christie (the latter two Pittsburgh-bred), The Beach Boys, The Hollies, The Supremes, Four Tops, and The Turtles.

After 11 years of waking Pittsburghers with laughter, Rege Cordic moved on to new opportunities in Los Angeles. In 1968, Jack Bogut was named the KDKA morning host, a position he held for 15 years. One of Bogut's most memorable contributions to KDKA was his coining of the whimsical word "Farkleberry", which is now a staple of the annual Children's Hospital campaign.

Also in the 1960s, KDKA was there to cover the highs and lows, from the Pirates' improbable 1960 World Series win, to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Sen. Robert Kennedy.

[edit] 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 America, The Carpenters, Doobie Brothers, Paul Simon, Dawn, and Neil Diamond became core artists. The 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. slots added more news and features and music was cut to about four to six songs per hour (the station kept about 12 songs each hour during the 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daytime span. In 1973, KDKA added an evening talk show from 9:00 p.m. to midnight weeknights. John Cigna became the talk show host and urged listeners to "buy American!" Meanwhile, in 1974, KDKA added overnight talk programming with Perry Marshall, which was known as the "Marshall's Office." In 1975, KDKA became a talk station nearly 12 hours a day from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. weeknights when Roy Fox signed on as the 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. talk host. Music continued during the day with a lot of news and information mixed in. By now, KDKA was considered a full service adult contemporary radio station.

In 1979, a newsman named Fred Honsberger joined the KDKA team and has gone 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 accident, which was first reported by a young Harrisburg newsman named Mike Pintek. By 1982, Pintek joined the KDKA News staff and 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 Channel.

[edit] 1980s and beyond

On July 23, 1982, KDKA became the world's first radio station to broadcast in AM stereo. ^[2] 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 Caliguiri and a large oil spill on the Monongahela river. 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 Press. 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.

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 McLean's "American Pie". For many listeners, it was "the day the music died." Rush Limbaugh 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 War and the crash of USAir Flight 427 in September 1994. Bob Logue took over the midnight to 5:00 a.m. slot and called his program "The Undercover Club." Although he is retired, the program name remains.

Westinghouse merged with CBS at the start of 1996, so KDKA became a CBS-owned-and-operated station. Viacom later bought CBS, and KDKA-AM is now part of CBS Radio.

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 1020 AM broadcast 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. Even today KDKA is the topped ranked radio station by viewers in Pittsburgh.

[edit] Historical controversy

Although KDKA claims to be "the pioneer broadcasting station of the world,"^[3] the issue is disputed. Contenders for initial broadcasts include:

• Charles Herrold of San Jose, California started broadcasting voices (as opposed to Morse Code) in 1909.^[4] 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.
• Lee De Forest's 2XG in Highbridge, New York began daily broadcasts in 1916.^[5] Like most experimental radio stations, however, it had to go off the air during World War I.
• Harold J. Power's 1XE in Medford Hillside, Massachusetts 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 WGI, until 1922.^[6]
• 2XN from the City College of New York
• 2ZK in New Rochelle, New York
• 8MK in Detroit, Michigan (now WWJ) which has had regular scheduled broadcasts since August, 1920
• WWV the U.S. Government time service, believed to have started 6 months before KDKA
• XWA in Montreal, Canada (now CINW)
• W2XQ, now WRUC, Union College, Schenectady, NY
• 9XM, now WHA (AM), University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
• KQV was one of Pittsburgh's five original AM stations, signing on as amateur station "8ZAE" on November 19, 1919, predating KDKA which was granted the distinction of being the nation's first commercially licensed station in 1920. KQV did not receive a commercial license until January 9, 1922, despite having started transmitting three years earlier.
• 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 December 1999 at 1110 kHz.

For more details on this topic, see Enrique Telémaco Susini.

Ironically, due to various corporate mergers over the years, KDKA is now a sister station to the other two stations with the strongest claims to be the oldest surviving commercial station--KCBS and WWJ. Despite the common ownership, WWJ and KDKA still claim to be the world's first commercial radio station. What is not in dispute is that KDKA was issued the first "limited commercial" license for a radio station in the United States. This also makes KDKA the longest continuously-used call letters of any commercial station.

[edit] Programming

KDKA is the area's predominant news talk radio station. Its program lineup includes hosts such as Neal Boortz and Bill O'Reilly, as well as local hosts such as Fred Honsberger, Marty Griffin and Kevin Miller. The station carries several "total news hours" throughout the day. KDKA also has a local Tradio program on weekends, one of the largest stations in the country to offer such a service.

Beginning in February 2008, KDKA replaced Boortz with the duo of John Steigerwald and Scott Paulsen, while overnight host Gary Dickson will see his overnight show cancelled in favor of syndicated offerings, Dennis Miller and the Midnight Radio Network. Miller, Paulsen and Steigerwald come from the now defunct WTZN "The Zone." Paulsen left the show in March 2008 after reportedly not wanting to work the evening shift.

[edit] External links

• KDKA Radio
• KDKA History
• Query the FCC's AM station database for KDKA
• Radio Locator Information on KDKA
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for KDKA
• Google Maps Satellite View of KDKA (AM)'s Transmit Facility and Tower

[edit] References

1. ^ Fisher, Marc. Something in the Air. Random House, xiv. ISBN 978-0-375-50907-0. 
2. ^ KDKAradio.com, KDKA Firsts
3. ^ Kdka - *
4. ^ AM Broadcasting History
5. ^ Highbridge Station Reports (1917)
6. ^ The Boston Radio Archives: The Rise and Fall of WGI

Melhuish, Martin. (1996). Oh What a Feeling: A Vital History of Canadian Music. Kingston, ON, Quarry Press.

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