The year 1983 in radio involved some significant events. __TOC__

Events

*January 3 – Following its sale to Sconnix Broadcasting, WLLR of

East Moline, Illinois East Moline is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,374 at the 2020 census. East Moline is part of the Quad Cities, along with the cities of Rock Island, Illinois, Rock Island, Moline, Illinois, Moline, and ...

debuts at 101.3 FM and moves its studios to

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

. The station carries over a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

format, which had been used by its previous owner under the previous call letters WZZC, which had been in place since 1978. The station continues its steady climb in the Quad-Cities Arbitron ratings and eventually becomes the market's top-rated station. *July 2 – "Solid Gold Country," a country gold-formatted program, debuts by the United Stations Programming Network. The original format is a three-hour weekly program featuring interviews by a feature artist and song blocks covering various topics. Host is Stan Martin. This original format will run 18 months, until being reformatted as a daily one-hour program. *August 2 –

WHTZ WHTZ (100.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial contemporary hit radio, top 40/CHR station city of license, licensed to Newark, New Jersey and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, WHTZ is the Flagship (broadcasti ...

(Z100) in New York City debuts, soon becoming one of the most influential CHR stations in the US. Z100 has competition in the format from 95.5

WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmitte ...

, which flipped from album-oriented rock to CHR on June 30 of that year, and Z100 literally goes from "worst to first" in the ratings. *

KABG KABG (98.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and serving the Santa Fe and Albuquerque radio markets. It is owned by American General Media and airs a classic hits radio format, playing Top 40 hits mostly from ...

Cambridge, Minnesota Cambridge is a city in Isanti County, Minnesota, United States, located at the junction of Minnesota State Highways 65 and 95. The population was 9,611 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Isanti County. It is located along the Rum Riv ...

becomes KXLV *

KDWB-FM KDWB-FM (101.3 MHz) is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, licensed to suburban Richfield. KDWB's radio format is Top 40/CHR. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, while its studios ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

flips from

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...

to CHR, a format it still carries today. *

Emmis Broadcasting Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which ha ...

purchases CHR-formatted WLOL in

WCCO-FM KMNB (102.9 MHz, "The Wolf") is an American commercial FM radio station in Minneapolis-St. Paul that carries a country radio format. KMNB is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its main transmitter is located on the KMSP Tower in Shoreview, Minnesota, with ba ...

flips from

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

to CHR, then back again (as WLTE) later that year. *December 12 – After 25 years of ownership,

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

sells

KSFO KSFO (560 AM) is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a talk radio format. The station's studios and offices are on Battery Street in the SoMa district of San Francisco, along with fiv ...

560 AM to King Radio Broadcasting which owned KYA 1260 AM and 93.3 FM. *December 12 – KYA moves broadcasts solely onto

93.3 FM The following radio stations broadcast on FM frequency 93.3 MHz: Argentina * Atlántica latina in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires * BitBox in Buenos Aires * Central de noticias Madariaga in Madariaga, Buenos Aires * Ciudad Noticias in Coronel Sua ...

, leaving 1260 AM (which they owned since 1926 and was sold to

Bonneville International Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV network ...

) which became a simulcast of

KOIT KOIT (96.5 FM) is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to San Francisco, California. The station has studios along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City, and transmits from Sutro Tower in San Francisco, with a power output of ...

FM, at midnight.

Debuts

* April 15 –

American Public Radio Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmin ...

is founded (becomes

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programm ...

in 1994). *

Joe Castiglione Joseph John Castiglione (born March 2, 1947) is an American radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox baseball team,Joe Castigl ...

joins the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

broadcast team, teamed with

Ken Coleman Kenneth Robert Coleman (April 22, 1925 – August 21, 2003) was an American radio and television sportscaster for more than four decades (1947–1989). Early life Coleman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1925, the son of William (a salesma ...

Jam Radio Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and enterta ...

, the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

's student radio station becomes the first student station to obtain a medium wave license.

Closings

* March 16 – The

Transmitter Ismaning The Transmitter Ismaning was a large radio transmitting station near Ismaning, Bavaria, Germany. It was inaugurated in 1932. From 1932 to 1934 this transmitter (which replaced the Stadelheim Transmitter at Munich-Stadelheim) used a T-antenna as ...

, the last wooden radio tower in Germany, is demolished. *

KMEL KMEL (106.1 FM) is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to San Francisco, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. KMEL has studios located in the SoMa district, and broadcasts ...

ends its weekly countdown show, hosted by 78-year-old Ruth Bennett, mother of the station's former morning host Alex Bennett.

Births

* August 16 –

Colin Griffiths Colin Griffiths (born 16 August 1983) is an English comedian, DJ, VJ and writer. He is most famous for his work as host of the MTV show ''Up, Up, Down, Down...'', the flagship program of MTV Flux which has also aired on TMF UK and MTV UK a ...

, TV presenter and DJ * October 10 –

Alyson Hau Alyson Hau Ka-Ming (; born 10 October 1983) is a radio DJ/presenter in Hong Kong and is sometimes known by the nicknames "Allie" or "Ally". She has previously worked at Metro Radio's 104 FM Select (now called "104 Metro Finance") in 2000 an ...

, Hong Kong radio DJ

Deaths

* February 4 -

Jim Ameche Jim Ameche (August 6, 1915 – February 4, 1983)Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Page 29. was an American r ...

, 67, radio's original Jack Armstrong on ''

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC. Backgro ...

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

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...

, 79, 27-year host of ''Arthur Godfrey Time'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, as well as host of ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' (on radio from 1946–1956; on TV from 1948–1958); one of history's most influential broadcast personalities. * August 4 -

Yuri Levitan Yuri Borisovich Levitan (russian: Юрий Борисович Левитан, 2 October 1914 – 4 August 1983) was the primary Soviet radio announcer during and after World War II. He announced on Radio Moscow all major international events i ...

, 68, Soviet Russian radio announcer.

References