The year 2004 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.

Events

*1 January –

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; ''Central German Broadcasting'') is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studio ...

's cultural channel MDR Kultur is relaunched as MDR Figaro. *10 and 11 January – Ryan Seacrest succeeds

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

as host of

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...

*5 January – ''

The Ed Schultz Show ''The Ed Schultz Show'' was a progressive talk radio program hosted by Ed Schultz. It was formerly broadcast from KFGO in Fargo, North Dakota. It was heard on a network of over 100 stations, including seven of the ten largest radio markets. It ...

'' is launched. *31 March – Launch of

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an radio in the United States, American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left ...

, with affiliates in New York City (

WLIB WLIB (1190 AM) is an urban contemporary gospel radio station licensed to New York City. WLIB is owned by Emmis Communications, along with sister stations WBLS (107.5 FM) and WQHT (97.1 FM). The three stations share studios in the Hudson Square ...

), Chicago (

WNTD WNTD (950 AM) is a radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc. Its has separate day-time (1,000 watts; non-directional) and night-time (5,000 watts; directional) transmitter locations. It is currently one of ...

), Los Angeles (

KBLA KBLA (1580 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to Santa Monica, California, KBLA serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, through licensee Multicultural Radio Broadcas ...

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

(

KCAA KCAA (1050 AM) is a commercial radio station located in Loma Linda, California, broadcasting to the Inland Empire, with studios located at 1378 Industrial Park Avenue in Redlands. KCAA airs news, talk, music and brokered programming. KCAA c ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

(

KPOJ KPOJ (620 AM) is a radio station serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon and neighboring Washington. It airs a sports format, and is affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. Its transmitter is located in Sunnyside, Or ...

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

(

WJNO WJNO (1290 AM) is a commercial talk radio station licensed to serve West Palm Beach, Florida, covering Palm Beach County and portions of the Miami metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., WJNO serves as the local affiliate for: Fox News Rad ...

), and

Minneapolis 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 ...

( WMNN). *8 April – As part of a series of format changes at

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

-owned stations in the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

KORB Korb is a municipality in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located 3 km east of Waiblingen, and 15 km northeast of Stuttgart. Korb is known for the wines produced in the area. History Older History The ...

(93.5 FM) switches from

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

hot 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, quiet ...

, adopts the former call sign KQCS (which had been used at frequency from 1989 to 1995) and adopts the slogan "Star 93.5." The active rock format is moved to

WXLP WXLP (96.9 MHz FM) is a commercial radio station, licensed to Moline, Illinois, and serving the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. Its radio studios and ...

(96.9 FM), which dumps its longtime

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

format as a result, and adopts the slogan "97 Rock

*19 April – Alex Bennett (broadcaster), Alex Bennett launches his new show on Sirius Left. *30 June –

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

radio station WBZZ, "B94", drops its 23-year-old Top 40/CHR format for active rock as "93-7 K-Rock" WRKZ. *1 July – KRBV in

Dallas, TX Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

drops its

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

format as "Wild 100.3" and change to

Jack FM Jack FM is a radio network brand, licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits format, in most cases not using DJs. Format characteristics Stations ...

with

KJKK KJKK (100.3 FM) is a commercial radio station in Dallas, Texas and serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an adult hits radio format known as "Jack FM." The station's studios and offices are along the ...

as the station's new callsign. *7 September – ''

The Stephanie Miller Show ''The Stephanie Miller Show'' is a syndicated progressive talk radio program that discusses politics, current events, and pop culture using a fast-paced, impromptu, comedic style. The three-hour show is hosted by Stephanie Miller and is syndicat ...

'' debuts. *28 September –

KABL KNEW (960 AM broadcasting, AM) is an American biz news radio station city of license, licensed to Oakland, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by iHeartMedia and most of the programming comes from Bloomberg Radio. KN ...

goes through a format change and callsign change, after forty-five years on 960 AM in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. *4 October – The

Opie & Anthony Show ''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show originated in 1994 when Cumia took part i ...

returns to

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

after a 2-year hiatus from being cancelled on terrestrial radio. *6 October – Howard Stern announces on his radio show that he will be leaving terrestrial radio in 2006 and moving his show to

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

. *28 October-

Shade 45 Shade 45 is American rapper Eminem's hip-hop station on Sirius XM Radio channel 45 and Dish Network channel 6045. History Eminem established his own channel, Shade 45, that plays uncut hip hop. Eminem also established a new morning show, ''Sway ...

debuts on

. *30 October – In the UK a 163-metre-high

radio mast Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

collapses in a fire. *18 November – WCKW/

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana drops

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 ...

for

Rhythmic Adult Contemporary Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adult ...

as WDVW ("Diva 92.3").

Closings

*May – Westwood One ends production of "NBC Radio News"-branded morning-drive newscasts, produced by

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

personnel, one of the few remaining links to the original

NBC Radio Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

. The move came a year after the launch of the non-related "NBC ''News Radio''" in an arrangement with NBC and Westwood One (that service would be expanded to a round-the-clock basis on 1 April 2012). Usage of the NBC Radio "Hotline" satellite chirp was also retired. *27 February –

I.E. America Radio Network i.e. America Radio Network was a Detroit-based radio network consisting primarily of liberal talk and lifestyle shows. They were owned by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and broadcast nationally from 1996 to 2004, via radio stations and a webca ...

ends operations, *15 December – Brian Beirne retires from

KRTH KRTH (101.1 FM, "K-Earth 101") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a classic hits format. KRTH's st ...

Deaths

*8 January –

John A. Gambling John Alfred Gambling (February 5, 1930 – January 8, 2004) was an American radio personality. He was a member of the Gambling family, three generations of whom - John B. Gambling, John B., John A. and John R. Gambling, John R. - were hosts of WOR-A ...

, 73, American radio host, "Rambling with Gambling" *22 January –

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...

, 87, American composer, arranger and trumpeterCox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . *28 January –

José Miguel Agrelot Giuseppe Michael Agrelot Vilá (April 21, 1927 – January 28, 2004), also known as José Miguel Agrelot or Don Cholito, was a Puerto Rican comedian, radio and television host. Biography Agrelot was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was the ...

, 76, Puerto Rican radio host *15 March –

Chuck Niles Chuck Niles (born Charles Neidel; June 24, 1927 – March 15, 2004) was a well-known jazz disc jockey who became the only jazz DJ to be on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Niles was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and first gained not ...

, 76, first

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

disc jockey to be on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

*3 July –

Jimmy Mack "Jimmy Mack" is a pop/soul song that in 1967 became a hit single by Martha and the Vandellas for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 pop h ...

, 70, Scots radio personality *9 July –

Bill Randle Bill Randle (March 14, 1923 – July 9, 2004) was an American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor. Randle was born William McKinley Randle Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, he hosted a popular show on WJLB-AM radio (now WDTK) calle ...

, 81, Cleveland and New York disc jockey; presenter of the first

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

concert north of the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

(in

Brooklyn, Ohio Brooklyn is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Cleveland. The population was 11,359 at the 2020 census. Geography Brooklyn is located at (41.435357, -81.744457). According to the United States Census Bureau, the ...

). *23 September –

Bill Ballance Willis Bennett Ballance (October 27, 1918 – September 23, 2004) was an American radio talk show host. Ballance was born in Peoria, Illinois, and studied journalism at the University of Illinois before serving in the United States Marines., R ...

, 85, American radio personality *28 September –

Scott Muni Scott Muni (May 10, 1930 – September 28, 2004) was an American disc jockey, who worked at the heyday of the AM Top 40 format and then was a pioneer of FM progressive rock radio. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine termed him "legendary". Early life B ...

, 74, longtime New York City radio disc jockey *2 October –

Fialho Gouveia José Manuel Bastos Fialho Gouveia (30 April 1935 – 2 October 2004) was a Portuguese television entertainment pioneer and former radio host, having hosted Portugal's first television talk show. Born in Montijo, the son of a railroad company emp ...

, 69, Portuguese radio and TV presenter (cardiac arrest) *13 October –

Erik Bye Erik Erikssønn Bye (March 1, 1926 – October 13, 2004) was a versatile Norwegian-American journalist, artist, author, film actor, folk singer and radio and television personality. He was one of the 20th century's most well-known and popular ra ...

, 78, Norwegian journalist (AP, BBC,

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

), radio/TV host, actor, singer/songwriter (cancer) *25 October –

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, 65, British radio disc jockey (heart attack) *12 November –

Norman Rose Norman Rose (June 23, 1917 – November 12, 2004) was an American actor, film narrator and radio announcer whose velvety baritone was often called "the Voice of God" by colleagues. He was best known as the narrator's voice in the fictitious coffee ...

, 87, radio and TV actor,

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

voice of

Juan Valdez Juan Valdez is a fictional character who has appeared in advertisements for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia since 1958, representing a Colombian coffee farmer. The advertisements were designed by the Doyle Dane Bernbach ad ...

*20 November – David Grierson, 49,

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

radio and television host *23 November –

Frances Chaney Frances Chaney (July 23, 1915 – November 23, 2004) was an actress on stage, on old-time radio and on television. She was perhaps best known, however, for being "ostracized as pro-communist along with her late blacklisted husband, Ring Lardn ...

, 89, American actress in

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

*27 November – John Dunn, 70, British

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

disc jockey (cancer) *28 November –

Molly Weir Mary Weir (17 March 1910 – 28 November 2004), known as Molly Weir, was a Scottish actress. She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series '' Rentaghost''. She was the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom Weir. B ...

, 94, Scottish TV and radio actress *9 December –

David Brudnoy David Barry Brudnoy (June 5, 1940 – December 9, 2004) was an American talk radio host in Boston from 1976 to 2004. His radio talk show aired on WBZ radio. He was known for espousing his libertarian views on a wide range of political issues, in ...

, 64, Boston radio talk show host, cancer *''date unknown'' – Dennis R. ("Dick") Covington, 77, American radio broadcaster, KYW,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania

References

{{reflist Radio by year

Events

Closings

Deaths

See also

References