1944 in radio

none 1944 radio television music film The year 1944 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history. Events thumb|R. Ernest Dupuy reads Communiqué Number One of SHAEF announcing the Normandy landings 11 January – Fireside chat by the President of the United States: State of the Union Message to Congress. 6 March – The BBC in the United Kingdom transmits a ballad opera, The Man Who Went to War, concerning an African American soldier, written by Langston Hughes and D. G. Bridson and presented by Paul Robeson.1944 Robert Seatter Broadcasting Britain: 100 years of the BBC London Dorling Kindersley 2022 9780241567548 28 March – New York City classical music radio station WQXR (later WFME) bans singing commercials from being broadcast on its station. 30 April – (Six days before) The American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) is established, transmitting from the United Kingdom in English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian to resistance movements in mainland Europe. 5 June Fireside chat: On the Fall of Rome. One day before D-Day, the BBC transmits coded messages (including the second line of a poem by Paul Verlaine) from Britain to underground resistance fighters in France warning that the invasion of Europe is about to begin.M. R. D. Foot Foot M. R. D. SOE: An Outline History of the Special Operations Executive 1940–46 London Pimlico 1999 0-7126-6585-4 143Edward Stourton (journalist) Edward Stourton Auntie's War: the BBC during the Second World War London Doubleday 2017 978-0-857-52332-7 6 June – D-Day: United States Army Colonel R. Ernest Dupuy, news chief to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, officially announces today's Normandy landings on radio in a broadcast at 3:32 am Eastern War Time (12:32 am Pacific Time).Col. R. Ernest Dupuy, 88, Dead; Publicist and Military Historian https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/26/archives/col-r-ernest-dupuy-88-dead-publicist-and-military-historian.html 2020-06-17 The New York Times 1975-04-26McDonough John The Longest Night: Broadcasting's First Invasion The American Scholar 1994 63 2 198–201 41212236 0003-0937 BBC reports of the landings are carried by around 725 of the 914 broadcasting stations in the United States. 7 June – BBC Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme begins broadcasting to troops of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe on 14 metres (583 kHz) providing a program dominated by cabaret and swing music.Martinsen Svenn http://www.northernstar.no/afrs.htm Armed Forces Radio Stations Radio Northern Star 2004 https://web.archive.org/web/20060314120507/http://www.northernstar.no/afrs.htm 2006-03-14 2026-05-02 Wayback MachineMillward David Morale-raising radio from the depths of Broadcasting House The Daily Telegraph 2004-06-05 London 0307-1235 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1463641/Morale-raising-radio-from-the-depths-of-Broadcasting-House.html subscription 12 June – Fireside chat: Opening Fifth War Loan Drive (last fireside chat). 21 July (01:00) – Following failure of the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler he makes a 6-minute broadcast on German radio (at 10 minutes notice). Beginning in an uncharacteristically subdued manner, he states "I regard this as a confirmation of the task imposed on me by Providence to continue to pursue my life purpose". Heinrich Himmler is given additional powers.Hitler's six-minute broadcast The Manchester Guardian 1944-07-21 https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1944/jul/21/fromthearchive 2026-07-17Hitler's radio proclamation about the assassination attempt on 20 July 1944 TracesOfWar https://www.tracesofwar.com/articles/5311/Hitlers-radio-proclamation-about-the-assassination-attempt-on-20-July-1944.htm 2019-07-14 2026-07-17 Karl Dönitz and Hermann Göring also speak. 25 July – The New York Times acquires the Interstate Broadcasting Company, parent of WQXR (later WFME) and WQXQ-FM (later WQXR; frequency becomes home to WXNY-FM) from John V. L. Hogan for $1 million American dollars. The Times will program the AM station until December 1998, and own the FM station until October 2009. 26 October – With fascism defeated in most parts of Italy, the national broadcasting organization Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR) is overhauled and renamed Radio Audizioni Italiane (RAI), the future Radiotelevisione Italiana. 10 December – Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini leads a concert performance of the first half of Beethoven's Fidelio (minus its spoken dialogue) in German on NBC Radio in the United States, starring Rose Bampton. He chooses this opera for its political message: a statement against tyranny and dictatorship, intending it as a tribute to the German people who are being oppressed by Hitler. The second half is broadcast a week later. The performance is later released on LP and CD, the first of 7 operas that Toscanini conducts on radio. Debuts (undated) – The Count of Monte Cristo debuts on the Don Lee Network. 5 January – The Frank Sinatra Show debuts on CBS.New "Frank Sinatra Show" Opens Jan. 5, Ginger Rogers First Guest https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2832566/harrisburg_telegraph/ Harrisburg Telegraph December 31, 1943 17 Newspapers.com July 21, 2015 18 January – Everything for the Boys debuts on NBC.dunningota 237-238 25 January – The black maid character Beulah, played by white male actor Marlin Hurt, debuts on Fibber McGee and Molly. In 1945, Beulah received her own spin-off show. 15 February – Creeps by Night debuted on the Blue Network. 7 March – Columbia Presents Corwin, hosted by Norman Corwin, debuts on CBS. 19 April – Arthur Hopkins Presents debuts on NBC.Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-507678-3. 23 April – The Adventures of Bill Lance debuts on CBS West Coast network. 5 May – The American Women's Jury debuts on Mutual. 20 May – Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts debuts on the Blue Network. June – War Report debuts on the BBC. 13 June – The Charlotte Greenwood Show debuts on NBC. 20 June – The Dick Haymes Show debuts on NBC. 23 June – Boston Blackie debuts on NBC. 28 June – The Alan Young Show debuts on NBC. 13 August – The Jackie Gleason-Les Tremayne Show debuts on NBC. 31 August – The Frank Morgan Show debuts on NBC. 8 September - Happy Island debuts on Blue Network.dunningota 218-220 20 September – The Electric Hour debuts on CBS. 8 October – The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts on CBS. 11 December – The Chesterfield Supper Club debuts on NBC. Closings 8 January - Foreign Assignment ends its run on network radio (Mutual). 14 January - The Black Hood ends its run on network radio (Mutual). 2 February - Battle of the Sexes ends its run on network radio (NBC). 26 February - Campana Serenade ends its run on network radio (CBS). 4 March - The Man Behind the Gun ends its run on network radio (CBS).dunningota 430-431 30 April - Ceiling Unlimited ends its run on network radio (CBS). 30 May - Cresta Blanca Carnival ends its run on network radio (CBS)dunningota 183-184 5 June - Ed Sullivan Entertains ends its run on network radio (CBS). 23 June - American Women ends its run on network radio (CBS). 26 June - Broadway Showtime ends its run on network radio (CBS). 30 June - Brave Tomorrow ends its run on network radio (NBC). 5 August - Blue Ribbon Town ends its run on network radio (CBS). 15 August - Creeps by Night ends its run on network radio (Blue Network). 2 September - Abie's Irish Rose ends its run on network radio (NBC). 22 September - Helpmate ends its run on network radio (NBC). 24 September - Deadline Dramas ends its run on network radio (Blue Network). 21 October - Babe Ruth ends its run on network radio (NBC). 22 October - The Jackie Gleason-Les Tremayne Show ends its run on network radio (NBC). 19 November - Hot Copy ends its run on network radio (NBC-Blue. (undated) - The Black Castle (radio program) ends its run on network radio (Mutual). Births 7 January – Jim Bohannon, American television and radio personality and nationally syndicated talk show host 28 March – Rick Barry, American former NBA player and broadcaster 12 May – Brian Kay, English bass singer and radio music presenter 5 June – Nigel Rees, English radio broadcaster 24 August – Mike Barnicle, American long-time newspaper writer and radio personality based in Boston 8 October – Dale Dye, American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer 24 October – Dr. Joy Browne, American radio psychologist syndicated by the WOR Radio Network (d. 2016) 28 October – Gerry Anderson, Northern Irish radio broadcaster (died 2014) November – Jim Eldridge, English scriptwriter 25 December – Kenny Everett, born Maurice Cole, British DJ (died 1995) 31 December – Neil Ross, British-American voice actor Christine Craft, American radio talk show host, previously television anchorperson Deaths 28 June – Philippe Henriot, 55, Vichy French propaganda broadcaster and writer (assassinated) 31 August – Max Otto Koischwitz, 42, German American Nazi propagandist 16 November – Boake Carter, 45, American news commentator since the 1930s References Category:Radio by year