1998 in radio

The year 1998 in radio involved some significant events.__TOC__

Events

*January 2 — A gunman shoots Antario Teodoro Filho, Brazilian politician and radio presenter, during a broadcast. [http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/onstage.htm]
*March 28 — "American Top 40" returns to the airwaves, once again with Casey Kasem as the host. The show is actually the re-named "Casey's Top 40," which Kasem had hosted since its premiere in 1989. Kasem will remain with the program until December 2003.
*May 31 — Nick Digilio broadcast his first program as part of The Nick D. & Garry Lee Show on WGN Radio. Nick had been reviewing movies with WGN Radio legend Roy Leonard since 1985.

No dates

* A judge rules that nude images of Dr. Laura Schlessinger could continue to be posted on a website. Radio personality BIll Ballance had sold them to a company and claimed that they were the product of a 1970s affair between himself and Schlessinger, while Schlessinger was married. Schlessinger admitted the affair but claimed she was legally separated and had filed for divorce from her first husband at the time of their affair.

Debuts

* January 10 — "Retro Country USA," a two-hour weekly program featuring country music hits of the past. The core group of songs comes from the 1980s, with 1970s and early 1990s songs also included. The show is hosted by radio personality Ken Cooper.

Closings

Deaths

* Richard Beebe, 68, comedian, member of "The Credibility Gap"
*February 18 - Harry Caray, 84, American television and radio baseball broadcaster
* Jerry Clower, 71, country comedian best known for his stories of the rural South, appeared on WSM in Nashville, Tennessee.
* Al "Jazzbo" Collins, 78, disc jockey, radio personality and recording artist, briefly the host of NBC television's "Tonight" show in 1957.
* John Gilliland, 62, broadcaster, creator of "The Pop Chronicles" and member of "Lew Irwin and The Credibility Gap."

References