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Another Major Milestone: WWL Marks 100 Yr. Anniversary This Week
It started as a way to raise funds for Loyola University in New Orleans. It has since become one of the landmark broadcasters on one of the most powerful frequencies in North America. And on March 31st, WWL 870 AM turns 100. The station has marked the milestone with a special page on its website.
Celebrating 100 Years Of WWL
Safe to say that, barring any odd DX conditions, it's the only Louisiana station you can occasionally get in Toronto some nights after dark. And it was literally a lifesaver during Hurricane Katrina, when it was the only station left on the air in that besieged city during that devastating disaster.
A real pioneer and after a century, it's still around to tell the tale.
WWL Radio began broadcasting 100 years ago this week
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Re: Another Major Milestone: WWL Marks 100 Yr. Anniversary This Week
The station has started to celebrate its anniversary on air, instead of simply ignoring at, as happens all too frequently, especially in this country.
According to an article on the station's website, WWL was responsible for inventing "trucking radio," made possible because its incredible clear channel 50K signal reached a large part of the U.S. and Canada.
(The Truckin' Bozo on WLW Cincinnati is the one I remember best. But that one didn't hit air until 1984. WWL's began in 1971.)
How WWL invented trucking radio
Happy 100th birthday to WWL radio: Tune in to the celebration starting this week
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Re: Another Major Milestone: WWL Marks 100 Yr. Anniversary This Week
WWL-TV did a five minute special on its radio counterpart's 100 year anniversary. There was a point made in the piece that's worth noting. They played audio from a radio call of the Saints first chance at going to the Super Bowl, something New Orleans residents had long thought was an impossibility.
I suspect millions of people watched it happen live on TV. But one of the commentators notes that it's the radio call everyone remembers. That statement resonated with me. With perhaps the exception of the Paul Henderson goal at the Canada-Russia series in 1972, all the sports calls that still send chills up and down my spine happened on the radio.
Who can forget Tom Cheek's magnificent "Touch 'em all Joe" after his World Series winning home run? Or some of the hockey moments that stand out? I'm betting most of us, as the old Terry Cashman song Play-by-Play goes, "Saw It On The Radio." Maybe that's why Rogers' ill-fated (and ultimately reversed) decision last season to put TV audio on the radio was so universally despised. Maybe they should have listened to Cashman's song first.
Anyway, the WWL story contains some interesting footage and memories and if you're interested, part one of the their story is here. 
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