One day in the early 1980’s I was watching one of the funnier shows on television – WKRP in Cincinnati. WKRP was a situation comedy, running from 1978-1982, based on a struggling major market radio station. I had what writers call an epiphany, a sudden and striking realization. WKRP was not a comedy. WKRP was reality. WKRP was me! It was time to move on.
My career in broadcasting started in student radio. Right there, in the chair of the studio shown above at the University of Manitoba. Since the 1940’s, student radio has been a place for young people to develop and pursue passions and careers. I am planning to write a short history of UMSR. Can you help? I would love to hear your stories and get a copy of your pictures. In the meantime, here is the short version of student radio at University of Manitoba. There are similar stories at most universities and colleges across Canada.
Radio broadcast automation today is about computers. Back in 1970’s, it was about robots. After years of “experience” in student radio, I was thrilled to get my first real, paid job in professional radio. The thrill was somewhat tempered by reality. My job was actually to configure and baby-sit a robot on the weekend overnight shift.
Radio of all sorts has captured my interest since I was a child. It still does. I wonder why? Here is the story of my fascination with radio. What’s yours?
We were all young once. Here I am in the main radio broadcast studio at CJOB during the early 1970’s. When you look at your picture album, do you ever notice that while you look so young, everything around you in the photo looks so old? Young broadcasters might have difficulty identifying these historical artifacts. Today’s broadcast studios are mostly software and monitors. Back in the day, we had hardware, and lots of it!