Corey's Radio Blog

I want to share a couple of Radio videos with you. WCVB-TV recently broadcast a segment called, "Happy Birthday Radio" which featured snippets from New England radio history. WCBV is the ABC affiliate in Boston, Massachusetts.

View at Google Video: Happy Birthday Radio

Next, Rage Against the Machine outside the Democratic National Convention in St. Paul performing "Guerrilla Radio".

View at YouTube: Guerrilla Radio

And finally, here's a slightly older video featuring a girl getting dumped live on-the-air. (Well, it's audio with a picture of a radio. Does that count?)

View at break.com: Girl Gets Dumped Live on the Radio

More Recently Featured Radio Videos:
* Radio Video: The Crisco-Covered Human Bowling Ball
* Radio Stunt Video: "Wheel of Gargle"
* Dirty Radio Stunt: Stand in a Port-a-Potty

More: Radio Leveraged the Video Star

Air America Radio has tapped Ron Reagan to join the network as a permanent host beginning this Monday, September 8.

He'll host "The Ron Reagan Show" which will air weeknights from 8 - 9 p.m. Reagan reported for Air America during the recent Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul and co-anchored evening coverage with David Bender. (Right: Ron Reagan. Photo Credit: © Air America Radio)

Reagan's previous experience include a midday talk show he did on KIRO-AM/Seattle and a weekly syndicated TV program. Reagan's new Air America Radio show will originate from Seattle where he now lives.

Ron Reagan is the son of former U.S. President, Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan. Despite his father's well-known conservatism, Ron Reagan's political standings are liberal.

You can visit Air America Radio at www.airamerica.com.

Related: 9 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Ronald Reagan's Radio Career

More: Remembering President Reagan For His Humor - A Classic Radio Gaffe

Legendary radio personality, Paul Harvey, turns 90 today!

Paul Harvey has accomplished much in his many years in back of the microphone. The Radio Hall of Fame commentator - who is listened to by 22 million people each week - also has the longest continuing sponsorship record in broadcast history. Read more.

More: Profile of Paul Harvey

CEDIA Expo 2008 begins today and runs through Sunday at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. CEDIA stands for "Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association" and is the big event for the home electronic systems industry.

This year, iBiguity - HD Radio's daddy - says 20 next-generation HD Radio components will be on display from companies like Integra, McIntosh Laboraties, and Yamaha.

In a press release, iBiguity says, "HD Radio technology is fast becoming a must-have feature for any comprehensive, top-shelf custom or retrofitted home audio entertainment system – including those in the high-end and mid-range receiver category."

What struck me about this quote was what is missing most: the low end. For HD Radio to really make inroads, it must have a hardware infrastructure that is as common as the transistor radio once was and as ubiquitous as the cell phone is today.

Ask your friends today who among them has purchased an HD radio. It's not exactly a priority - especially when the entry level hardware is still relatively expensive.

Thanks to several large companies, including Clear Channel Radio, 1,750 radio stations are now using HD Radio technology offering over 800 HD2 and HD3 multicast channels. I'm just not sure who's hearing it yet.

More: HD Radio: What it is and What it is Not

A lot of people, especially typical radio listeners, think the people on-the-air work 4 hours-a-day because that's how long their radio show is. Well, the 20-hour Radio work week is a fallacy. What most people don't see is the amount of time that goes into preparing a show and the other duties on-air radio personalities usually have. Learn more. (Opinion)

Does Labor Day leave you thinking there might be an easier way to make a living? How about Radio? Find out more about the good points and bad by signing up for this free email course: Working In Radio

Radio stations, programmers, and deejays have used The Green Book of Songs By Subject for years. Here's a list of related songs for Labor Day Weekend.

Former KGO-AM/San Francisco radio personality, Bernie Ward, was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison today by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker. (Right: Bernie Ward on-the-air at KGO/San Francisco, Photo Credit: © KGO Radio)

Howard Mintz from Mercury News summed up Ward's fate as a "...tumble from one of the Bay Area's most popular liberal voices on the local airwaves to a pariah caught up in the world of online child pornography."

Ward has to turn himself over to U.S. Marshals by noon this Friday. His sentence is the result of a guilty plea earlier this year to one count of distributing child pornography.

While employed at KGO-AM, Bernie Ward did a 3-hour nightly program. He was fired from KGO in January, 2008.

Background: Child Porn Charges: Former San Francisco Talk Show Host Bernie Ward Pleads Guilty

More: Profile of Bernie Ward

It happens yearly and the "2008 Friends of Old Time Radio Convention" is slated to be held October 23 - 26 in Newark, New Jersey.

Each year, the gathering features live recreations of classic radio plays by all-star casts, memorabilia, music, historical presentations and interviews with stars. Sean Dougherty from Friends of Old Time Radio tells me its the largest event of its kind as well as the longest-running. This is the group's 33rd event and it annually strives to gather not only fans of the OTR genre but original performers from the era and radio professionals.

In a press release, FOTR Chairman, Jay Hickerson notes the original Golden Age of Radio is considered to have spanned 1932 to 1962 and adds, "Our convention has thrived longer than the era it celebrates. We are still having fun every year, and we are very proud."

For more information, visit www.fotr.net.

More: The Internet Makes Old Time Radio New Again

UPI is reporting the arrest of Jase Edward "Cubby" Squires, an employee of WIBT-FM/Charlotte (96.1, The Beat). At the behest of Brotha' Fred, the morning host, Squires talked his way onto a school bus making its regular rounds.

According to UPI: "As Squires described the prank on the air via his cell phone, he first asked parents gathered at a stop where the bus was going, then asked the driver if he could get on and chatted with the DJ while riding."

Seems the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District doesn't take kindly to strangers on their school buses. Squires was arrested and charged with causing a disturbance. He's out on bond now and the bus driver - well - the driver has been suspended without pay.

Online: 96.1 The Beat calls itself "Charlotte's Party Station".

Related: Company Plans to Target School Buses With New Radio Stations

The Beijing Olympics may be ending but the Hawk & Tom Show on B93.7/Greenville took full advantage by staging its own event: Porta-Potty Pole Vaulting.

Although not officially recognized or sanctioned by the Olympic committee, the show's Kato Keller provided a stunning demonstration of just how not to excel in this new event. (Right: Kato Keller Meets the Porta-Potty. Photo Credit: © Hawk & Tom Show)

See it: you can view a Porta-Potty Pole Vaulting on YouTube.com.

Online: "Hawk & Tom" website.

More: Radio Leveraged the Video Star (Opinion)