This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Andrew Gray (talk | contribs) at 18:49, 23 December 2005 (re-add JFK material, source, tone down.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 18:49, 23 December 2005 by Andrew Gray (talk | contribs) (re-add JFK material, source, tone down.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Gordon McLendon (born June 8, 1921 in Paris, Texas; died September 14, 1986) is widely credited for perfecting, with great commercial success, the Top 40 radio format during the 1950s and 1960s which was first invented by Todd Storz.
McLendon, nicknamed "The Old Scotchman", is also noted in radio history as the founder of the Liberty Radio Network (noted for its daily national broadcasts of Major League Baseball) in the 1940s; as one of the originators of the "beautiful music" format on his KABL in Oakland, California in 1959; and as the founder of the first all-news radio station (WNUS in Chicago) in the 1960s.
McLendon was also the last owner of CBS affiliate KCND in Pembina, North Dakota. In 1975, he sold that station to Winnipeg executive Izzy Asper, who moved the station to Winnipeg and used it to start up CKND, which would become the genesis of the present-day Global.
McLendon was rumored to have been involved with the John F. Kennedy assassination in 1963 (he was a staunch political conservative and a friend and associate of Jack Ruby), but no positive connection was ever discovered.
McLendon was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994.
See also:
- Todd Storz
- PAMS jingles
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