NEW ORLEANS — Today marks a milestone in New Orleans broadcasting, the 100th anniversary of WWL radio.
We here at Channel 4 share roots and a partnership with that station, and its award-winning news department.
We revisit some of the historic stories we've covered together.
WWL-AM radio was given authority to do what only a few stations across the country could do, broadcast at 50,000 watts, as the only station in America at 870 on the dial.
That meant WWL could be heard across most of the US. And in the early 60s, more importantly, heard in another critical country. In the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK used the power of WWL-AM to speak to the Cuban people
“For it's performance during the Cuban crisis of October, November 1962, this station voluntarily canceled its own programs, and instead from dusk ‘til dawn, relayed programs of the Voice of America to Cuba,” said President John Kennedy as he gave the station a certificate of appreciation.
After entertaining people for decades from the Roosevelt Blue Room, WWL-AM radio began evolving and used that reach to become a leader in the new news-talk format.
“When I got here, we had the largest radio news staff in the Gulf South. We had 18 people, 18 people. That's, that's, you know, of course, today, that's unheard of,” said Walt Pierce, a WWL radio news reporter then news director from 1981-96.
Of all the stories Walt Pierce covered in his 17 years as a reporter, then news director, the most memorable was the 1982 crash of Flight 759 in Kenner. He and WWL-TV newsman Norman Robinson were among the first on the devastating scene.
“It was something I'd never experienced before, and I'd been through quite a few breaking news, tragic situations, but that was, that was quite an event,” said Pierce.
In fact, I vividly remember that day that Fight 759 went down. I was here in the old newsroom working as an intern on the assignment desk. Radio’s Cheryl Hickman called from the radio newsroom, right next door to the TV newsroom on Rampart Street, and she asked me if I had heard anything about a plane going down. I told her I hadn't. I hung up the phone with Cheryl and my hand was still on the receiver, and I heard a first responder in Kenner yell, “Plane down five houses on fire,” coming over the police scanner. At that moment, all of us in both TV and radio newsrooms knew we were covering a very tragic story that night.
And that kind of newsroom sharing and cooperation between WWL Radio and WWL-TV has gone on for decades. Many well-known TV reporters, producers and managers in the New Orleans market got their start on WWL radio, and so did sports announcers like Hap Glaudi.
“He would come to me and go, ‘Sweetie, could you photo this for me?’ He didn't know how to use the copy machine,” WWL Radio Brand Manager Diane Newman remembers about working with Glaudi.
Beloved personalities, like TV’s Frank Davis, also started in radio.
“He convinced them to get a Winnebago, and we went everywhere, everywhere, every festival, every golf tournament, every fishing tournament. Frank was live from there. Chef Paul Prudhomme used to do a cooking show on radio,” Newman laughs.
One of the most popular TV journalists and anchors in the country, Angela Hill, remembers filling in one time for the 1970s top-rated icon Bob Ruby.
“Who calls in? My first boyfriend in the seventh grade calling offshore, working on an oil rig. Now how did that happen? He said, ‘I'm listening to you.’ And then I realized this is mammoth,” said Angela Hill, Former WWL-TV anchor and WWL-AM radio hostess.
She remembers the radio star-studded guests over the years.
“And someone said, ‘Barry Manilow is in radio.’ I was like a child. I bolted up the stairs. Such a charming, kind person. Shook my hand. I went back down to the newsroom and said, ‘I'm never washing this hand,” remembers Hill.
After her TV career, Angela hosted her own talk radio show. So did former WWL-TV anchor Garland Robinette.
In the days following Hurricane Katrina, Robinette’s interview with then-mayor Ray Nagin, was picked up by countless news agencies across the country, making clear the depth of the disaster.
“And it's that moment when Ray Nagin says, ‘People are dying man. People are dying.’ And he and Garland just had, what I think, is one of the biggest moments in the history of radio on the air. And that one call moved the President to come here and rescue our city,” Newman remembers through tears.
“He really became the voice of the city. Why? Because of 50,000 watts,” said Hill
“I went to the studio and I just put my arms around Garland, because he broke down and cried. He was, he was a hero. He was a hero. That lead to the recovery,” said an emotional Newman.
WWL radio news director Dave Cohen was among the first to broadcast the levee and canal walls breaking.
“I was begging and pleading, you know, we had gone from just being journalists, presenting the news, to really being advocates for the people of New Orleans and telling them get on the high rises, get on the elevated roadways, get out of your homes now, because in a matter of hours you won't be able to,” said Cohen.
To this day, he wonders if the Hollygrove mother, with a baby and a toddler, made it through the storm. Because when she couldn't get 911, she called Dave. He talked her into getting on her rooftop.
But from those life-changing days to the everyday, WWL-AM is still here, despite some predictions.
“When TV first came out, people were saying, ‘Radio's dead.’ It didn't die. MTV went on the air on August 1, and people were saying, ‘Well nobody's going to listen to the radio if they can see music and videos.’ Well, that didn't happen,” said WWL-AM talk show host Scoot.
He's been in the business for half of WWL radio's 100-years and predicts the power of 50,000 watts, combined with that one-on-one relationship listeners have with radio, means WWL-AM is here to stay.