In 1984, Gordon Sinclair died from a heart attack suffered two days earlier. His son's CFOX years are described in May 15th's Today in History. But Gordon Sr. is best known to Canadians for his own years on CFRB-1010 Toronto and as a panelist on CBC Television's long lived (1957-95) panel quiz show Front Page Challenge. His approval rating is much higher in the U.S., thanks to his 1973 spoken word recording "The Americans", hitting Billboard charts in 1974 with versions by CKLW News Director Byron MacGregor, Country singer Tex Ritter and Gordon himself. Additional background can be found at http://broadcasting-history.ca/in-depth/americans
Gordon was a Toronto Daily Star reporter in 1922, but it wasn't until he became Women's Editor in 1926 that he got noticed for a series of articles on hoboes. He was sent around the world four times as a wandering reporter, also finding time to write four books about his adventures. When World War II began in 1939, he was soon banned as a war correspondent after annoying senior military personnel. The day after the raid on Dieppe, August 20, 1942, he was asked by CFRB Toronto for bios of leaders of the raid, and they were so good that five of them were fed to a network. And Gordon instantly had a mid-day personality series called Let's Be Personal on CFRB, which were aired daily until his death. The following January, the Star made him choose between the newspaper and radio, and Gordon chose radio. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, he joined the CFRB News Department, with daily newscasts and features that attracted a huge audience. More details on his life can be found at http://broadcasting-history.ca/personal ... air-gordon
In 1985, Ernie Mykyte agreed to sell CJJC Langley to Saskatoon Cable and Sam Folstad, with CRTC approval on June 26th. The station signed on January 19, 1963 on 850 KHz with 1000 watts, becoming British Columbia's first full-time Country & Western music station.
In 2000, WOAI San Antonio (Texas) once again ruled 1200 KHz throughout much of North America, as CKXM Victoria went silent on AM, after moving to FM on March 20th. WOAI has been broadcasting on the clearest of the original U.S. 1-A Clear Channels throughout most of its existence. That fact led to the naming of the largest owner of radio stations in North American: Clear Channel. The company's first radio station purchase was WOAI. Until 25,000 watt CJRJ Vancouver signed on in 2007, WOAI had been the most distant radio station regularly heard in Alberta without the use of exotic equipment.
