# 1954 in radio

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
The year 1954 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.

## Events

* 20 January – The National Negro Network is formed in the United States.
* 25 January – First broadcast of Dylan Thomas's radio play Under Milk Wood, two months after its author's death, with Richard Burton as 'First Voice', on the BBC Third Programme.
* 1 February – KECA and KECA-FM, two Los Angeles stations, change their call letters to KABC and KABC-FM respectively, reflecting their new ownership by ABC-United Paramount Theaters.
* 1 April – ABC-United Paramount Theaters, owners of WENR-Chicago, purchase time-share counterpart WLS-Chicago from Sears, Roebuck and Co., and merge both stations under the WLS call sign (their FM sister station would keep the WENR call sign until 1965).
* 15 July – The Nippon Broadcasting System initiates its first official regular broadcasting service in Tokyo, Japan.
* 18 October – Texas Instruments announces the development of the first commercial transistor radio. The Regency TR-1 goes on sale the following month.
* 17 November – WJW (AM) in Cleveland, Ohio (later WKNR) is sold by William M. O'Neill to Storer Broadcasting.

## Debuts

* 3 January – Man's Right to Knowledge debuts on CBS.
* 3 January – WSTN debuts as a 1 kW daytimer at St. Augustine, Florida.
* 9 January – Roadshow debuts on NBC. Starring Bill Cullen, the three-hour weekly program is considered a forerunner of the network's Monitor, which began a year later.
* 6 April – Crime and Peter Chambers debuts on NBC.
* 2 September – Dr. Sixgun debuts on NBC.
* 25 October – WMSN in Raleigh, North Carolina debuts as a 500 watt daytimer at Raleigh, North Carolina.
* 2 November – Hancock's Half Hour debuts on BBC radio.

## Endings

* 3 January – Quiz Kids ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 6 January – Dr. Christian ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 15 January – Double or Nothing ends its run on network radio (ABC).
* 16 January – The Baron and the Bee ends its run on network radio (NBC).
* 5 March – Family Skeleton ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 12 March – House of Glass ends its run on network radio (NBC).
* 26 March – Front Page Farrell ends its run on network radio (NBC).
* 27 March – Twenty Questions ends its run on network radio.
* 28 March – Bulldog Drummond ends its run on network radio (Mutual).
* 30 March – Rocky Fortune, a half-hour detective drama starring Frank Sinatra, aired its final episode on NBC.
* 22 May – The Armstrong Theater of Today ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 27 May – Time for Love ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 18 June – The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ends its run on network radio (ABC).
* 24 June – The Six Shooter ends its run on network radio (NBC).
* 9 July – Can You Top This? ends its run on network radio (NBC).
* 1 August – Broadway Is My Beat ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 7 September – Crime and Peter Chambers ends its run on network radio (NBC).
* 25 September – Escape ends its run on CBS.
* 25 September – Stars over Hollywood ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 30 September – On Stage (radio show) ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* 3 September – The Lone Ranger ends its run of original radio shows.
* 27 November – The Falcon ends its run on network radio (Mutual).
* 26 December – Man's Right to Knowledge ends its run on network radio (CBS).
* (undated) – The Jack Berch Show ends its run on network radio (ABC).

## Births

* 12 January – Howard Stern, American shock jock radio personality
* 22 August – Kurt Andersen, American novelist, columnist and public radio host
* 26 August – Steve Wright, English DJ
* 27 August – Andrew Marshall, English comedy scriptwriter
* 8 September – Joe Cipriano, American voice over actor and radio personality
* 3 October – Al Sharpton, American activist, minister, and radio talk show host
* 20 November – Steve Dahl, American radio personality and humorist
* 27 November – Arthur Smith, English comedian and radio presenter
* 5 December – Peter Arbogast, American sportscaster

## Deaths

* 10 January – Chester Wilmot, Australian war correspondent, killed in accident to BOAC Flight 781 (born 1911)
* 4 November – Joy Hathaway, Canadian-born American actress of the Golden Age of Radio