The year 1981 in radio involved some significant events.

List of years in radio (table)
In music
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
In television
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
+...

Debuts

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  • March – KWNT (1580 AM) of Davenport, Iowa, switches from its longtime country music format – which it had held since the 1950s, including under its previous call sign KFMA – to a golden oldies format, emphasizing music of the 1930s through early 1950s. It is the first in a series of format switches at the frequency over the next 19 years – formats ranged from oldies to soul to black gospel – all of them unsuccessful.
  • March 1 - DJ Larry Monroe signs on at Austin's NPR station KUT and stays for 29 years.[1]
  • March 30 – Radio stations across America interrupt regular programming following an assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
  • April 12 – WJOI/Pittsburgh flipped from beautiful music to Top 40, branded as "B94", and adopted the new call letters "WBZZ." That fall, WWJ-FM, a beautiful music station in Detroit, picks up the WJOI calls.
  • June 1 – CJCB-FM Sydney, Nova Scotia flips from Easy Listening to Country. Along with the format change, the station changes its call letters to CKPE-FM.
  • September 22 – WCAU-FM in Philadelphia debuts a new Hot Hits format called "98 Now!" which sweeps the local ratings and inspires parent company CBS to look at converting its other FM stations to similar formats.
  • October – "The Weekly Country Music Countdown," a three-hour weekly countdown program featuring the top 30 country hits of the week as reported by Radio & Records magazine. Hosted by radio personality Chris Charles, the show is the first successful rival to "American Country Countdown."

Births

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Deaths

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References

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  1. ^ Corcoran, Michael (March 1, 2014). "In Memoriam: Larry Monroe King of the "segway"". Lone Star Music. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  2. ^ Condon, David (March 11, 1981). "Ex-Sox, Cubs Broadcaster Elson dies at 76". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2015.