1979 in radio

Events

• September: KDWB-FM in Minneapolis, Minnesota breaks away from their Top 40 AM sister, becoming album-oriented rock as "K101".
• October 8-November 3: The engineers and airstaff of WCCO-AM-FM-TV go on strike.
• October 22: Pittsburgh court receives a $7 million libel lawsuit from county politician Cyril Wecht over remarks the city controller made of him during a radio interview.

  Debuts

• Undated: WIXK-FM signs on the air.
• February 5: Sears Radio Theater debuts on CBS.
• November 5: The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio.
• Undated: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, long time rocker KRST flips to country music, becoming the city's first FM country radio station. KRST is still playing country music.

  Endings

• November 4 - KUAC Ends AM after 17 years. It's replaced by Morning Edition

  Births

• May 4 - Wes Butters, British broadcaster

  Deaths

• April 9: Staats Cotsworth, 71, actor perhaps best known for playing the title role in Casey, Crime Photographer.
• October 27: Charles Coughlin, 88, Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest who used radio to reach a mass audience during the 1930s. This radio program included praises of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.