1989 in radio

Events

• KMEZ breaks away from its FM sister station to adopt a business-oriented news/talk format as KDBN.
• ABC Radio has acquired Satellite Music Network. This division is now known as "ABC Music Radio".
• The NBC Radio Network ceased to operate as a separate programming service; owner Westwood One merges it with the Mutual Broadcasting System, moving the networks' news and engineering departments from New York to Mutual's facilities in Arlington. The lone non-news program that remained on NBC Radio, the Sunday-morning religious program The Eternal Light, was also canceled.
• January – KSTT of Davenport, Iowa switches from a solid gold oldies format to simulcasting WXLP, in addition to increasing its sports broadcasts.
• January 19 – WIOQ in Philadelphia switches from oldies to a Top 40 format becomes Q102.
• March 17 – 100.3 FM in Los Angeles becomes KQLZ.
• May 1 – At the grand opening of the Disney's Hollywood Studios, the most attended studio-park in the world, it chooses Pittsburgh's KDKA-AM as its inaugural guest broadcaster in its interactive radio studios.
• May 1 – KIIK-FM of Davenport, Iowa switches from a contemporary hit radio format to oldies, and its call letters to KUUL-FM. The station's signature "KUUL Red Radio" is unveiled shortly thereafter and appears at the station's live remote broadcasts.
• May 24 – The last NBC Radio owned-and-operated station, KNBR 680-AM in San Francisco, was sold off to Susquehanna Broadcasting. KNBR changed from an adult contemporary format to all-sports the following year, a format it still holds.
• July 17 - DZBB 594, GMA Network's flagship AM station in Metro Manila, Philippines, officially rebranded as Bisig Bayan DZBB 594 Their new identity made the station more popular to radio listeners in Metro Manila. Rafael "Paeng" Yabut, Bobby Guanzon, Lito Villarosa, Rene Jose, Rey Pacheco, Raul Virtudazo, Jimmy Gil, Arman Roque, Rose "Manang Rose" Clores, German Moreno, Inday Badiday, Helen Vela and Pol Caguiat were the personalities of the Bisig Bayan era.
• July 29 - KCPW/Kansas City drops its top-40 format as "Power 95" and becomes KCMO-FM "Oldies 95."
• October 9 – KSJN in Minneapolis, Minnesota becomes KNOW.
• November – WQXI flips callsigns to WSTR, becoming Star 94 in Atlanta.
• November 13 – London Greek Radio, one of the United Kingdom's first all-ethnic radio stations, begins broadcasting.
• December – Kayla Satellite Network purchases Chuck Harder's Sun Radio Network (forerunner to I.E. America Radio Network. Harder's show was soon dropped from the network and he later started a new radio network, the Peoples Radio Network.
• December 11 - Dallas/Ft. Worth's heritage rocker KZEW 97.9 "The Zoo" flips to Christmas music.
• December 26 - 570 AM and 97.9 FM in Dallas/Ft. Worth flip to soft AC as "Warm 97.9." The change would not bring a complete simulcast, however, as some college sports programming on the now-former KLDD 570 "K-Oldie" would remain on 570. Call letter changes to KKWM and KKWM-FM would follow.

  Debuts

• March – Mark Belling joins WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• KDWN in Las Vegas, Nevada offers Art Bell a five-hour radio talk show time slot in the middle of the night, which later evolved into Coast to Coast AM.

  Deaths

• January 10: Herbert Morrison, American radio reporter
• January 29: Mandel Kramer, American radio actor
• January 30: Pegeen Fitzgerald, American radio talk-show host on WOR and WJZ in New York City and Norcatur, Kansas
• July 10: Tommy Trinder, English radio, stage and screen comedian
• August 22: Lord Hill, British physician, medical and broadcast executive, politician and "The Radio Doctor"
• September 20: Ruth Bailey, American radio actress