Wow!

http://www.abcrn.com/harvey/

Paul Harvey was one of the greats. His longevity and unique style will be his legacy.

He had not been the same since losing his wife awhile back, only occasionally on the air.

For me, listening to someone my entire adult life, is a great loss.

Good Day, Paul Harvey!

Running a special from ABC right now on KQEN in Roseburg. They must have seen this coming soon. Excellent special so far

I heard Harvey's death reported on KXL, about one hour ago. This is a terrible loss. At the same time, it is really uplifting to see what broadcasting must have meant to Paul Harvey: doing his show was much more than just a job. It was a labor of love. I bet that even the most Dilbertian cynics secretly wish that they could find a career that has the intimate fit that being in front of the microphone had for Harvey.

Paul Harvey really influenced me because of his delivery. I didn't try to copy it ... but I loved his use of the pause, the inflection, the way he could sometimes grab and hold every word to make a point. I've said elsewhere that radio has lost a lot with Paul's passing. I'm sure the loss of his wife really took the joi de vivre out of him ... but he, essentially worked until he died. Sad, but a lot of class.

In 1964 I found myself in Rapid City, South Dakota at KIMM-AM, a top 40 station where I landed after leaving Council Bluffs, Iowa to take a job at WMYR-AM in Fort Myers, Florida, where I found I couldn't afford to live on $ 95 a week.

I was doing mornings on KIMM, and as an Inter-Mountain Network station, we were ABC and carried Paul Harvey, who I had never heard of prior to that time.

He was incredible back then. I looked forward to his five minutes of "News and Comment" every day and learned so much just listening to his presentation, his great writing and his mischevious humor. Anyone who paid attention knew that he was something special and would be very famous one day.

Flash forward to 1968, and I'm alone in the elevator at the Stone Container Building in Chicago during the first week of my employment at WLS, and who walks in......Paul Harvey.

So I say, "Good Morning Mr. Harvey," and he says good morning and "are you the new Production Man at WLS?" and I say, yes sir. He sticks out his hand, shakes mine and says "Welcome to ABC....and call me Paul." I'm stunned that Paul Harvey would know or care anything about me, and as I remember it, I stammered something like thank you Paul....and we got to ABC on the fourth floor and he got off the elevator and I continued up, feeling like a million bucks.

Over the next several months We took a few more elevator rides together and one day I met Angel and Paul Jr. When I left to go to KGW in Portland, Mr. Harvey wrote me a note of congratulations and wished me luck.

He didn't have to do that. We weren't best friends, just two ABC employees who occasionally rode in the same elevator. But, he was Paul Harvey, to whom everyone mattered.

There has been a lot of grumbling by ABC Radio affiliates in the last couple of years about his absences from the microphone. Most were health related, and of course one was after his wife Angel died. He loved doing his show, and I am sure it took a lot to keep him from it. He has received every award Radio can give, and deserved them all.

There will never be another like him, and I feel very priviledged to have heard his work and shook his hand. Godspeed Paul.

Mr Harvey was a class act...

Starting a National radio show in 1951 - I can't believe how sharp he remained (on the air just the other day)

I'm sure each of us knew people who planned their lunch around his 12noon broadcast everyday - I know I did for a number of years.

Very few broadcasters were not inspired by his wit and timing! (The power of the "Pause")

Paul Harvey - Good Day!

What a wonderful story that is. It is not surprising to hear that Paul Harvey was polite and thoughtful even when out of the limelight. RIP.

I just posted a blog about my thoughts here
http://espressoradio.blogspot.com/

Hwidsten:

What a great story - I'm sure that is multiplied 1000's of times of all those years.

What goes around - comes around -

Good charma and he had it!

That's one of the cool things about what we do. We get to be around some of the iconic figures of our culture. Twice I've had the honor of bantering at length with Paul Harvey, and to me he was guarded at first but warmed up and we had fun.

It should be noted that he was, after awhile, an opponent of the Viet Nam War. He was conservative and generally reflected the party line, but at some point, he saw light, and spread that light around. In his own way, I think he helped end it.

But the main reason I'm very sad to learn he's passed is that he's been a lifelong companion on road trips across America. No matter what Interstate you were on, about the time you started getting hungry for lunch, you'd eject the CD and scan the AM for some station, any station, and chances are it would be the Paul Harvey station. He was the original informational entertainer, and though sometimes you'd be disappointed to learn there was a sub, he'd usually be there with uplifting and ironic and sometimes even marginally naughty stuff. I loved how he, following the Harding scandal, appropriated the term "Gillooly" for something else entirely.

Even up to age 90, up to the very end of his life, he absolutely delivered. Bravo, Paul Harvey.

1190 KEX ran Paul Harvey. How would you alter programming on KEX now that PH is gone.

I suspect PH will be around for a long time....same concept new host other than the Rest of The Story. Candidates:
Gill Gross, Mike Huckabee, Ron Chapman, Doug Limmerick and the like. Maybe Osgood?

I've always dreaded this day. In Paul Harvey's passing, we all loose a connection to our past. This from ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Story?id=6982226&page=2

According to my boss, (We are an ABC station and run Paul Harvey) Jr. will take over.

I listened to Paul for so many years during the lunch hour that to this very day if I catch one of his broadcasts I get hungry.

Mr. Harvey is one of a kind.

....was much more than just a job. It was a labor of love......

And that is the reason his audience was so large and loyal. Now how do you get the corporate world to recognise that it is just as important at the small town local level. Mr. Harvey was a larger financial success than most, yet came across as just an average Joe. Contrast that with a Rush type who talks about Goverment impact on us "regular folks", and you know DAMN well that Rush isn't a "REGULAR FOLK". Paul Harvey WAS!

What an incredible broadcasting career! Paul Harvey will be greatly missed!

Might they air some of the "classic" programs along with programs by Paul Jr. ?

During my last two years at KEX in 1998-2000, we archived all "Rest Of The Story" segments that weren't dated. The thinking at the time was that they could be replayed when Mr. Harvey passed. I don't know how long this practice was continued or if ABC has done the same thing.

Since many of the ROTS segments were evergreen, it's be great if they could continue. Perhaps with a new opening from Paul Jr.

Of course he was a broadcast icon, but I do remember struggling to figure out when Paul had stopped commentating and started advertising, since I was supposed to insert the local spot. It would often be quite hard to tell when Paul Harvey began his commercial! And, pity on you if you forgot to record his network feed, which came down around 10:35AM I believe. The local townsfolk would certainly call if you repeated yesterdays broadcast.

Comparing what Paul Harvey did and what Rush Limbaugh does, you have to consider the era when each of them began, includng what was "acceptable" for on air broadcast by the American people aat both times.

Mr. Harvey's daily visits were labeled as "News and Comment," so there was no doubt in anyone's mind that there would be some of his personal opinion in the broadcasts. He had a broad audience that leaned conservative and in 1951, a lot of what is on the air today would not have been acceptable to the public then. He did what he did in a very classic way, laced occasionally with humor to help get his point across. His style was more news based with just enough personaity thrown in with a unique voice and delivery. If you turned on the Radio, you knew immediately when Paul was on.

Rush Limbaugh comes from a whole different era and his background as a disk jockey and those DJ's he admired has affected his approach. Rush is a huge fan of Larry Lujack, and if you heard Larry a lot back in the 60s and 70s, you can hear a lot of Larry in what Rush does.

One day some Chicago newspaper person wrote a column that called Lujack out on something he had said on the air. Larry responded to this "insignificant member of the media" saying that he...Larry...would not engage in a debate with this guy because "the Eagle does not hunt the fly." Can't you just hear Rush saying something like that?

Some people don't like Rush because they don't agree with his politics. But, although his subject matter is very political, his humorous treatment of the subject is the key to his success. He is the "put on" champion. Once you figure it out, his show is far and away the funniest thing on the Radio, and like Paul Harvey, his unique style is what makes him popular.

Two quite different men with very different styles, but in many ways the same in their approach to engaging the American public through their reporting on the events of the day.

I worked for two ABC affiliates and heard Paul Harvey daily for twenty years or more. I had the opportunity to meet him while at the NAB in Vegas, great man! we spoke for just a few minutes and I will never forget it. I hope his son carries on with the show.
He will be missed by millions.

I love listening to a great singer. It really doesn't matter the genre of music. A great singer's talent will always shine above whatever the musical style and or lyrics.

Thus Paul Harvey was a great talent. Real talent. Honest to goodness, hard working, trying to get better each day talent. Attention to details talent. Attentive to his listener(s) talent. What' not to admire about this great talent.

Hal I do appreciate your comparison of Harvey and Limbaugh. Though they shared some similar viewpoints Harvey in IMHO, out-classed, out-talented and out-broadcasted Rush.

Rush has more listeners than that. I think Rush probably admired Paul Harvey. I wonder if KEX will have the Best of Paul Harvey. Or maybe there is some unreleased tapes.

"I think Rush probably admired Paul Harvey."
If you have really listened to Rush over time, you would know that is absolutely true because he spoke about Paul many times. He will probably devote some time to it tomorrow because that is the way he is with those he admires.

KEX said today that they will have an hour special tomorrow night at 7PM (7:06). Have your recorders ready.

Paul could tell a story like no other. It didn't matter what he did, I always liked listening to him daily. I was disappointed when they dropped his 12:55PM Rest of the Story for some other guys thing (McConnel?). I always learned something from those stories.

I always liked it when Fred Thompson subbed for him and Ron Chapman is pretty good too. No one can replace Paul, though. As far as replacements, Paul Jr. is OK and I have kinda grown comfortable with Ron Chapman. Gil Gross has his own show on KGO, now. I prefer Ron to Gil, however.

To answer TheEdger, if they continue with a replacement similar to what has been, possibly with Ron, I would prefer that to listening to more of Brooks Burford and local stuff on the "Noon Report". Nothing agains Brooks, but that 15 mins for National the way they do it is fine as part of that hour.

I have listened to Paul Harvey for years. I think he was on KWJJ when I started listening. That was a long time ago and memory sometimes plays tricks on you.

The local townsfolk would certainly call.....

Don't I know it!

The day everyone at ABC Radio has been dreading for years is tomorrow. It is the first day without Paul Harvey. The effects will be widespread.

Over the years ABC Radio has been inconsistent in the treatment of their affiliates. Because of Mr. Harvey's popularity, they have pushed, pulled, added, and dropped stations to their advantage with little loyalty to long-term affiliates. (something I have personally experienced) In some cases they have charged fees for networks and in others they have bartered. The result is that there are a lot of owners who have been ABC affiliates ONLY because of Paul Harvey, and lately many of them have gone to short term contracts, sensing the end was near.

ABC Radio will lose some affiliates, regardless of who they choose to follow Paul with some sort of daily show. In my opinion Paul wasn't the only reason to be affiliated with ABC, and I think their news presentation across the networks is excellent. But, they will lose some stations.

Then there are the listeners. Even if something brilliant is done, ABC Radio affiliates will lose listeners because Paul is gone. He was one of a kind and cannot be replaced. Paul Junior has said on many occasions that he will not take over for his father. If you've heard him do a fill in, you understand what he understands. His writing is exceptional but his presentation isn't. And he didn't inherit that little bit of larceny...that special abiity that Paul had to get away with telling a joke or using some bit of content that was a little naughty, but you laughed along with him like he was one of the guys with a group gathered around while he talked.

The combination of the loss of affiliates and listeners could be a disaster, especially in view of the current financial conditon of the company, which isn't great.

I haven't even heard him do a fill in, but I believe that if there's a guy who can grow into some type of daily show, it is Ron Chapman. His morning show on KVIL in Dallas was one of the finest examples of "prepared spontineity" I have ever heard. He was highly consistent day to day, but it didn't sound like it was as highly formatted as it was....just like things were sort of happening around him and he was rolling with the flow. He has a good sense of humor and doesn't take himself too seriously. His appeal is mid-America. Sound familiar? For what it is worth, Ron has my vote.

It will be an interesting day tomorrow and in the weeks to come for ABC.

Got an email from ABC tonight - all the Paul Harvey segments all week will be a special tribute.....Special Audio etc....so wherever you are be sure to listen!

Jimbo: You are correct. Paul Harvey did change stations.

"Paul Harvey News & Comment" began nationwide and on KEX April 1, 1951. The ad below appeared on April 2, 1951 in The Oregonian:

"Always DIAL 1190. NOW! The Commentary and Analysis of PAUL HARVEY Each Weekday at 12 Noon. Hear Paul Harvey also on Sunday evenings at 7:00 PM. Westinghouse KEX. Oregon's ONLY 50,000 Watt Station."

Then on December 17, 1956 ABC Network programming was moved to KGW Radio & TV when King Broadcasting aligned its Portland stations with ABC. Paul Harvey was now heard on KGW.

On April 1, 1959 KGW Radio and four weeks later KGW-TV dropped ABC Radio & TV. KWJJ picked up ABC Radio and Paul Harvey.

On January 1, 1968 Paul Harvey News & Comment became a program of the American Entertainment Network, when ABC split up its Radio Network. The former ABC affiliates that carried Paul Harvey could continue, even though stations were not Entertainment affiliates.

KWJJ became an Information affiliate since it had dropped Don McNeil's Breakfast Club (now an Entertainment Network program) when its Country format began on March 1, 1965. KKEY became the Entertainment affiliate since it had pick up the McNeil program back in 1965. When Don McNeil was canceled by the Entertainment Network, December 27, 1968, KWJJ wanted the Entertainment Network, to assure Paul Harvey would continue on the station. In January 1969 KWJJ switched to the Entertainment Network.

In 1986 Paul Harvey returned to KEX which had been an Information affiliate since January 15, 1973. The station had been working to bring back Paul Harvey to KEX for over a decade. Now with ratings falling at KWJJ, ABC finally gave in.

Lets make this as clear as night and day . . . Paul Harvey spoke out of his mouth, Rush speaks out of his . . .

Hardly anybody had an unkind word to say about Paul, even if they disagreed with him, Rush, well . . .

> Hardly anybody had an unkind word to say about Paul, even if they disagreed with him, Rush, well

I think that Hwidsten's post above (Sunday, March 01, 2009 - 2:27 pm) explained very eloquently why this difference exists. The two shows are different by design.

A great read on Paul Harvey today on Fybush's site with some interesting audio:
http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html

Skeptical--When ever you post. You sound more like Rush than Paul Harvey. As far as the content of your posts...Imo. Good Day.

Thanks for posting Jimbo, great read and Paul audio.

And you have to click on the audio and hear how he describes Scott's annual Tower calendar. The way he does it is typical of why he was a great story teller.

>>Lets make this as clear as night and day . . . Paul Harvey spoke out of his mouth, Rush speaks out of his . . .

Hardly anybody had an unkind word to say about Paul, even if they disagreed with him, Rush, well . . .<<

Go re-read Herb's post and THEN post a comment - and this time leave the politics out of it.

Legend has it that every time a new person took over as VP of ABC News Radio, he found an envelope in the desk labeled 'to be opened on the occasion of Paul Harvey's death.'
Legend (or at least the 'legend' in the newsroom when I was there a decade ago) has it that the note reads: Turn out the lights when you leave.
Given the percentage of the net's revenue that Harvey generated, and the general state of the net post-Citadel (it doesn't own the net, but has a lot to say about it as part of the station sale), I'd hate to read Steve Jones' blood pressure today.

Paul Harvey was indeed a money machine. I was in St. Joseph, Missouri with a 5kw station in the 1970's. Through some connections, I was able to get all four ABC Networks for the station, and did not have to carry any commercials.

This meant we could carry Paul Harvey, and sell him locally. We sold his 15 minute show for $18,000 per year to one advertiser (remember annual contracts). Keep in mind, those are 1970 dollars and in a small market.

Paul Harvey was to radio like Johhny Carson was to TV.

They were both CLASS ACTS and both will be missed!

Sure, there will be replacements, but none as good as the originals!

........Author: 1lossir
Monday, March 02, 2009 - 7:02 am

Go re-read Herb's post and THEN post a comment - and this time leave the politics out of it........

It matters not which talk show host talks out of what orafice. Our industry just lost perhaps it's most well known and most beloved figure in history. This thread was intended as a tribute to Paul Harvey, by posting our thoughts and memories about him. Keep it at that.

I remember the signed picture Van Moe had and probably still has, hanging in his office at KTIL/KMBD. I got the impression Van idolized Mr. Harvey.

One impression I had over the years, was that if your station obtained the rights to carry Paul Harvey, you also did whatever it would take to keep those rights. Perhaps your station (I'm talking the general you--I'll bet Deane's story was the exception) didn't make a lot, or any money on Paul Harvey's broadcasts. But, I'll bet the attraction to your station he would generate would quite often pay off down the road.

When I was working AMDrive at KWJJ back in '78, I shared our newsroom (at something like 4AM) with Paul Harvey, who was in town to give a speech. Asking first if it was okay, he ripped the AP wire, sat down at a beat-up manual typewriter with a shredded ribbon and knocked-out his newscast in just a few minutes. He carried the copy across the hall to the AM studio, waited for the cue, and started the 'cast as if he were in his Chicago studio with Angel at his side. I was dumbfounded. Still am.

One of my few career biggy mistakes was in the early 80's I passed on to another staffer a chance to interview Paul when he was in Salem doing a fund raiser. I was not comfortable/trained in doing interviews then especially with a nationally know radio guy and would have been extremely intimidated but kick myself for not being a radio-man!
Always loved his dramatical pauses he would give in his delivery...wondered if that was in his script or just felt the pace/knew the story that well to "dramatize it"...we all know now his "rest of the story"...

and this time leave the politics out of it.

I didn't open the door on Rush. I don't agree with Herb. Rush is trying to have it both ways. We cannot let Rush manipulate the functioning of our government while at the same time saying its just "show business" -- to continue doing so is hypocritical.

Paul Harvey, on the other hand, contrary to previous comments about a "different era", was STILL on the air the entire time Rush was on the air and Harvey still had a large audience. The point is, there is STILL an audience for someone of Harvey's caliber.

Any comparsion to Rush is a disservice to Harvey. Furthermore, mere mention of Rush (even on this side) demands a rebuttal because he is no longer just "entertainment" - he's a major defacto leader of the Republican party and any initial mention of him should be on the other side.

Lets move on from any further mention of Rush, eh?

I have to admit, liberal as I am I'm going to miss the old bird. I use to listen to him quite regularly and of course I didn't agree with everything he said, but some of the things he said did make sense.

I think the thing I liked about him over other conservatives, is he gave an opinion and he had the attitude of "This is just my opinion, it may or may not be right". I respected that over someone like Rush or Orally who get on the air and say "Listen to me, I'm right about everything". Harvey didn't do that. He had class, something that's really dying out in today's media.

........Author: Skeptical
Monday, March 02, 2009 - 3:27 pm

Lets move on from any further mention of Rush, eh?........

And yet you are screaming louder than anyone else. It's painfully obvious that it is not only political, but extremely personal with you.

Check your hatred and your keyboard at the door.

Has anyone been listening to the Paul Harvey tributes this week? Truly a fitting tribute to a great broadcaster.

Paul Harvey

1918-2009

Rest in peace, sir. Thank you for the contributions you made to the industry many of us love so much. Thanks also for the daily contributions you made to your millions of listeners. That is truly the mission when the "ON THE AIR" light is illuminated. Few knew that better than you.

Well done.

Just got done listening to an hour long tribute to Paul Harvey on KUGN Eugene. I believe the station will replay the tribute at 9pm this evening (Monday)... An excellent tribute... Paul Harvey was a class act and there is nobody out there like him.

ABC is going to announce "officially" what they are offering later this week. We have always run EVERYTHING of Harvey, so have been contemplating getting out of ABC when this event would happen.

We are definitely finishing out the week from ABC, then looking into taking it all away.

I gotta admit, it was a bit tough today. Losing a fellow radio icon, was just like losing a buddy on a battlefield. So going into the "the Rest of the Story" was different toay. I have had it twice during my show. I took the time like most did, and paused to recognize all his accomplishments and how much he will be missed, before intro-ing the tribute piece ABC put together.

Thanks Paul... for the memories you've sparked in so many for so long, forever... you will be missed.

I can't imagine they would drop it all on little notice. I forsee the morning news still with Paul Jr (who has been doing it for eons), and the ROS can run for eons.....The wildcard to me is the 15min at noon. I think it will continue! ABC has sent no info to us (an affiliate for decades...) to the contrary

Kahtik: "I gotta admit, it was a bit tough today. Losing a fellow radio icon..."

"Todd the Bod" is a radio "icon"?

OK, Magic-eye: My bad on the "fellow" part. I didn't even realize I typed that as I was typing while I was listening to a buddy back east. I meant to type radio "personality" and was thinking about what a great "icon" Paul has been. I guess the ADHD was workign hard there since I was also editing logs at the same time as well.

My apologies to any radio "icons" that took offense. So a big sorry to Rush, Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly... and the list goes on and on.

There's a question for anyone...

What makes a radio personality an icon? Many think it's how long they've been around. Others think it's how many people they've affected. I know some GM's that think it's the person who's had great ratings all their career in their specific markets. Very interesting...

I'm going back to loading a show, cutting a spot, writing a promo liner, pulling prep and coordinating with a part timer and see what I can get done today. I love ADHD.

In Portland, while there have been a lot of great personalities, there have only been three that rise to icons so far, IMO:
Barney, Craig & Lars.

Just pulling your leg, Todd!

Now, get back to work! ;)

Gentlemen:

This is one time a thread should be kept on it's stated subject. Nothing wrong with your post Tom, except that it strays a bit.

Bob, your post was very well said.

For those of us who are ABC affiliates, you can find all the Paul Harvey tributes in the long form section of the ABC Radio Networks NewsCall. If you need filler this week, it's great stuff to use. For instance, I am running Paul's last broadcast, from February 16th, in it's entirety during the Noon hour.

Check it out.

I am disappointed - but stand to be corrected–

I tuned into KEX this morning at 7:40am and listened to Mike Hakaflea (Or Huckabe)
I understand he is on everyday 7:40 and 12:55.. The Paul Harvey time slot..

Besides Paul Harvey having timing, delivery and everything else down he also had a system for his content on delivering the latest NEWs - even things that happened only hours ago - a non political way that covered many subjects–

Again, it was the “system of content” that he had down.

My question to the readers of this forum:

Why didn’t ABC have a replacement ready to go? After all the guy was 90.

The amount of revenue ABC affiliates take in from the Paul Harvey Report was staggering.

Does this make sense or I am I missing something here??

My guess is ABC realizes that nobody can really replace Harvey, and with daytime news/talk programming dominated by two or three big shows, the business model in a post-Harvey world is going to be different. Many stations, east of the pacific time zone, had dropped Harvey at noon and moved him somewhere else to accomodate Rush. I don't think it will happen immediately, but my guess is the Harvey time slots will eventually be phased out. "The Rest of the Story" probably will go on.

Many stations, east of the pacific time zone, had dropped Harvey at noon and moved him somewhere else to accomodate Rush.

From Harvey to Rush. That's really sad....

This from R&R:

--------------------Paul Harvey Funeral Arrangements--------------------

According to published reports, funeral services for Paul Harvey will be held at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion St., Oak Park, Ill. Visitation is scheduled for 3-9 p.m. Friday (March 6) and from 11:30 a.m. until the 1 p.m. service on March 7 at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. The entombment is private.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Lynne Cooper Harvey Foundation, 1035 Park Ave., River Forest, Ill. 60305 are appreciated.

_____________________________________________________________

R&R has assembled Harvey's Radio Bio:

Born Paul Harvey Aurandt on Sept. 4, 1918 and raised in Tulsa, Okla., Harvey began his radio career in 1933 at KVOO-AM/Tulsa, while he was still in high school. Later, while attending the University of Tulsa, he continued working at KVOO as an announcer, then as a PD.

Harvey spent three years as a station manager for KSAL, a local station in Salina, Kan. From there, he took a news announcing job at KOMA-AM in Oklahoma City, then moved on to KXOK-AM, St. Louis, where he was director of special events as well as working as a roving reporter.

Harvey moved to Hawaii in 1940 to cover the U.S. Navy as it began to build up its fleet in the Pacific Ocean. He was returning to the U.S. from that assignment when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Harvey enlisted into the Army Air Corps, where he served until 1944. After leaving the corps, Harvey moved to Chicago, where in June 1944, he began broadcasting from the ABC affiliate WENR-AM. He quickly became the most listened-to newscaster in Chicago.

Harvey reached audiences way beyond Chicago in 1951, when he began his coast-to-coast "News and Comment" on the ABC Radio Networks. On May 10, 1976, he began another series of programs on the ABC Radio Networks entitled "The Rest of the Story," which delved into the forgotten or little known facts behind stories of famous people and events.

Among the dozens of professional honors Harvey received, he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and, in 1992, received the Paul White Award, the highest honor presented by the Radio-Television News Directors Association. President George W. Bush bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Harvey in 2005.

Harvey also received the Radio & Records Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2003 Talk Radio Seminar in Washington. Art Vuolo, Jr., who videotaped Harvey's 17-minute speech, points out that was the last time Harvey made a speech to members of the radio industry.

*Bruce DuMont, founder and president of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, tells R&R that in memory of Harvey and his late wife, Angel, the Museum of Broadcast Communications will name its special events venue the Paul and Angel Harvey Center. It will be the site of future Radio Hall of Fame inductions. Fans and industry leaders are invited to share their respect with a memorial donation to complete the Center at www.museum.tv.

Hello from Radio_Lady:

Steve Zeigler, retired radio engineer from WIOD, Miami, Florida, sent this to me a couple of days ago. Steve and I were together briefly in 1971-72 at this picturesque station located on North Bay Causeway between Miami and Miami Beach. This was when I took over Larry King's late night radio program after he was briefly arrested.

All I can say is that Steve is a very kind man who has helped me out a great deal when I was in tremendous need.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/Radio_Lady/WIOD_Radio_AM__FM.jpg
WIOD Radio "Wonderful Isle of Dreams"

Steve: Here is my Paul Harvey story. It runs a bit long but you just might enjoy it on this winter day. Every microphone should have a black band around it, for a few days, in honor of Paul Harvey, "Mr. Radio".

How I Met Paul Harvey

It was in 1970 when I secured a job as a radio engineer at WIOD-AM and FM in Miami. It was one of the big powerhouses in SE Florida at the time with the NBC Radio Network. A few years later, under different management, the station aligned with the ABC Radio Network, and there was an old friend, Paul Harvey. I had listened to him quite a bit while I was in the Army and looked forward to his newscasts.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/Radio_Lady/Paul_Harvey_broadcasts_from_WIO D_St.jpg
Paul Harvey in studio approx. 1979

I forget the year, but I’m going to say it was 1979 when Paul Harvey was invited to speak at a local function in Miami. ABC had arranged with our people for him to do his morning and noon broadcasts from our studios. This turn of events really blew me away and knocked my socks off! Here I was, about to meet the very person I have come to regard as "Mr. Radio". It was hard to believe that he would actually be in our building and I just might be able to meet him. My respect for him had grown over the years since MP school when I first learned of this radio giant. My head was swimming. Giant? Maybe not -- he was less than seven feet tall!

As things turned out, the guys in the news room highly enjoyed him, and maybe a bit of his professionalism rubbed off on them. WIOD had a Master Control Room configuration – meaning all audio was controlled and ran through my domain. I was the engineer on duty that morning. The Chief Engineer (CE) came in early to check on me and the uplink to ABC. He was impressed with PH too.

About 8:20 AM, I got a phone call from ABC, New York. They planned to talk me down to PH air time. The uplink was cool at their end, and here, my CE was pacing the floor. With the phone at my right ear, I looked up, through double glass window, into the talk studio. I see the big heavy, soundproof door slowly swing open and in walks Paul Harvey.

I was so at ease (make that 'at UN-ease') that I don’t remember how I acknowledged his presence when our eyes met, but I’m sure I made some gesture that was honorable. Paul sat in the chair at the main position where Larry King, Alan Courtney and so many other talk show hosts always did their shows. He arranged all his 3 X 5 cards in front of him – yellow ones seem to be the commercials – white for his news.

ABC, on the phone, said, "One minute." A jolt went through me. My CE was being a pest. Then ABC said, "Stand-by, ten seconds. Seven, six, five…." Silence followed. ABC stopped talking to me – I panicked, I popped the MIC switch and Paul said, "Good Morning America, this is Paul Harvey. Standby for news!"

ABC never told me why they didn’t count all the way down. I was very shaken by the incident at the time. All went well during the five minute broadcast. Then PH got up and walked out of the studio with his 3 x 5 cards tucked safely in his coat pocket for re-shuffling and editing in the noon broadcast.

Soon Mr. Harvey was in the hallway with the station big-wigs. They were all headed to the golf course. I grabbed the sheet of paper from ABC that outlined the broadcast details. Running down the hall with pen and paper in hand, I approached the group and asked Mr. Harvey for his autograph. He did so willingly and I got to shake his hand and thank him. He said, "No, no – I thank YOU! ". I think I still have that piece of paper – I sure hope so. I should frame it.

Later that morning the golfers returned to the station and PH got right to work on his noon broadcast – checking the wires and re-typing his 3 x 5 cards. I was off duty and another engineer was captain of the Master Control Room, but I hung around to get another look at "Mr. Radio" in action.

As air time approached, ABC New York called again to give the usual talk-up and to relate that the uplink was standing tall. Our engineer was over-the-top, nervous about doing a national feed. His forehead was wet, as were his palms. He turned from his chair at the console and asked me to do it for him. I was a bit surprised but I understood and I assumed the seat of power for the next twenty minutes.

Again, ABC counted me down, and this time the guy went all the way to one. I opened the MIC for Paul Harvey for the second time that day. About three minutes into the feed, ABC decided everything was OK. They said "thank you" and "goodbye". Flawlessly, we had completed the noon broadcast of Paul Harvey News and Commentary. I went home, a very "happy camper" with my ABC autographed paper in my pocket.

Steve Zeigler
Venice, Florida
================
Other background:
Former US Army MP
WHOF [Canton OH] 1964
WOIO [Canton] 1967
WIOD [Miami FL] 1970-1997
Steve says (5/08), "Following 33 years in local radio, Dave Graveline and I started the nationally syndicated Into Tomorrow in 1996. As of October 2007, I am retired and living in Venice, Florida."

Great story, Ellen. Thanks for sharing with us!

It was back in 1964, I can vividly remember standing in my grandparents kitchen in St John's, staring at the old white countertop AM/FM radio, listening to Paul Harvey's Noon broadcast with them. We'd be sitting down for lunch. I could not talk during those several minutes - had to just listen, which isn't always easy for a 4th grader. The quiet time was extended to the Dan Smoot Report - can't remember if it was before or after Paul Harvey.

I am catching a theme here.....when Paul Harvey was ON, people not only listened....they stopped everything else to listen....
That was the rule in our house as I grew up....

Charles Osgood said when he was at ABC everyone in the news room would stop making noise when Paul was on..

ABC sent out an email to affiliates today....Gil Grosse and Doug Limerick will handle the three segments.....so no change in whats available...at least at the moment.

Ellen: Great detailing on your PH story. I felt I was there with you.

In the 1970's if I couldn't listen to Paul at noon because of my delivery job, I would tape him on cassette for later. No radio timer, I'd use a 120 tape and let run to the end.

I can still hear Sammy Taylor on JJ with his big rich voice announcing what must have been a liner card because it never changed: (12:05pm)

"This is Sammy Taylor, making way for the Paul Harvey News."

>>would tape him on cassette for later. No radio timer

would do the same thing cause I did not want to miss any of his newscast...no web to relisten in the 1970's...some stories each day were worth hearing again.

So today, Gil Gross was talking about the famous Paul Harvey pauses and how sometimes Paul would use them to read ahead and organize his stories. Brought back a memory that I am not proud of. When I first started in radio I was working at an AM Top40 that also carried Harvey. (Yes, a different era for sure). So a couple of us young jocks decided it would be fun to see if we could fit one of our shotgun jingles in between "Paul Harvey...Good Day!". One day we tried it and it worked! Of course the next day the GM called us in and educated us how important Harvey was to the revenue of the station. Regardless, we had a good laugh. Little did we know Paul would be on the air for the next 30 years!

GUFFAH , ha ha ha.............

That sounds like something I would have done !

I always knew you had a sense of humor, Paul ! Eventhough you tried like hell to hide it a lot at OK95 and probably for the purposes of setting the proper example of a young PD.

This from All Access:

------------------Larry King Pays Tribute To Paul Harvey------------------

The week-long tributes airing in the late PAUL HARVEY's time slots produced by ABC NEWS RADIO will feature LARRY KING on the FRIDAY and SATURDAY editions of the segments. ABC interviewed KING TODAY aboard the houseboat on which he lived while hosting his show from MIAMI.

Hear the segments FRIDAY and SATURDAY on ABC RADIO NETWORKS.
________________________________________________________________

Here's more from All Access:

----------ABC Offers Gil Gross, Doug Limerick In Paul Harvey Slots----------

ABC RADIO NETWORKS sent an advisory to PAUL HARVEY affiliates late WEDNESDAY to inform them that GIL GROSS and DOUG LIMERICK will air in HARVEY's time slots beginning MONDAY (3/9). The schedule for feeds matches that for HARVEY's shows.

GROSS, a frequent fill-in for the late broadcasting legend and a prominent, award-winning newsman and talk host in his own right, will be heard weekdays, fed at 8:30a ET (refeed at 9:30a ET) with four minutes of content and one minute of network inventory and in middays at 11:35a and 12:06p (refeed at 1:06p) with 11 minutes of content, three minutes of network inventory, and a local avail. GROSS will also be heard on weekends with a SATURDAY report fed at 11:10a (refeed at 12:10p and 1:10p, prefeed at 10:45a SATURDAY and 7:25p FRIDAY).

LIMERICK, the network's morning news anchor and twice winner of EDWARD R. MURROW Awards, will be heard handling the afternoon slot, fed at 2:06p (prefeed) and 3:06p ET with four minutes of content and a :30 network spot, and on weekends at 8:30a ET SATURDAYS with refeeds at 9:30 and 10:30a.

Well,
so much for paying attention.
KEX ran the same tribute show today that they ran yesterday. Calling KEX, the operator said they knew and were correcting the problem.
Nothing changed. Nothing said. Just continuing with the noon report. Nothing worth listening to there.
Oh well.

Count on us....Right..

You can get the one hour program from wdbo.com
http://wdbo.com/specialreports/paul_harvey_obit08.html

You can hear all 5 of the daily 5 min rememberences and all 5 of the daily 15 minute ones at:
http://www.abcrn.com/harvey/#


You can hear Gil Gross one hour local KGO show on Paul from last Monday by going to the KGO website:
http://www.kgoam810.com/Article.asp?id=49920
Choose Monday and the 2PM hour. It will be gone on Monday afternoon.

> When I first started in radio I was working at an AM Top40 that also carried Harvey.

This reminds me of the time that WFBG-AM (Altoona, PA) picked up Harvey, circa 1988. The daytime programming there was an adult top-40 of sorts.

The DJs carted up some Harvey-isms along with rim-shots and other sound effects. In one of them, Harvey said, "I was weaned on oatmeal" (rim-shot). They would then drop these in between or over the intros to the records, leading up to the noon hour. The Harvey-isms really sounded funny when played out-of-context that way. Of course, this just helped to hype up the fact that WFBG had snagged Harvey away from WRTA (which had a news-talk format).

Paul Harvey truly was a broadcasting giant, and radio is better off thanks to him even if he only inspired one person who went on to become a great air talent. But the thing is, while entertaining millions of listeners, Paul Harvey inspired many broadcasters. The greats always do.

What frustrates me about the state of radio today is the disconnect between then and now. Yeah, the audience has changed. Society has changed. The business has changed. Blah blah freaking blah blah.

People still want to be entertained, and radio is in the entertainment business - but radio is closing doors to entertainers rather than opening them.

You may think this is flamebait, but I mean it with complete sincerity. A decade ago, I was working at a competitor when Rick Emerson was on Hot Talk 1080 KOTK. I listened to his show for an hour each day at noon. I was addicted.

Back then, Rick used to open up the hour, after the news break, at five past. For the next ten minutes, he would tell a story. Going into his break at 12:15, he'd wrap up the story with a solicit for phones... and the rest of the hour would be him fielding calls. It was great radio.

I remember a story about his neighbor mowing the lawn at 7:30 on a saturday morning (which led to an hour of phones regarding "what do your neighbors do that pisses you off")

Another time, he told a story about himself doing something but later realizing he'd been an ass. I can't remember specifically what the story was about. What I do remember was Rick, spending the next 45 minutes taking calls from anybody he'd been an ass to. Anybody he'd insulted... whatever. It was hilarious.

My favorite was a story about why smoking is great.

Again, coming out of a news break at five past, he spent ten minutes telling a story about something we've all done at some point... you see an attractive woman and you have an instant crush. OK, maybe it's not a crush, but you know the feeling. You look at her hair, you notice her eyes, you check out her body. You watch the way her but swooshes from side to side as she walks. Maybe, at that moment, you're thinking of something to say - a way to introduce yourself, to strike up a conversation. And then, she stops. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a...

...what?!?

She's lighting a cigarette.

At that moment, you realize - "Oh my god. I could have wasted so much time getting to know her, not to mention all of the money on dates. Hell, the price of a first date alone is what? Dinner and drinks... $50, minimum?"

And that's why smoking is great! It's like holding up a giant sign that says "Don't bother. I'm a dumbass."

This, of course, led to a fantastic hour of phones. It was smokers against the non-smokers, and it was great radio.

It. Was. Great. Radio.

And that brings me back to my point about Paul Harvey. He truly was one of the greats - but what is talent worth without an outlet?

I can name a slew of Portland air talent who are phenomenally talented... but what's their talent worth in this age of stockholder radio?

I know I'm stating the obvious, but I'll say it anyway.

The fate of radio today was written long before the economy went south. It was written when corporations were paying outrageous prices for air signals in order to build empires, while at the same time, slashing ad rates to undercut the competition. Bonusing spots, combo deals... it was free airtime no matter how you cut it, and free airtime means the station doesn't value it, so why should advertisers? Why should Wall Street? It was all bogus and anybody with a grasp of middle school math knew it.

We knew it then and we know it now, but what is an I-Told-You-So really worth? It won't generate revenue to bring back budgets so stations can afford air talent. And support staff.

When we lost Paul Harvey, we lost more than just a man. We lost a piece of what made radio... radio.

There's no lack of talent today, but we see a lack of an outlet for talent. How could it have taken a decade for Rick Emerson to land on a full signal in Portland? How could Charlie be blowing out their morning show to replace it with nothing? How could the once legendary Z100 be reduced to mornings beamed in from Arizona and middays imported from a chopped up LA show?

What has become of radio?

I sincerely hope Paul Harvey rests in peace, but radio is already rolling in its grave.

This from All Access:

---------------------Funeral Held For Paul Harvey----------------------

Hundreds of mourners atended PAUL HARVEY's funeral in CHICAGO SATURDAY, with the broadcasting legend's son PAUL HARVEY, JR. recounting highlights from his father's career and quoting his father's words upon the death of Pres. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, "A great tree has fallen. An empty place has opened up against the sky."

The service was held at FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. HARVEY died last SATURDAY in PHOENIX at 90.

-------ABC To Feed 'Huckabee Report' In Former Paul Harvey Slots-------

ALL ACCESS has confirmed that ABC RADIO NETWORKS will be feeding former ARKANSAS Governor and Republican presidential candidate MIKE HUCKABEE's "THE HUCKABEE REPORT" in the time slots formerly filled by the late PAUL HARVEY's features, beginning MONDAY (3/23).

With HUCKABEE's segments shorter than the standard HARVEY time slot, ABC will be offering additional short-form news features to be disclosed shortly.

Interesting....ABC has said nothing to affiliates about an additional feature or features.... The noon feature will mean 10 less minutes of programming for stations...

Does that mean Gill Gross is out? I was getting used to his style and kinda liked it. I have heard the Huckabee stuff at 12:55 and am not impressed. If they do that then I can find some other station to listen to in the noon hour.

Great--follow up a legand like Paul Harvey with huckalberry hound. (huckabee). He must work real cheep. I can hear the sound of radios clicking off all over the USA. This is an insult to the late great Paul Harvey.IMO.

I was getting used to Gil Gross too. And with the shortening of the segments, that just makes more work for those of us at the affilates.

Is it an insult to Harvey? No. Is it an insult to the affilates? Yes.

And it's Huckleberry and cheap. Spell check steve. :-)

Probably not much to worry about here. It's only a matter of time until ABC goes down with the ship.

While I would have preferred to stay with Gross and Limmerick.....reality is in the long term....there is no replacing Paul Harvey. Probably best to change things up and move on.

No one should think, or expect, that Paul Harvey could be replaced. What we, as ABC affiliates are concerned about, is what airs in the News and Comment and Rest of the Story time slots. Give us good programming and we're much more likely to stay with ABC. Give us something less than that, and we're less likely to stay in the family.

My boss is okay with Huckabee. What he's not okay with(and neither am I), is the extra work shorter segments with Huckabee will make for us.

We've been an ABC affiliate for what seems like a gazillion years. But we've already talked about looking elsewhere, depending what ABC chose to do with the Harvey slots. What the network is choosing to do may drive us and a lot of other stations away.

This from yesterday:

--------------ABC Radio Networks To Offer Roe Conn Feature--------------

ABC RADIO NETWORKS has confirmed to ALL ACCESS that CITADEL Talk WLS-A/CHICAGO afternoon host ROE CONN will be providing commentaries as "one of the options available to our affiliates" to fill the time slots formerly occupied by PAUL HARVEY.

CONN's feature, and a package of news features featuring GIL GROSS and DOUG LIMERICK, are among the options to be announced in the near future for HARVEY's affiliates; former ARKANSAS Gov. MIKE HUCKABEE's "THE HUCKABEE REPORT," which runs shorter than some of the HARVEY slots, remains the primary option for affiliates to fill the time periods.

I had a chance to listen to Roe Conn when I was back there a couple years ago. Very smart, funny, a real up and comer.

Also check out how former KTAC Tacoma morning guy Don Wade's career is going! Mornings in market #3 for years!

http://www.wlsam.com/

I used to listen to him when I was a security guard, where my job was to sit in my car at the Multnomah County Fairgrounds in Gresham. When cars had long antennas, KTAC came in like a local in the early morning hours right after sunrise. I always wondered what happened to him but had forgotten his name until just now.

Semoochie: Man! You had the perfect DX job!

Mort Crim (sp) would have been a good replacement. IMO.

Amazing how many people it takes to still not-quite-fill Paul Harvey's shoes.

I literally stumbled across an old VHS tape of a Paul Harvey appearance on the old NBC Letterman show, circa 1988. Now if I can figure out how to get it on this site, I will...if anyone cares.

I'd love to see it. Put it on Youtube.

This from R&R:

----------------------Congress Honors Paul Harvey----------------------

By Mike Stern
Congress has passed a resolution celebrating the career and life of broadcasting legend Paul Harvey. The resolution was introduced by Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.).

H.RES.223 says, "Honoring the life, achievements, and contributions of Paul Harvey, affectionately known for his signature line,

'This is Paul Harvey.... Good day.'"