Monday, January 02, 2006
KNET celebrates 70 years on the air
From the Palestine (TX) Herald-Press
As much a part of a city’s history is the media that records and shapes the community’s legacy. Such is true for Palestine’s KNET 1450 AM radio, which is celebrating 70 years on the air Monday.
The station’s earliest broadcasts can be traced back to 1935, before the formation of the Federal Communications Commission. But KNET’s birth as a bonafide AM station occurred on Jan 2, 1936.
“KNET and another station, KDOT of Tyler, were the first radio stations in East Texas,” KNET’s current news director Gary Richards said. “That was a good thing for a town the size of Palestine.”
...
Marvin Crain, now 84, started his career at KNET in 1945 and worked there for 23 years before a brief stint at another East Texas station. He returned to Palestine in 1970, where he worked at another local station for 20 years.
“I was an announcer for a while and then got into the sales end of it,” Crain recalled. “The last 15 years I spent as a local reporter.”
According to Crain, radio has changed tremendously over the past 70 years, particularly in the area of technology.
“I remember when I first started we were using 78 rpm records,” he said. “If you dropped one of those it broke like a cracker.
“We also played lots of different kinds of music — not just a single format like we see today,” he added. “My two favorite shows were ‘Cowboy Roundup’ and ‘Jive ‘til Five.’”
Several famous musicians, including then-popular country artist Hank Williams, visited the station to perform or just plug their latest single.
“Eddie Arnold did a program for us and Loretta Lynn came by for a few minutes,” Crain said. “Lyndon B. Johnson also stopped here to do a broadcast when he was running for senator.”
...
Read the article
Palestine Herald-Press
As much a part of a city’s history is the media that records and shapes the community’s legacy. Such is true for Palestine’s KNET 1450 AM radio, which is celebrating 70 years on the air Monday.
The station’s earliest broadcasts can be traced back to 1935, before the formation of the Federal Communications Commission. But KNET’s birth as a bonafide AM station occurred on Jan 2, 1936.
“KNET and another station, KDOT of Tyler, were the first radio stations in East Texas,” KNET’s current news director Gary Richards said. “That was a good thing for a town the size of Palestine.”
...
Marvin Crain, now 84, started his career at KNET in 1945 and worked there for 23 years before a brief stint at another East Texas station. He returned to Palestine in 1970, where he worked at another local station for 20 years.
“I was an announcer for a while and then got into the sales end of it,” Crain recalled. “The last 15 years I spent as a local reporter.”
According to Crain, radio has changed tremendously over the past 70 years, particularly in the area of technology.
“I remember when I first started we were using 78 rpm records,” he said. “If you dropped one of those it broke like a cracker.
“We also played lots of different kinds of music — not just a single format like we see today,” he added. “My two favorite shows were ‘Cowboy Roundup’ and ‘Jive ‘til Five.’”
Several famous musicians, including then-popular country artist Hank Williams, visited the station to perform or just plug their latest single.
“Eddie Arnold did a program for us and Loretta Lynn came by for a few minutes,” Crain said. “Lyndon B. Johnson also stopped here to do a broadcast when he was running for senator.”
...
Read the article
Palestine Herald-Press
# posted by Dave Sichak @ 10:19 AM 
