1954 in radio

The year 1954 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.

Events

 * 20 January – The National Negro Network is formed in the United States.
 * 25 January – First broadcast of Dylan Thomas's radio play Under Milk Wood, two months after its author's death, with Richard Burton as 'First Voice', on the BBC Third Programme.
 * 1 February – KECA and KECA-FM, two Los Angeles stations, change their call letters to KABC and KABC-FM respectively, reflecting their new ownership by ABC-United Paramount Theaters.
 * 1 April – ABC-United Paramount Theaters, owners of WENR-Chicago, purchase time-share counterpart WLS-Chicago from Sears, Roebuck and Co., and merge both stations under the WLS call sign (their FM sister station would keep the WENR call sign until 1965).
 * 15 July – The Nippon Broadcasting System initiates its first official regular broadcasting service in Tokyo, Japan.
 * 18 October – Texas Instruments announces the development of the first commercial transistor radio. The Regency TR-1 goes on sale the following month.
 * 17 November – WJW (AM) in Cleveland, Ohio (later WKNR) is sold by William M. O'Neill to Storer Broadcasting.

Debuts

 * 3 January – Man's Right to Knowledge debuts on CBS.
 * 3 January – WSTN debuts as a 1 kW daytimer at St. Augustine, Florida.
 * 9 January – Roadshow debuts on NBC. Starring Bill Cullen, the three-hour weekly program is considered a forerunner of the network's Monitor, which began a year later.
 * 6 April – Crime and Peter Chambers debuts on NBC.
 * 2 September – Dr. Sixgun debuts on NBC.
 * 25 October – WMSN in Raleigh, North Carolina debuts as a 500 watt daytimer at Raleigh, North Carolina.
 * 2 November – Hancock's Half Hour debuts on BBC radio.

Endings

 * 3 January – Quiz Kids ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 6 January – Dr. Christian ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 15 January – Double or Nothing ends its run on network radio (ABC).
 * 16 January – The Baron and the Bee ends its run on network radio (NBC).
 * 5 March – Family Skeleton ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 12 March – House of Glass ends its run on network radio (NBC).
 * 26 March – Front Page Farrell ends its run on network radio (NBC).
 * 27 March – Twenty Questions ends its run on network radio.
 * 28 March – Bulldog Drummond ends its run on network radio (Mutual).
 * 30 March – Rocky Fortune, a half-hour detective drama starring Frank Sinatra, aired its final episode on NBC.
 * 22 May – The Armstrong Theater of Today ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 27 May – Time for Love ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 18 June – The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ends its run on network radio (ABC).
 * 24 June – The Six Shooter ends its run on network radio (NBC).
 * 9 July – Can You Top This? ends its run on network radio (NBC).
 * 1 August – Broadway Is My Beat ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 7 September – Crime and Peter Chambers ends its run on network radio (NBC).
 * 25 September – Escape ends its run on CBS.
 * 25 September – Stars over Hollywood ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 30 September – On Stage (radio show) ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * 3 September – The Lone Ranger ends its run of original radio shows.
 * 27 November – The Falcon ends its run on network radio (Mutual).
 * 26 December – Man's Right to Knowledge ends its run on network radio (CBS).
 * (undated) – The Jack Berch Show ends its run on network radio (ABC).

Births

 * 12 January – Howard Stern, American shock jock radio personality
 * 22 August – Kurt Andersen, American novelist, columnist and public radio host
 * 26 August – Steve Wright, English DJ
 * 27 August – Andrew Marshall, English comedy scriptwriter
 * 8 September – Joe Cipriano, American voice over actor and radio personality
 * 3 October – Al Sharpton, American activist, minister, and radio talk show host
 * 20 November – Steve Dahl, American radio personality and humorist
 * 27 November – Arthur Smith, English comedian and radio presenter
 * 5 December – Peter Arbogast, American sportscaster

Deaths

 * 10 January – Chester Wilmot, Australian war correspondent, killed in accident to BOAC Flight 781 (born 1911)
 * 4 November – Joy Hathaway, Canadian-born American actress of the Golden Age of Radio