Ronn Terrell, WKDA Nashville, TN January, 1960 (0:28:58)

… The result? Total Radio! The secret’s in The Balance …
WKDA, 1959: (L-R) Sam Hale, Dick Buckley, Brenda Lee,Ronn Terrell (Terrell Metheny) and Bill Massey. Photo taken during a visit by area high school reporters who were interviewing Brenda Lee.Ronn Terrell (Terrell Metheny) is featured in the first hour of his 7PM-12Midnight show on Nashville’s WKDA in January, 1960.

WKDA was The Big Sound, complete with time chime and reverb-on-demand. Promos tout The Balance and Total Radio, and the production values are very high, including a few classic jingles and several big-band instrumental “bridges”. (The instrumentals were played from tape, allowing time to change records.)

There are lots of celebrity liners, and Ronn ad-libs a sound-effect for a revised weather reading, too. Though the rock ‘n’ roll records are sparse in this ‘scoped hour, Terrell’s energy level more than compensates for his “little flat friends, the records.”

This was taken from a reel tape. Quite a bit of click and pop and noise reduction has been applied to what you will hear, but there’s still an audible level of noise on promos and spots. WKDA played everything from turntables, with the exception of the “instrumental impact music”.

For more about WKDA, please read Sam Hale’s description and Terrell Metheny’s comments for Sam Hale’s 1959 WKDA Snippets.

Welcome to the new ReelRadio!

This site is now operated by the North Carolina Broadcast History Museum. 

We want to thank the board of ReelRadio, Inc. for their stewardship since the passing of the founder Richard Irwin in 2018.  It has not been easy and they have maintained the exhibits for future generations to enjoy.

I met Richard Irwin, aka Uncle Ricky, when we were freshmen at East Carolina University.  We both had worked at local stations in our hometowns.  No one was more passionate about radio, especially Top 40 radio, than my friend Richard. 

Our goals with this site are to preserve the exhibits and make them available free of charge for people to enjoy.  Over time, we hope to add some airchecks to the site.  This will not happen immediately.  Time and resources will determine the future of new exhibits. 

Many thanks to the web folks at the Beasley Media Group for countless hours of work.  Again thanks to the board members of ReelRadio, Inc. for their faith in us. 

Richard Irwin’s hope was that his site would live on long after his passing. He said, “I hope REELRADIO will survive as my contribution to the ‘radio business’. The business is allowed to forget me, but the business should never forget the great era of radio that we celebrate here”.

We remember Richard and we thank him. If you enjoy this new site, we would appreciate a contribution. We hope you enjoy the new ReelRadio!

Board of NCBHP
North Carolina Broadcast History Project