WQLN NPR Marks Major Milestone on January 7th Half-Century Celebration in the Making

Erie, Pa - On January 7th at 6pm, WQLN NPR will celebrate 50 years of providing public radio programming in Erie, Pennsylvania. We'd like to invite you to join us for cocktails and heavy hors d'oeuvres in the rarely seen rehearsal hall at the newly renovated Warner Theatre. Prepare to be wowed by this charming space.

This delightful opportunity to eat, drink, and mingle with some of your favorite music hosts will be followed by messages from Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent for NPR and Jack Spear, an NPR News Anchor. The Erie Philharmonic will play as we celebrate everything WQLN NPR… on January 7th beginning at 6pm.

We hope you'll join us! Seating is limited for this special occasion. Tickets can be purchased at www.WQLN.org/Radio50. All proceeds help to ensure the programs you love on WQLN NPR continue for another half a century and beyond!

Here are some of the highlights over the last 50 years:

March 1972 - Lou Pollick, Ted Junker, and Bob Chitester apply to the FCC for a non-commercial radio license.
January 7, 1973 - First Broadcast. WQLN Radio's broadcast day began at 6 in the morning and continued until midnight.
WQLN's Schedule was Sunrise Classics, Carousel (a music mix of all forms of music), Soul, and Jazz.
Tuesday, January 9, 1973 - All Things Considered with host Susan Stamberg BEGINS
May 17, 1973 - The US Senate Watergate Committee hearings begin to air on public radio. The significant audience ratings were a game changer for WQLN, building overnight awareness of public radio in Northwest Pennsylvania.
1974 - WQLN began broadcasting some programs in Quadraphonic sound. Quadraphonic sound did not catch on and was discontinued in 1980.
1975 - Five Mornings, a daily local news program, began airing. Reporting news from Erie, Crawford and Warren counties. Jim Van Dugen led a five-person news team.
November 2, 1975 The College for Older Americans and Radio Reader began airing at noon and 12:30.
1982 Two Cents worth with Paul Brown began. Arguably the area's first talk radio program.
1985 WQLN installed radio translators in Meadville, Chautauqua,, Warren, Titusville, and Oil City.
1985 Weekend Edition first aired
From the late 1970s through the early 1980s - Radio plays like the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Star Wars aired in the evenings.
1999 WQLN Radio began broadcasting 24 hours a day.
June 8 2002 What Ya Know live broadcast in Erie
January 25, 2004 - A Prairie Home Companion live broadcast in Erie
September 11, 2006 - What Ya Know live broadcast live broadcast in Erie