WWL Newsradio in New Orleans will commemorate 100 years on the air this week; the station’s first broadcast was on March 31, 1922.
Longtime WWL personality Scoot penned an op-ed on the station’s website Monday reflecting on his first day at WWL in 1970.
“It was 5:30 in the morning and still dark when I pulled into the parking lot at WWL TV & Radio in 1970,” said Scoot reflecting on how he was stopped by two local police officers while waiting for his partner Bob Ruby to meet him and bring him to the studio.
“The two officers asked me to get out of the car and they began questioning me about why I was sitting in my car in the parking lot,” Scoot said. “I explained that I was starting a new job with Bob Ruby on WWL, and it was my first day and I was waiting for him to meet me.”
According to Nola.com, WWL was an outgrowth of physics experiments and wireless radio classes offered at Loyola University as early as 1907.”
Loyola operated the station until 1989 when it sold the station and its sister WLMG-FM to Keymarket Communications.
“I can vividly remember how my heart raced when I knew I was on the air and the power I felt realizing that a large audience was hearing my voice,” added Scoot. “There was no doubt in my mind that radio was my destiny.”
