WHB Radio Personality Suicide, Early 1960s (Independence, Marshall: apartment, home, farm)

[WCHS'59]

I thought I would place this in an area by itself to see if an answer might pop up.

This subject has been on the “Long Ago on Independence Square” thread with no definitive answer as to the person involved.

Not many viewers were around at the time or have heard of the incident.

A popular WHB radio personality was the host of Night Beat, a talk show in the 10:00 pm to 1:00 am time slot.

I recall listening to the talk show one night in 1960 or 61 when working the night shift. The station went to a commercial break but the host never came back on. In place of talking there was non-stop music.

When the next talk host came on there was no mention of what had happened. But the Times or Star had the story the next day.

The host had shot himself while the commercial was airing. The engineer was the only other person at the station and he started the nonstop music.

Anyone know who this talk show host might have been?

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I thought I would place this in an area by itself to see if an answer might pop up.

This subject has been on the “Long Ago on Independence Square” thread with no definitive answer as to the person involved.

Not many viewers were around at the time or have heard of the incident.

A popular WHB radio personality was the host of Night Beat, a talk show in the 10:00 pm to 1:00 am time slot.

I recall listening to the talk show one night in 1960 or 61 when working the night shift. The station went to a commercial break but the host never came back on. In place of talking there was non-stop music.

When the next talk host came on there was no mention of what had happened. But the Times or Star had the story the next day.

The host had shot himself while the commercial was airing. The engineer was the only other person at the station and he started the nonstop music.

Anyone know who this talk show host might have been?

I was around then and listened to WHB at night from Minnesota - it boomed in there on winter nights as though it were a local station.

I did a Google search on the story you're talking about and was quite surprised to learn that WHB is no longer on 710, where it was for all of my memories. I found nothing on the incident you mention, though, and don't remember ever hearing about it.

[RadioSilence]

Yes, WHB and KCMO swapped frequencies in 1997. At the time, WHB had a farm format, and wanted the better daytime coverage.

The nightbeat host in 1960 was a man named Tom Jacobson. He died in August 1960. But I don't think he killed himself at work. I think he just left and killed himself at home.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by RadioSilence

Yes, WHB and KCMO swapped frequencies in 1997. At the time, WHB had a farm format, and wanted the better daytime coverage.

The nightbeat host in 1960 was a man named Tom Jacobson. He died in August 1960. But I don't think he killed himself at work. I think he just left and killed himself at home.

Jacobson is one of the names that was brought up, but I was thinking it was someone else. The time would be in the time frame I was thinking of.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by CrownVic95

I was around then and listened to WHB at night from Minnesota - it boomed in there on winter nights as though it were a local station.

I did a Google search on the story you're talking about and was quite surprised to learn that WHB is no longer on 710, where it was for all of my memories. I found nothing on the incident you mention, though, and don't remember ever hearing about it.

I specifically remember hearing the somber, on-air announcement and telling my dad about it when he got home from working a late shift. I don't recall if Jacobson was in the studio at the time or not.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by RadioSilence

Yes, WHB and KCMO swapped frequencies in 1997. At the time, WHB had a farm format, and wanted the better daytime coverage.

The nightbeat host in 1960 was a man named Tom Jacobson. He died in August 1960. But I don't think he killed himself at work. I think he just left and killed himself at home.

More on WHB:

[SIZE=2]WHB moved to 710 in order to broadcast at night. WHB was listed under the Mutual Radio Network from 1936 to 1954. The Storz family of Omaha purchased the station in 1954, and pulled the plug on Mutual.

1954-1981 - WHB - Top 40 "71 WHB"
WHB was one of the original outlets for early popular and rock and roll music in the Midwest, and the flagship for Storz' Mid-Continent broadcasting chain. The owners based the format on the behavior of youngsters picking songs out of a jukebox. They noticed the same ten to twelve songs would be played repeatedly in one night. WHB's first Top 20 countdown aired in mid-1954. The format was copied around the country, years before Elvis Presley ever recorded a song. The station was extremely popular throughout the 1960s. Many famous personalities passed through as well. Todd Storz died in 1964. WHB made it through the 1970s, but could not survive the upstart FM Top 40 competitors.

1981-1993 - WHB - Adult Contemporary/50s-60s Oldies
As WHB made it through the 1970s, FM became a more viable choice for Top 40 music. So WHB capitalized on its heritage by flipping to Adult Contemporary and 50s/60s oldies. "Oldies hours" played at noon and six, as well as all Saturday night. The Storz family sold the station in 1984 to Shamrock Broadcasting. WHB slowly transitioned to full-time oldies in 1985. WHB had no legitimate competition until 1989, when oldies appeared on 94.9. But that competition proved to be too much. Kanza, Inc., which specialized in farm formats, bought the station in 1993. In September 1993, WHB ended its oldies format (some dubbed it "the day the music died").

1993-1997 - WHB - Country/Farm
WHB's farm format began on September 28, 1993. The farm format held its own, helping out KMZU 100.7 in the process with a partial simulcast. But the daytime coverage of rural areas wasn't that great. So WHB swapped frequencies with 810 KCMO, giving up better nighttime coverage in favor of a big daytime stic[/SIZE]

[Alaskantam]

My husband's father was Thomas Jacobson, the Night Beat dj. We are still trying to sort out what the true story is. We have a newspaper clipping that states he was an ex staffer who was found dead in his apartment. But, another source states he simply did not show up for work and a dj named Don Loughnane replaced him and announced " Tom Jacobson is dead". There's a book called "The Birth of Top 40 Radio: The Storz Stations' Revolution of the 1950s and 1960s" that does reference Tom Jacobson. What Tom would say on the air was, "I am Tom Jacobson. Every telephone in mid America is your ticket to free speech the American way. WHB Multiphones are open tonight as a nation listens to you on.... Night Beat".

[Floorist]

Dr. Marshall Saper was on the air in KC for years and also committed suicide.