I’m sure there are a few of us who are nostalgic for the Mutual Broadcasting System. Larry King got his national start on Mutual. It was a respected force in national broadcasting for 65 years. But financial and other pressures finally proved to be too much for the network. On April 17, 1999, Mutual fell silent. There was no fanfare, no mention of a final newscast, nothing. After the last newscast at midnight, it just died. And that was that.
This particular newscast is very relevant to the date on which it aired: Easter Sunday, 1982. You’ll hear references to President Reagan, the Falkland Islands crisis with Argentina vs the United Kingdom, and Secretary of State Alexander Haig. The newscaster is Paul Henderson. It was recorded off of KWWK-FM in Rochester, Minnesota. The local announcer cut into the newscast at 3:30 in order to facilitate a live remote broadcast. This explains why Mutual’s final 90 seconds are not included here.
Since KWWK had only 3,000 watts and I was located more than 60 miles from their transmitter, some light noise can be heard in the signal. I wanted to include it since it’s the only recording I have of a Mutual newscast. Given the network’s importance during the golden age of radio, it certainly deserves to be mentioned and included on a website such as this one.
I received this from Apple Valley, Minnesota using a Pioneer SX-3900 receiver, Winegard 10 element FM yagi antenna, Belden ultra low loss coaxial cable, and an Alliance U-100 antenna rotor. The recording was made on a Pioneer AM/FM/cassette portable stereo unit, patched into the receiver to function as a tape deck. Source tape is a TDK D90.
KWWK_FM_Mutual_News_April_11_1982