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Bartell Group
The Bartell Group, later known as Bartell Broadcasters, Bartell Family Radio, Macfadden-Bartell, and the Bartell Media Corporation, was a family-owned company that owned a number of radio stations in the United States during the 1940s through the 1960s.
Family members involved in the radio operations included five siblings, Gerald "Jerry" Bartell, Melvin Bartell, Lee Bartell, David Bartell, Rosa Bartell Evans, and one sibling-in-law, Ralph Evans. Several of them got their start in while attending the University of Wisconsin and participating in the operations of university-owned station WHA. They entered the radio business with Milwaukee station WEXT in 1947, on the belief that between them they had expertise in law, engineering, music, writing, and acting, all of which would prove useful in the field. Some of the more well-known stations the Bartell Group owned include WOKY in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, KCBQ in San Diego, California, KRUX 1360 in Phoenix, Arizona, and Spanish-language WADO in New York City. The family also owned a few television stations, including WMTV-TV in Madison, Wisconsin and Telecuraçao and Telearuba in the Caribbean. The family members left the radio business in 1968, but the Bartell Media Corporation name carried on into much of the 1970s.
The Bartell Group was an important broadcasting entity during the post-World War II era and helped pioneer the Top 40 radio format. Three of the Bartell family members have been inducted into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
The Bartell siblings were the children of Russian Jews Benjamin and Lena Beznor. The father immigrated to the United States in 1911, with the mother following in 1913, as part of the wave of Central and Eastern European Jews who came to America. (Other accounts place the parents coming in 1913 or later.)
Three of the children were born in Belopolye in Russia: Belle (1906–2005), David B.(1908–2006), and Lee K. (1910–1991), while three of the children were born once the family was in the United States: Gerald A. "Jerry" (1914–1990) in Chicago, Illinois, and Melvin (1916–2006) and Elizabeth Robbin "Rosa" (1918–2009) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Belle was the only one of the siblings that did not become involved in the family radio business.
The family name of Beznor gradually evolved to Bartell, with it being done first by those siblings who were public performers. So while the first public mentions of Gerald in 1937 have him using Bartell, as late as 1949 and then 1953, David and Lee were still using Beznor in their public business work, until they switched too for consistency.
The family's interest in radio began with Gerald Bartell's time at the University of Wisconsin during the 1930s, when he was on the student staff of university-owned station WHA. As one university history states, Gerald was "a talented student with natural ability for acting and producing." After graduating in 1937 with a B.A. in economics, he remained a staff member there as he entered graduate school, gaining a master's degree in 1939. During his time in school he also sometimes worked in Chicago as an actor in network radio soap operas. He also barked like a canine in a commercial for Red Heart dog food. Gerald subsequently became part of the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, being named an assistant professor of radio education in the Department of Speech in 1940. While on the faculty he took advantage of a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship and worked at NBC in New York in sales, merchandising, and production tasks.
Melvin also was on the student staff at WHA and was a popular figure on the air through his graduation in 1938. An aspiring opera singer, he then went to the University of Rochester to attend its Eastman School of Music, from where he gained a degree in 1941. While in Rochester he worked at radio station WHAM.
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Bartell Group
The Bartell Group, later known as Bartell Broadcasters, Bartell Family Radio, Macfadden-Bartell, and the Bartell Media Corporation, was a family-owned company that owned a number of radio stations in the United States during the 1940s through the 1960s.
Family members involved in the radio operations included five siblings, Gerald "Jerry" Bartell, Melvin Bartell, Lee Bartell, David Bartell, Rosa Bartell Evans, and one sibling-in-law, Ralph Evans. Several of them got their start in while attending the University of Wisconsin and participating in the operations of university-owned station WHA. They entered the radio business with Milwaukee station WEXT in 1947, on the belief that between them they had expertise in law, engineering, music, writing, and acting, all of which would prove useful in the field. Some of the more well-known stations the Bartell Group owned include WOKY in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, KCBQ in San Diego, California, KRUX 1360 in Phoenix, Arizona, and Spanish-language WADO in New York City. The family also owned a few television stations, including WMTV-TV in Madison, Wisconsin and Telecuraçao and Telearuba in the Caribbean. The family members left the radio business in 1968, but the Bartell Media Corporation name carried on into much of the 1970s.
The Bartell Group was an important broadcasting entity during the post-World War II era and helped pioneer the Top 40 radio format. Three of the Bartell family members have been inducted into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
The Bartell siblings were the children of Russian Jews Benjamin and Lena Beznor. The father immigrated to the United States in 1911, with the mother following in 1913, as part of the wave of Central and Eastern European Jews who came to America. (Other accounts place the parents coming in 1913 or later.)
Three of the children were born in Belopolye in Russia: Belle (1906–2005), David B.(1908–2006), and Lee K. (1910–1991), while three of the children were born once the family was in the United States: Gerald A. "Jerry" (1914–1990) in Chicago, Illinois, and Melvin (1916–2006) and Elizabeth Robbin "Rosa" (1918–2009) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Belle was the only one of the siblings that did not become involved in the family radio business.
The family name of Beznor gradually evolved to Bartell, with it being done first by those siblings who were public performers. So while the first public mentions of Gerald in 1937 have him using Bartell, as late as 1949 and then 1953, David and Lee were still using Beznor in their public business work, until they switched too for consistency.
The family's interest in radio began with Gerald Bartell's time at the University of Wisconsin during the 1930s, when he was on the student staff of university-owned station WHA. As one university history states, Gerald was "a talented student with natural ability for acting and producing." After graduating in 1937 with a B.A. in economics, he remained a staff member there as he entered graduate school, gaining a master's degree in 1939. During his time in school he also sometimes worked in Chicago as an actor in network radio soap operas. He also barked like a canine in a commercial for Red Heart dog food. Gerald subsequently became part of the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, being named an assistant professor of radio education in the Department of Speech in 1940. While on the faculty he took advantage of a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship and worked at NBC in New York in sales, merchandising, and production tasks.
Melvin also was on the student staff at WHA and was a popular figure on the air through his graduation in 1938. An aspiring opera singer, he then went to the University of Rochester to attend its Eastman School of Music, from where he gained a degree in 1941. While in Rochester he worked at radio station WHAM.