The Happy Station Show is the world's oldest international radio programme still being broadcast, having originated 91 years earlier in 1928 on shortwave radio, and is also the second oldest radio show still on the air behind only the Grand Ole Opry, which began three years earlier. Happy Station's run had been interrupted twice — from 1940 until 1946 due to World War II and again from 1995 when it was cancelled until its revival in 2009. The revived programme is not affiliated with Radio Netherlands Worldwide or RNW Media.
History
The program premiered on November 19, 1928 and was broadcast first by the private Philips Radio stationPCJJ, and from 1947 by Radio Netherlands. Separate English and Spanish versions were broadcast around the world on shortwave. Popular music from Europe and various other countries was mixed with vintage recordings and multilingual chatter, switching back and forth between English, Spanish and Dutch by hosts each Sunday. It became popular since it gave listeners a chance to travel in their armchair during a period when international travel was difficult for most people. In particular, the Startz-era of the show featured special formats such as a voyage by sound where Startz narrated tours to distant locations assisted by sound effects. Later, the show pioneered international call-in shows, in both the English and Spanish versions, during the 1970s. The show followed a format of light entertainment, special guests, music, and information about Dutch life. Edward "Eddie" Startz presented the program from its inception until his retirement in December 1969. Tom Meijer took over and hosted the English and Spanish versions from January 1970 until his own retirement in 1993. He was followed by Pete Myers and Jonathan Groubert as hosts of the English version. Jaime Báguena hosted the Spanish version, La Estación de la Alegría, until the end of the 1990s when it was canceled by Radio Netherlands' management. La Estación de la Alegría was replaced by a similar program,Cartas @ RN, which was hosted by Baguena but had a running time of 25 minutes instead of 55 minutes. Buguena was succeeded as the show's presenter by Sergio Acosta from 2010 until the show ended in June 2012 due to the closure of Radio Netherlands as a shortwave service.
Revival
On March 12, 2009, the program was resurrected as an independent broadcast produced by Taiwan-based PCJ Media via Radio Miami International, which was also transmitted globally through podcasting and Internet streaming audio. The producer and presenter of this version is Canadian expatriate Keith Perron, who in the past had been employed or worked freelance for Radio Canada International, Radio Havana Cuba, China Radio International, Radio Netherlands, the BBC World Service and other shortwave broadcasters. The new programme is not produced in the Netherlands and has no involvement from Radio Netherlands Worldwide save that Perron had been given permission by RNW to use the Happy Station name. Tom Meijer, who hosted RNW's Happy Station in the 1970s and 1980s was involved as a consultant, and made occasional on-air contributions. Meijer's successor at RNW, Jonathan Groubert, also appeared as a guest on the revived show. The new production is produced in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic Of China, and the over-air version was initially broadcast on shortwave from WRMI's transmitters in Okeechobee, Florida in the United States. The show is broadcast on shortwave via WRMI and continued as a weekly podcast and internet radio show as well as being syndicated to various FM and medium wave partner stations in 37 countries around the world. Another version of the show, also presented by Perron, is produced exclusively for PCJ's own shortwave transmissions.
