WIL 1933-1935;
KSD 1935-1960;
Inducted in 2006
Frank Eschen began working at WIL in 1933, moving to KSD in 1935, so he was already a market broadcast veteran when Pulitzer signed on the market’s first television station. He was tapped to broadcast the TV station’s first news report February 8, 1947. He was appointed the station’s first news director and was heard as the news anchor of the most popular news broadcasts and live event reports. During his time working at KSD-TV, his work on KSD Radio continued, both as a news broadcaster and often as a dramatic player on broadcasts of “The Land We Live In.” Eschen was narrator for TV coverage of the Veiled Prophet Ball, U.S. Open Golf Championship, Little Symphony and Municipal Opera broadcasts, and even provided voice reports on KSD-TV of the elevation to Cardinal of Archbishop John Glennon from Rome, as well as Glennon’s death in Ireland a short time later.
