1210 WPHT head shot
This isn’t a sports story, but we try to share radio and television news in Philadelphia and the legendary Sid Mark passed away this week at the age of 88.
Your parents probably listened to Friday with Frank and Sunday with Sinatra on WWDB and WPHT. He hosted those programs for decades, putting together a broadcasting career than spanned 65 years. 65 years! That’s incredible.
Here’s a portion of the KYW News Radio writeup:
Mark was the leading authority on the “Chairman of the Board,” having developed a friendship with Sinatra dating back to 1966. His radio work was unique because it featured exclusive recordings of conversations with Sinatra and his show business contemporaries. “Friday with Frank,” “Sunday with Sinatra,” and the nationally syndicated “Sounds of Sinatra,” are the only of their kind to have been personally authorized by Sinatra himself.
Mark launched “The Sounds of Sinatra” in Philadelphia 62 years ago. The program was in national syndication for 43 years, making Mark the host of the longest running, single artist, syndicated radio program in America, reaching 100 stations and 1 million listeners each week.
Sid Mark is a Philadelphia radio OG. Apparently he was a really nice guy, too. There are a lot of nice tributes out there online. RIP.