Dale Oldham

Dr. William Dale Oldham (b. Mar. 30, 1903 Ripley, Payne County, Oklahoma, USA d. March 29, 1984 Montgomery County, Alabam USA). He was the father of well-known gospel singer Doug Oldham. Pioneer in religious broadcasting, religious leader, and author. On January 4, 1947, broadcasting from radio station KGGF from Coffeyville, Kansas, Dale Oldham began a radio ministry with a program called the Christian Brotherhood Hour (CBH) that changed the sound of religious broadcasting. Until that time, Christian radio meant simply broadcasting a church service, but Oldham's idea was to combine music with a conversational style of presenting the message. His innovative approach became so popular that by 1962, his program was being carried on more than 260 stations, in forty-four different states, and a dozen international stations, and his style had become the norm for religious radio programming. He continued as CBH speaker until 1968. On the fifteenth anniversary of the Christian Brotherhood Hour, Dr. Billy Graham sent a message of congratulations in which he called Dale Oldham "one of the great and gifted radio preachers of our country; certainly at this momentous hour of history God is using him greatly" (quoted in Ellis, Bill. "Radio Turns 60." NAC Roundup. 25 June 2007, pg. 4). Dale and Pauline E. "Polly" (Brown) Oldham were the parents of gospel singer, Doug Oldham.