Joseph Scholnick

Who is Joseph Scholnick?

Joseph H. Scholnick was a noted radio and television sound effects engineer in the early days of television. He is best known for his work on the children's TV show Winky Dink and You, and for sponsoring the creation of the first FM educational radio station in the United States that was owned an operated by a High School, WPOB.

Scholnick began his broadcasting career as a New York City high school student in 1946, where he studied radio and television broadcasting and worked at WNYE as a member of the All City Radio Workshop. By 1948 he had gone on to Brooklyn College where he helped organize the school's Radio Guild as its first President and Director. Scholnick moved quickly into a position as a contributing writer and music programmer for WINS radio. He held his first leadership role in Sound Effects while teaching and producing for the Cambridge School of Radio Broadcasting in New York, and by 1948 had first earned the broadcast endorsement for his FCC Radio Operator's License. It was during this period that he first came to the attention to producers at the budding CBS Television Network, as a performer in the TV series "There Ought To Be A Law".

Interrupting his career to serve as a Marine during the Korean War, Scholnick was able to land an engineer position with CBS Television upon his return where he went on to work sound effects and, eventually, become a video effects engineer contributing to such notable shows as Captain Kangaroo, 60 Minutes, and the CBS Evening News.