Gray broadcast the call,[3] and the spontaneous live interview was such a hit with both his listeners and station bosses that the talk radio format resulted.

WOR officials realized the attraction of the talk format, and Gray worked an overnight shift there from 1945 to 1948 or 1949,[4][5] interviewing public figures from Al Jolson to Adam Clayton Powell Jr.[6] He also broadcast for WMGM from the Copacabana night club in the late 1940s.

Carl Warner, a retired newspaper publisher living in Clinton, Tennessee, was then the remote engineer for the Barry Gray Miami Beach broadcasts.

He also recalls hearing a loud bang in his headphones and looking up to the Copa Lounge stage, seeing the podium turned over and Barry signaling him to cut the mics.

Indeed, Larry King began his broadcasting career from a houseboat anchored in front of the Miami Beach Fontainebleau Hotel in 1957."

[citation needed] In 2002, industry publication Talkers Magazine selected Barry Gray as the eighth greatest radio talk show host of all time.