An Alabama broadcasting pioneer is dead.
A family statement released Monday says television entertainer Benny Carle died at his home in Florence after a brief illness. He was 89.
The Birmingham native died on Thursday.
Carle was best known as the host of local television shows in Birmingham, Decatur and Huntsville from the late 1940s until the late '70s.
Carle's career began on radio in the late 1940s after his service in the Merchant Marine during World War II.
Carle became owner and manager of TV23 in Decatur in 1965. He changed the Channel to 48 and moved the station to Huntsville. Carle sold that operation and moved to Florence in 1977 to begin WBCF-AM/FM/TV.
Survivors include Carle's wife of 60 years Patricia and three sons, Benji, Jay and Jim.
