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First Radio Transmission
Guglielmo Marconi experimented using radio outside of his father's estate in Bologna. He tried many different types and bends of antenna, and he only got a signal as far as a half of a mile. -
Creation of Audion Tube
Lee Dee Forest made the audion tube. It was the first widely used device that amplified a sound on the grid it was being played on. Though, the volume dynamics and quality weren't perfect, it was still a great step towards the future of radio shows. -
Uncle Charlie Stations
'Uncle Charlie' stations were created. They were made by people with money and time who wanted to speak their mind to other people. As time went on, they got more and more popular because there were no commercials. -
8XK
In 1920, the first radio show began. It's called 8XK, and it's still around today in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. A man named Frank Conrad ran the show originally, and presented from the channel speaking, and orchestra playing, and the audience member's commentary. -
Music Introduced
The 8XK radio station began playing music on their channel. This brought a whole new potential to radio and its future. -
The First Commercial
For radio channels to have the money to survive, they had commercials play in between their main segments. The first commercial happened on the channel WEAF in 1922. It was advertising apartment home in New York. -
W & K
Call letters were made to identify where a radio station was in relativity to the US map. They were put into the name of the station, such as WEAF. Ws were put into station on the east side of America, and Ks were on the west. -
The Creation of the FRC
To maintain Uncle Charlie channels, the FRC was created (Federal Radio Commission). Permits were now required for a radio channel to be created legally. More established radio stations could now have the upper-hand against Uncle Charlie stations. The FRC is now known as the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). -
The Great Depression
The radio industry skyrocketed in the 1930s-40s while the Great Depression took place. People listened to the radio as an escape from their lives. It got to the point that people saved up money to by a radio rather than fix a broken appliance. -
FM Transmission
The FM transmission was invented in 1933 by Edwin Armstrong. It produced a clearer and more flexible sound for people to listen to. Stations that played music thought this was a great idea because the FM transmission made the music sound less irritating, and more as music should sound-- beautiful -
Shows to Radio
Shows such as 'Amos n Andy', 'Gunsmoke', and 'The Shadow' came to radio. They entertained their audience by telling compelling stories the listener's could make come to life in their minds. -
TV Breaks Out
As TV became more popular in the 1950s, radio stations began to fade. At first, people didn't like the TVs because the shows on the radio allowed the listener to imagine the story, while the real life version was just being shoved in the viewers face. This dislike didn't last long and TV took off around to nation. -
Music Saves Radio
As TV took over, the radio business had to think of something to keep their listeners tuned it, and they found their savior was music. No matter what, people would want to listen to music, and TV couldn't provide that for them. -
Radio Comes to Cars
Since TV was wiping out radio shows in the house, radios were put into cars to keep people listening. By the end of the 1950s, both FM and AM radios were in cars. FM was for music, AM was for talk. -
Radio Still Remains
Radio still remains to this day, and it seems everyone listens to it. People listen in to hear local news, know what's going on with traffic near them, and just jam out any type of music-- depending on the station.
