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The Invention of Radio
Born in 1874, the italian Guglielmo Marconi is said to have been the first inventor of radio, but some think he was just the first person to claim it. He sent out the first signal. -
The Audion Tube
In 1906, Lee De Forest was given credit for the creation of the Audion Tube. An Audion Tube amplifies a radio signal so it can broadcasted farther away. This resulted in sea travel and sea transportation being the first main use for radio. -
Call Letters
Call letters are a sequence of letters used by a television or radio station as an identifying code. In this case, the FRC assigned them to each radio station. Call letters beginning with a W is a station East of the Mississippi, and call letters beginning with a K is East of it. -
KDKA
Originally named 8XK, Frank Conrad started the first radio station in 1920. Still broadcasting out of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, the station is now named KDKA. -
Uncle Charlie
When radio became very popular, many people wanted to start their own radio shows. These shows became known as Uncle Charlie. They could be run out of a studio or someones basement, but many people listened to them. -
Radio Advertising
When people started to realize that radio shows could make money, they got some help from advertising. Businesses sold they're advertisements to radio stations and the businesses, as well as the radio station, made profit. -
FRC
Uncle Charlie was becoming too successful. Instead of listeners listening to big shows with ads, they could listen to Uncle Charlie without ads. This mad businesses and radio shows mad because they were losing profit. To solve this issue, the FRC was created. The FRC was an organization that made sure every radio show had a license, a frequency, call letters, and power limits. This helped big stations regain money. -
AM Waves
In the beginning, there were only talk shows on the radio, so Radio only needed AM, or Amplitude Modulation, waves. These waves were smaller, and worked well for carrying voices. They only went from 535 KHz to 1605 KHz (kilohertz). -
The Golden Era of Radio
The 30's and 40's really sparked the importance of radio. This was during the Great Depression, so people really needed money, but with the money they did have, they bought a radio. It as a source of free entertainment that gave people hope. -
Famous Radio Shows
Some of the more famous radio shows during the 1920's-40's are ones such as, 'Amos n Andy', 'Little Orphan Annie', 'Superman', 'Gunsmoke', 'The Shadow', 'Dick Tracy', 'Our Miss Brooks', and '64 Dollar Question'. -
Radio's Fall
When TV came out in the 30's, many people and advertisers turned to it instead of radio. This caused many radio shows to lose money. Some even stopped. But radio had one thing that TV didn't. -
Music To Radio
In the 30's, people had limited access to music. They could go somewhere with a jukebox, go to concerts, or they could buy records and a record player. When radio started to fall, broadcasters had to think of something to save their shows. They decided to play music instead of shows. People started to listen again. This has made radio a vital part in lives, from in the car, to the house, to school, radio is everywhere. -
FM Waves
When music was introduced to radio, this didn't work well anymore. Singing had more tone changes than talking, so they needed bigger wave links. Major Edwin Armstrong invented the FM, or Frequency Modulation, wave transmitter. They went from 88 MHz to 108 MHz, which made music sound better. -
Radio's Enemies
Even in radio's modern day success, it still has some obstacles like music apps such as Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, Apple Music, ect. -
Radio Today
Radio is now more successful than ever. Radio is everywhere with millions of listeners daily. It has definitely come a long way since its first appearance.
