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In 1895, Marconi invented the radio. He sent out the first radio signal. It was only a wave that was sent out.
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The audio tube was created by Lee De Forest in 1906. The creation of the audio tube allowed signals to be amplified.
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The marine industry bought radios in order to communicate with land. This allowed ships to signal if they ever needed help. An example is when the Titanic sank in 1912, they were able to call for help giving people a better chance to survive.
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Radio stations were made in 1920 for entertainment. They played shows that families would listen to. Frank Conrad owned the first radio station which was once named 8XK, but is now called KDKA.
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Due to the popularity of radios, people came up with the idea to advertise during shows. In 1922, the first commercial was broadcasted at WEAF. Radio stations quickly started making their money through ads.
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During this time everyone was allowed to one their own radio station. These personal stations were called Uncle Charlies. It soon became to popular and the FRC made it to where people had to have a license to own a station.
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Do to the amount of radio stations that had been made, it was hard to identify them. The invention of call letters allowed stations to be easily identified. The letter W was assigned to stations east of the the Mississippi River while stations that were west of the river were assigned the letter K. Stations that already had a name were allowed to keep it if they had it before this law was created
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In 1933, FM radio was created for better entertainment. FM uses frequency modulation of the radio wave to reduce static and interference from electrical equipment and the atmosphere. A lot of stations switched over to FM when it came out.
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The Golden Era occurred from 1930-1940. The Great Depression occurred during this time. Radio gave everyone a chance to forget about their problems.
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Radio shows were considered family medium. All the shows allowed families to enjoy together and were entertaining. This made radios more popular.
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TV was created in 1927. All radio stations started to switch to TV do to popularity. This started the decline of radio.
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In order to save radio, stations started playing music. At the time the only options were jukeboxes, records, or concerts. This allowed people to listen to music they didn't have at any time.
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Due to advertisements going to TV radio had to find a way to keep making profits. In order to gain money, stations had to start playing music instead. This brought popularity back to radio.
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When Major Edwin Armstrong made the FM transmitter, shows began to change. FM was only meant for music and AM was only meant for talk. This allowed families to enjoy both at the same time.
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In modern day, radio has many competitors. With new technology and easy purchases, people can play music anywhere anytime. Apps like Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, and more are causing radio do lose money daily.
