Upcoming is the 100th Anniversary of broadcasting – or the 104th – or the 111th – or … well, it depends upon whom you ask or what history book you read. KDKA is inevitably discussed, but were they really the first? As Donna Halper points out, getting to the truth of is getting […]

Words do matter. Trying to talk about something – and understand it – requires that both parties use words in the same way. Otherwise you might was well just enjoy Abbott and Costello. This past fall marked the 90th anniversary of the beginning of broadcasting. Or does it? Whenever broadcasters get together to […]

Long a significant force in the Twin Cities market, WCCO, Minneapolis, has also been a pioneer station in many respects, consistently focused on its listeners. Some would call this WCCO’s Centenary Year. But as alumnus Mark Durenberger shows in his linear style of historical narrative, complete with printed news, oral and written history, […]

WCCO is a true pioneer station. Its roots go all the way back to 1922, the year that saw the number of radio stations “explode” to meet the interest. WCCO alumnus Mark Durenberger shows how the race to save WLAG’s license led to WCCO, now in it 102nd year, as a trusted […]

This month marks the 92nd anniversary of the first intentional AM directional antenna in the US. About 20 years ago, Ron Rackley “found” the site and tried to get permission for an historical marker to be placed there. We met him at the Clearwater, FL site to discuss how radio transmission techniques […]

WCCO alumnus Mark Durenberger shows in his linear style of historical narrative, complete with printed news, oral and written history, conjecture, opinion, industry stories, and confident conclusions, how WCCO’s real history goes right back to 1922, the year broadcasting got starting in the US. (Part One of this series is located here.)  As […]

In our last exciting episode, we learned how KOB rose through controversy and the opportunity to become a major Southwest radio voice. Challenges were met and usually overcome. But big issues still faced the station as it fought to obtain the coverage protection it felt it needed and deserved. Now the action on […]

In the early decades of broadcasting, many radio stations were moved – some repeatedly – as the federal agencies tried to balance the number of stations around the country and to ensure service to rural areas. What became known as Clear Channel frequencies (no relation to the former name for iHeartMedia) were highly […]

This is another in our series of looks at stations which have turned 100. WBT indeed actually reached the mark earlier this year, but we did not want to leave it out, given its interesting history. (There is an old Persian fairy tale concerning some men sent on a mission. The Three Princes […]

Our series of some of the stations celebrating 100 years continues with WOAI, San Antonio. WOAI is the 7th oldest operating station in the state – and one of the few with only one set of call letters over a century of broadcasting.] On September 14, 1922, The Department of Commerce assigned the […]