It was in March 1922 when the broadcast industry really got a full head of steam. Some 60 stations were granted licenses that month from manufacturers to newspapers to religious groups. In St. Louis, too, we see how interest grew and stations went on the air to satisfy that interest. Frank Absher has […]

We continue our series of stations that have operated for 100 years – a real milestone. In fact, of the first 50 stations licensed only a scant dozen or have survived to the present day. WGY was one of even fewer to continue using the same call letters the whole time. The 40th […]

Over the years, many stations have changed their frequency, sometimes even their City of License. Especially in the 1920’s and 1941 the FCC – or FRC before it – mandated the changes. But few were as convoluted and covered the length of time as did KYW’s odyssey. Here is Part 2 of Donna […]

KYW was a pioneer station in many ways, not only in its technical history. Many of Chicago’s favorite performers appeared on KYW. Nevertheless, the programming department realized change was inevitable, and worked to ensure KYW continued to lead in the market. As mentioned in Part 1, by late 1927, KYW underwent some personnel […]

In recent years, consolidation has seen quite a few legacy call letters shifting from one facility to another. The early days of radio, a few stations themselves moved around, Sometime hundreds of miles. And one moved back … and forth. Among all the pioneering stations in radio’s formative years, KYW, the Westinghouse station […]

After 100 years, pioneer station WWJ is still operating in Detroit – the only AM station in the top four stations locally and, as fitting from its original owner, The Detroit News, a news source for the community. Thomas White put together a look at the early days WWJ, from its days as […]

We continue our series of stations reaching the century mark of service with WABC. While the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company did not own all of the pioneering radio stations that made their debut in 1920-1921, they certainly owned a majority of them. We have already discussed KDKA in Pittsburgh, and WBZ in […]

With its first broadcast on September 19, 1921, WBZ was one of the first of what would become a flood of new “commercial” wireless stations licensed by the US Department of Commerce (DoC). To mark WBZ’s 100th Anniversary, we kick off a series of historical looks at how the earliest stations have fared […]

was on November 11, 1928 that the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) moved many stations from all across the country to new locations on the dial. Part of it was to reduce interference. Over the previous few years, many stations had discovered the Department of Commerce (DOC) had little power, and was pretty much forced […]

WWV, the Nation’s Timer-keeper, celebrates its 100th Anniversary of receiving its call letters on October 1st 2019. It is still out there. All you need is a radio capable of receiving 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz. One of these frequencies is available virtually anytime, anywhere in the country. As you listen, the […]