The history of amplitude-modulated (AM) broadcasting can be said to have begun in 1906 when Reginald Fassenden first transmitted from his home in Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Using an Alexanderson alternator and a rotary spark-gap transmitter, his voice went out to radio-equipped ships within several hundred miles.
In 1916, Lee De Forest set up experimental radio station 2XG in New York City and began broadcasting nightly transmissions of news and music, until his and all broadcasts were interrupted by the advent of World War I.
The Great War Interrupts Radio Usage
It became necessary for the U.S. government to shut down private usage of the AM frequencies during World War I, so as to keep them open for government and military use. After the war ended however, AM broadcasting technology developed rapidly. In Canada, radio station XWA in Montreal delivered the first North American broadcast and in the U.S., Frank Conrad founded the first commercial radio station anywhere, KDKA, and began broadcasting.
Post World War I
Radio’s impact on society rapidly became profound, and businesses began to see the potential for advertising their products in very rapid fashion to massive audiences of people. When economic hard times worsened in the Great Depression, radio advertising was gladly accepted as a means of generating additional revenue by struggling radio stations.
This, in turn, gave rise to radio networks, such as NBC Broadcasting in 1926, and two years later the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was launched. The Radio Act of 1927 established the Federal Radio Commission to regulate and oversee all domestic radio transmission. Soon afterward, the Commission re-organized and re-allocated bandwidths among network affiliates and all other users, with the net result being that NBC and CBS dominated radio by the early 1930’s.
The “Golden Age” of Radio
The Golden Age is considered to be the period from 1930 through the 1950’s, because radio replaced other more costly forms of entertainment. Accordingly, many listeners at home planned their days around scheduled broadcasts of their favorite shows, giving rise to the serialized drama format still used by television.
This was the time when evening radio programs became very popular – shows such as Burns and Allen (George Burns and Gracie Allen), The Jack Benny Show, and The Bob Hope Show. These shows were broadcast live, which gave them an air of excitement and always the potential for unexpected fun. Besides comedy shows, some dramatic presentations like Mercury Theatre on Air gained a popular following with its re-creation of movie plots and live literary readings.
The Advent of Live News
Live news quickly surpassed the popularity of newspapers during the late 1930’s because of its immediacy and currency. Several huge news events helped with this popularization, keeping listeners raptly waiting for updates. The kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s son in 1932 was one such event, and the riveting broadcast of the 1937 explosion of the Nazi dirigible Hindenburg was another.
When World War II came along, journalist Edward R. Murrow became famous by broadcasting live accounts of London being bombed by Nazi aircraft, and in 1941 Americans were enthralled by live broadcasts informing the nation about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Post Golden Age to the Present
When television began to compete with radio broadcasts in the 1950’s, it seemed apparent that radio would fade as a popular entertainment medium, but there was still one niche that radio excelled in – playing music. While television dominated broadcasts of drama and mystery, AM radio concentrated on playing Top 40 music, the hits of the day.
While AM radio has, to a great extent given way to FM broadcasting of music, it still retains a solid listening audience for news, sports, weather, and talk shows.