1. 1800’s-1950
A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARLY RADIO
TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION

2. Developed during the 1800’s – allowed users to send Morse Code.
WIRELESS RADIO

3. Developed technology
to send the first long-
distance wireless radio
telegraphs.
1897 – started the
Marconi Wireless
Telegraph Company
1899 – transmitted a
message across the
English Channel
1901 – transmitted a
message across the
Atlantic Ocean
GUGLIELMO MARCONI
(ITALIAN – 1874-1937)

4. Developed amplitude-
modulated (AM) radio.
1906 – Performed the
first broadcast of the
human voice and
music
This is important because
the signal was received
by several different
receivers, therefore it was
truly a “broadcast,”
whereas pervious
transmissions were sent
to a single receiver.
REGINALD FESSENDEN
(CANADIAN – 1986-1932)

5. 1906 – Patented the
Audion Tube
1920-1930 – Developed
a means to record
sound onto film,
making the first
movies with synch
sound.
LEE DE FOREST
(AMERICAN – 1873-1961)

6. 1933 – Patented
Frequency Modulation
(FM) radio
Despite its early discovery,
FM is not widespread until
the 1970’s.
EDWIN ARMSTRONG
(AMERICAN – 1890-1954)

7. The United States
government began
requiring radio
operators to obtain
licenses to send out
signals and mandated
that seagoing vessels
continuously monitor
distress frequencies
This was prompted by
the sinking of the
Titanic. Because a
nearby ship heard its
distress signals,
hundreds of people
were saved.
RADIO ACT OF 1912

8. RADIO CORPORATION
OF AMERICA (RCA)
1919 - Formed to manage the patents for the technology of
the radio receiver and transmitter.

9. 1906 – worked for the
Marconi Wireless
Telegraph Company
1912 – Rose to fame
after he claimed to be
the only telegraph
operator working to
relay news about the
survivors of the
Titanic.
1919-1970 – Led RCA
DAVID SARNOFF
(BELARUSIAN – 1891-1971)

10. October 1920 -
received its license
and went on the air as
the first US licensed
commercial
broadcasting station.
November 1920 -
broadcast the election
returns of the Harding-
Cox presidential
election
KDKA IN PITTSBURG, PA

11. 1926 - began regular
broadcasting, with
telephone links
between New York and
other Eastern cities.
NBC became the
dominant radio
network, splitting into
Red and Blue
networks.
NATIONAL BROADCASTING
COMPANY (NBC)

12. RADIO ACT OF 1927
Transferred most of the responsibility for radio to a newly
created Federal Radio Commission.
The five-person FRC was given the power to grant and deny
licenses, and to assign frequencies and power levels for
each licensee.
The Commission was not given any official power of
censorship, although programming could not include
"obscene, indecent, or profane language."
Re-assigns stations to clearer frequencies, and for the first
time makes radio stations operate in the public interest,
convenience and necessity.

13. President Roosevelt is
the first “radio
president” and his
“fireside chats” help to
give confidence to
Americans during their
darkest hour.
Radio Programming
consists of variety,
comedy, soap operas,
serious drama, live
music, quiz shows.
Newspapers fear that
the immediacy of radio
news will drive them
out of business.
RADIO DURING THE
GREAT DEPRESSION

14. Replaced the Federal
Radio Commission
with the Federal
Communications
Commission (FCC).
1934 COMMUNICATIONS ACT

15. MISSION OF THE FCC
To make available so far as possible, to all the people of the
United States, without discrimination on the basis of race,
color, religion, national origin, or sex:
• “Rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio
communication services with adequate facilities at reasonable
charges."
The Act furthermore provides that the FCC was created "for
the purpose of the national defense" and "for the purpose of
promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire
and radio communications.”

16. Nine in ten families
owned a radio, and
they listened to an
average of three to
four hours of
programming a day,
using it as their main
source of news.
RADIO DURING WWII

17. THE DECLINE OF RADIO
When television becomes affordable in the 1940’s, radio
begins a slow decline in popularity.
Most radio became disc-jockey-based, playing music.