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The Discovery Begins
The whole idea of wireless communication actually predates the concept of "radio" with experiments in "wireless telegraphy" using the ground, water, and train tracks back in the 1830s to the 1860s. In 1864, James Clark Maxwell has showed that electromagnetic waves were able to propagate though any free space in a theoretical and mathematical form. -
Early History
The first intentional transmission of a signal by electromagnetic waves was likely performed in an experiment by David Edward Hughes in 1880. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was able to successfully prove that transmitted airborne electromagnetic waves in the experiment that David Edward Hughes conducted in 1880 previously, which confirmed Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. -
Marconi's Invention
After the discovery of electromagnetic waves in all of the experiments conducted previously, it took almost 20 full years for the term "radio" to be used and adopted. In 1894, Guglielmo Marconi, who was an Italian inventor, successfully built the first wireless telegraphy system. This device was based on airborne Hertzian waves. This was used as the primary device for radio back then, and sending all kinds of different messages, which were different to what radio signals we receive today. -
Broadcasting Begins
On August 31 of 1920, the first news radio program went on the air with the call sign 8MK. This station was located in Detroit, Michigan. The station is know known as WWJ NewsRadio 950 AM, and is owned by CBS Corporation. On October 14, 1920, the first college radio station began broadcasting with the call sign 2ADD, which is now known as WRUC, and they aired what is to believed the first public entertainment broadcast in the US. The broadcast was heard within a 100-mile (160 km) radius. -
FM and Analog Television Begin
FM radio was presented in 1933 by inventor Edwin H. Armstrong. FM radio uses frequency modulation of the radio wave to reduce the amount of static and interference from electrical equipment and the atmosphere. In 1937, W1XOJ was the first FM radio station. It was granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission. Regular analog television began broadcasting in some parts of Europe and North America. There were about 25,000 all-electronic TV receivers in existence worldwide. -
How Radio Was Used
In 1947, AT&T commercialize the Mobile Telephone Service. It started in St. Louis a year before it was commercialized, and AT&T introduced this unique service to about 100 towns and corridors by the year of 1948. The service was a rarity with only 5,000 customers placing about 30,000 phone calls a week, due to only three radio channels available. Because of this, only 3 customers in any given city could make mobile telephone calls at one time. It was expensive, costing 15 USD per month. -
Audio Broadcasting Becomes More Common
In 1954, the Regency company invented the packet transistor radio, which was known as the TR-1. This device was powered by a standard 22.5 volt battery. A year later, the newly formed Sony company introduced it's first transistor radio. It was small enough to fit in a vest pocket, powered all by a small battery. The transistor radios back in the day were durable, because it had no vacuum tubes to burn out. Over 20 years, transistors replaced tubes almost completely. -
Bell Labs Using Radio
The Advanced Mobile Phone System analog mobile cell phone system, which was developed by Bell Labs, was introduced in the Americas in 1978. It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America through the 1980s and 2000s. -
Internet Radio
Internet radio was pioneered by Carl Malamud in 1993, who launched "Internet Talk Radio", which was the "first computer-radio talk show, each week interviewing a computer expert." The first internet concert was broadcast on June 24, 1993 by Severe Time Damage. In November of 1994, a Rolling Stones concert was the first internet concert. On November 7, 1994, WXYC became the first radio station to broadcast live on the internet. -
Streaming Rules the Radio World
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via an Internet connection. Broadcasting using the internet is also known as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through any wireless means. Internet broadcasting now involves streaming media, which does not involve any type of skipping or pausing. Streaming radio can be listened to on any device such as a Windows PC. In 2003, revenue from online streaming music radio was 49 million, but increased in 2006 to 500 million.
