In our high school history books, we all read KDKA Pittsburgh was America's first radio station. But this was using "commercially licensed" as the key words. While the federal government apparently gave the first commercial license to KDKA, there were plenty of stations already on the air by that time, with experimental licenses. There were also plenty of stations lost to history, getting their licenses, but not continuing to this day, because they either failed or their owners lost interest. So those don't count.
Here's a chart I put together, from what I've read over the years, of the earliest radio stations still on the air to this day, although others may had additional information...
--1907, 9BC Rock Island, Illinois, now WOC Davenport, Iowa, (both communities part of what we now call the Quad Cities), started experimenting, at first with Morse Code, although the station has not been on the air continuously to this day, due to World War I.
--1909, KCBS San Francisco, originally KQW San Jose, began broadcasting voice transmissions as an experimental wireless telephone service.
--1912, General Electric began experimental broadcasts as 2XI at its facility in Schenectady NY, although WGY didn't get its commercial license until 1922.
--1912, 9ZP Pierre SD got its experimental license to begin Morse Code transmissions. The station then started voice transmissions as 9CLS in 1916 and today that same station is 1060 KGFX.
--1915, University of Wisconsin's 9XM, now WHA Madison, got its experimental license, at first transmitting Morse Code. 9XM stayed on the air through WWI, providing weather reports to ships on the Great Lakes. But being owned by a university, it never sought a commercial license.
--1919, another Pittsburgh station, KQV, says it beat KDKA on the air by more than a year, signing on as 8ZAE, although it didn't get its commercial license until 1922.
--1919, CFCF Montreal would often say that it was "Canada's First Station," going on the air as XWA, "eXperimental Wireless Apparatus." By May of 1920, it had a regular weekly schedule, months before KDKA.
--1920, WWJ Detroit says it had what it says were the first regularly-scheduled newscasts and religious programs as 8MK, although those shows were not commercially sponsored.
--1921, WBZ Boston, originally in Springfield MA, says it got its commercial license on September 15, more than a month before KDKA.
--1922, WEAF New York, now WFAN, broadcast what may have been the first paid radio commercial when it was commissioned by a new apartment complex in Jackson Heights, Queens, near the just-completed #7 subway line, to air a ten minute talk advertising for tenants. But if the FCC was already handing out commercial licenses in 1921, wouldn't KDKA and those other early stations have broadcast some sort of paid advertisement before 1922? Or did those stations simply air a brief mention of a sponsor, not a full length radio "commercial"?
--Westinghouse engineer Frank Conrad put 8XK on the air in 1916 from his garage in Wilkinsburg PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh. In 1919, a Pittsburgh music store agreed to give him a phonograph and records if he credited the business on the air. Some say that was the first radio commercial, although it was for trade, not cash. As 8XK grew in popularity, Westinghouse asked Conrad to help construct a company-owned radio station at its facility in East Pittsburgh, going on the air in 1920. The following year it got a commercial license as KDKA. So can we say KDKA was the successor to 8XK and KDKA should be credited with the first commercial broadcast? Or should we simply say KDKA was the first "commercially-licensed" station, which means it is only one of many American radio stations with "firsts"?
Here's a chart I put together, from what I've read over the years, of the earliest radio stations still on the air to this day, although others may had additional information...
--1907, 9BC Rock Island, Illinois, now WOC Davenport, Iowa, (both communities part of what we now call the Quad Cities), started experimenting, at first with Morse Code, although the station has not been on the air continuously to this day, due to World War I.
--1909, KCBS San Francisco, originally KQW San Jose, began broadcasting voice transmissions as an experimental wireless telephone service.
--1912, General Electric began experimental broadcasts as 2XI at its facility in Schenectady NY, although WGY didn't get its commercial license until 1922.
--1912, 9ZP Pierre SD got its experimental license to begin Morse Code transmissions. The station then started voice transmissions as 9CLS in 1916 and today that same station is 1060 KGFX.
--1915, University of Wisconsin's 9XM, now WHA Madison, got its experimental license, at first transmitting Morse Code. 9XM stayed on the air through WWI, providing weather reports to ships on the Great Lakes. But being owned by a university, it never sought a commercial license.
--1919, another Pittsburgh station, KQV, says it beat KDKA on the air by more than a year, signing on as 8ZAE, although it didn't get its commercial license until 1922.
--1919, CFCF Montreal would often say that it was "Canada's First Station," going on the air as XWA, "eXperimental Wireless Apparatus." By May of 1920, it had a regular weekly schedule, months before KDKA.
--1920, WWJ Detroit says it had what it says were the first regularly-scheduled newscasts and religious programs as 8MK, although those shows were not commercially sponsored.
--1921, WBZ Boston, originally in Springfield MA, says it got its commercial license on September 15, more than a month before KDKA.
--1922, WEAF New York, now WFAN, broadcast what may have been the first paid radio commercial when it was commissioned by a new apartment complex in Jackson Heights, Queens, near the just-completed #7 subway line, to air a ten minute talk advertising for tenants. But if the FCC was already handing out commercial licenses in 1921, wouldn't KDKA and those other early stations have broadcast some sort of paid advertisement before 1922? Or did those stations simply air a brief mention of a sponsor, not a full length radio "commercial"?
--Westinghouse engineer Frank Conrad put 8XK on the air in 1916 from his garage in Wilkinsburg PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh. In 1919, a Pittsburgh music store agreed to give him a phonograph and records if he credited the business on the air. Some say that was the first radio commercial, although it was for trade, not cash. As 8XK grew in popularity, Westinghouse asked Conrad to help construct a company-owned radio station at its facility in East Pittsburgh, going on the air in 1920. The following year it got a commercial license as KDKA. So can we say KDKA was the successor to 8XK and KDKA should be credited with the first commercial broadcast? Or should we simply say KDKA was the first "commercially-licensed" station, which means it is only one of many American radio stations with "firsts"?
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