Old Radio

August 4, 1921: KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the first private radio station in the United States to broadcast a match of tennis over the airwaves. The broadcasting of sporting events on the radio could bring large profits. Broadcast of the Davis Cup match between Great Britain and Australia made many listeners of KDKA wonder, "Is tennis on the same level as boxing?" In the match, Great Britain was defeated by Australia. The match was reported by Arlin, from Pittsburgh's Allegheny Country Club in suburban Sewickley. In the beginning of radio broadcasting, some sporting event organizers paid the broadcasters for having their event on the radio. Later on, the situation was switched: some broadcasters paid organizers for the license of the aired program as compensation for their loss because of the decrease in stadium attendance.

January 2, 1921: Dr. E.J. Van Etten of Calvary Church to preach for the first time via radio KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That was the first religious broadcast that aired. Two months after KDKA's first broadcast, KDKA aired the first religious service in the history of radio. It was a remote broadcast far from a radio studio held by Westinghouse form Pittsburgh's Calvary Episcopal Church. The junior pastor, Rev. Lewis B. Whittemore, preached. After that broadcast, KDKA soon presented a regular Sunday evening service from Calvary Episcopal Church. The senior pastor, Rev. Edwin Van Ettin, become the regular speaker. The program continued until 1962. For more radio preachers, see also: Aimee Semple McPherson Father Coughlin Catholic Hour Eternal Light Father Flanagan's Boys Town Greatest Story Ever Told Old Fashioned Revival Hour Radio Revival Heart to Heart Hour Religious Collection Upper Room

October 27, 1920: In 1916, from a garage in the suburb of Wilkinsburg in Pittsburg, PA, an engineer from Westinghouse Electric broadcast music in wireless by using an amateur 8XK radio.  This is where it all began. The broadcast was reported widely by the media and the news attracted the attention of the head honchos at Westinghouse, who then decided to build a real radio station.  The Westinghouse Radio stations needed a license to broadcast. The U.S. Department of Commerce granted the license to broadcast for the KDKA station. As a permit has been issued officially, they not directly operate KDKA while they waited for the license to broadcast to be sent to the radio station. On November 2, 1920, the radio station aired for the first time when they broadcasted the result of Harding/Cox election.  The broadcast reached up to 1,000 listeners from various backgrounds. The name of the Westinghouse Electric engineer was Frank Conrad. He was an assis...