Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 55 minutes ago
Radio as a mass medium first appeared in the United States in 1920, and its growth and transformation into a popular commercial medium took almost a decade. It's sudden invention and growth parallels the birth of the Internet and social media in our own time. The pioneers of broadcasting during these years needed to create methods of sharing information and entertainment that had never existed before, and their first amateurish attempts were gradually enhanced by those that followed into a high art form. Similarly, the crude equipment that first allowed the raspy transmission of the human voice was soon refined into complex and powerful transmitter and antenna systems that cast these programs into the farthest corners of the earth.
Join radio historian John Schneider as he explores fascinating history of radio broadcasting's first decade. John is a lifelong radio historian and a Fellow in History of the California Historical Radio Society. He contributes regular articles on radio history to "Radio World" and "The Spectrum Monitor", and is the author of two books, "Bay Area Radio" and "Seattle Radio". He has compiled a large collection of original photographs of radio broadcasting's early years, although only a small portion of this collection appears on his website, "The Radio Historian" theradiohistorian.org
If you enjoyed this video, consider becoming a member of the Antique Wireless Association at:
antiquewireless.org/homepage/membership
Subscribe to the Antique Wireless Museum channel and you'll receive news of our latest video uploads.
Radio as a mass medium first appeared in the United States in 1920, and its growth and transformation into a popular commercial medium took almost a decade. It's sudden invention and growth parallels the birth of the Internet and social media in our own time. The pioneers of broadcasting during these years needed to create methods of sharing information and entertainment that had never existed before, and their first amateurish attempts were gradually enhanced by those that followed into a high art form. Similarly, the crude equipment that first allowed the raspy transmission of the human voice was soon refined into complex and powerful transmitter and antenna systems that cast these programs into the farthest corners of the earth.
Join radio historian John Schneider as he explores fascinating history of radio broadcasting's first decade. John is a lifelong radio historian and a Fellow in History of the California Historical Radio Society. He contributes regular articles on radio history to "Radio World" and "The Spectrum Monitor", and is the author of two books, "Bay Area Radio" and "Seattle Radio". He has compiled a large collection of original photographs of radio broadcasting's early years, although only a small portion of this collection appears on his website, "The Radio Historian" theradiohistorian.org
If you enjoyed this video, consider becoming a member of the Antique Wireless Association at:
antiquewireless.org/homepage/membership
Subscribe to the Antique Wireless Museum channel and you'll receive news of our latest video uploads.
