Tune In to This Quiz on the History of Radio Shows

The first commercial radio broadcast took place on November 2, 1920, in a tiny shack on the roof of the Westinghouse Electric building in east Pittsburgh, using the call sign KDKA. The presenter, Leo Rosenberg, reported on the results of the 1920 presidential election between Warren G. Harding and James M. Cox, receiving news via a telephone line. An estimated 1,000 people heard this historic early broadcast.

“Guiding Light” made its debut on NBC radio in 1937. The show originally focused on Reverend Dr. John Ruthledge (played by Arthur “Art” Peterson Jr.) and his family. It was written by Irna Phillips, a pioneer of the soap opera format who made great use of cliffhanger endings. The program transferred to TV in 1952, eventually becoming the longest-running soap opera before it ceased broadcasting in 2009.

American boxer Joe Louis had already fought and lost to German fighter Max Schmeling in 1936, so there was a lot of hype around their rematch in 1938. The tension was heightened further as many saw the match as symbolic of the struggle against Nazi Germany. An estimated 70 million listeners tuned in to hear Louis’ victory, making it the largest audience in history for a single radio broadcast.

Hollywood gossip had been a mainstay of newspapers since the 1920s, but with the rise of radio, gossip columnists began taking to the airwaves. Louella Parsons was one of the most well-known columnists, partly due to her rivalry with columnist Hedda Hopper, and in 1934 she launched her show “Hollywood Hotel.” The program was groundbreaking as it was one of the first radio shows based on the West Coast.

There was a time when the First Lady was expected to do little more than be a good hostess. But Lou Hoover, the wife of Herbert Hoover, was different. She was the first woman to graduate from Stanford's geology program, and an accomplished linguist. As First Lady, she was the first to use radio to address the nation, giving speeches to groups such as 4-H Clubs and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The Buck Rogers comic strip had proved to be a great success, and in 1932 the character was given his own radio series. The show, “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,” was 15 minutes long and broadcast on CBS, initially Monday through Thursday. The first science fiction show on radio, it was hugely popular and ran for 15 years.

The first national radio network, NBC (National Broadcasting Company), went live in 1926. NBC sold its broadcasts to a nationwide network of local radio stations, who received the signal through telephone lines. This set the model for network radio, with local stations achieving financial independence by selling their own advertising space.

When World War II broke out, Edward R. Murrow, director of talks at CBS, began reporting on the latest news from London. At the height of the Blitz in 1939, when German bombs were raining down on London night after night, Murrow risked his life to broadcast from the city’s rooftops. The impactful reporting turned Murrow into a star of news radio.

Orson Welles’ now-legendary performance of H.G. Wells’ science fiction story “The War of the Worlds” was broadcast on October 30, 1938. The story, which depicted aliens landing in New Jersey, reached at least 6 million listeners and caused mass hysteria, as many listeners believed it to be real. The next day, the broadcast was front-page news across the nation, ensuring the show would go down in radio history.

Franklin D. Roosevelt became president of the United States in 1933, during the Great Depression. To allay fears of a fresh run on the banks, he decided to broadcast a reassuring speech on the radio. At that time, 90% of Americans had a radio, and it proved an excellent way of communicating with the nation. The “fireside chats,” as the broadcasts were known, became a hallmark of Roosevelt’s presidency.