This is the twelfth installment in a recurring series that looks back at developments that have shaped radio broadcasting during the past 100 years, noting advancements and historical moments month by month. Read November’s story here.
100 Years Ago – December 1924: With radio broadcasting now firmly established as a source of news, other uses of this wireless delivery methodology are being developed and tested. In looking back at the year’s end, 1924 saw radio trialed as an educational tool, with several large universities broadcasting lectures to the masses; use of radio stations as navigational beacons for aviators; radio-enabled remote control of vehicles, with demonstrations of automobiles being guided in heavy traffic by radio waves; an (unsuccessful) attempt to communicate with our Martian neighbor when it was relatively close to Earth in August; and radio transmission of photographs from Europe to the United States. In commenting on the photo transmission application (which took nearly 30 minutes for a single picture), one trade writer commented: “When one of these pictures can be transmitted in 1/16 of a second, you may prepare yourself for radio-movies. It’s only a few steps (away) now.”
75 Years Ago – December 1949: With Cuba beginning to ignore the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), the newly-formed FM Association (FMA) is urging AM broadcasters in southeastern states, and Florida, in particular, to begin transitioning to FM operations in order to overcome interference from powerful co-channeled Cuban stations. (The organization noted that moving to FM would also mitigate the natural atmospheric interference or “static” that is prevalent in this region of the country.) The group observed that such a transition from AM to FM would be easier if receiver manufacturers would guarantee the production of “reasonably-priced, high-quality FM sets in sufficient numbers to meet public demand.”
50 Years Ago – December 1974: The push for a radio receiver “all-channel” congressional bill (H.R. 8266) has “died quietly,” with an announcement from the House Rules Committee that it would only be considering emergency legislation during the remainder of its term. Failure of the bill’s passage — which would have required AM and FM reception capability on all radios — is being blamed on a variety of factors, including its introduction in a time of high inflation and reduced consumer spending power. In commenting on the failure to enact the bill, an NAB spokesperson stated: “We hope in the next session of Congress to have a much more favorable climate (for the bill), if and when inflation is brought under control.”
25 Years Ago – December 1999: As calendars and clocks edged closer and closer to year’s end, there were still some lingering doubts among station operators, networks and others as to whether all potential “Y2K” issues had been identified and patched. Concern came from the realization that most of the computer systems in use were designed to operate with two-digit date codes, with no consideration as to what would happen when the next millennium arrived. Fortunately, the potential problem was flagged early enough to allow computer-dependent businesses to take preventative measures (at an estimated cost of $100 billion in the U.S. alone) and very few issues were reported as the new year began.
