#FunFactFriday – Radio
January 4 marked the 100th anniversary of the first radio network simulcast in the USA. Known as the “WEAF Chain,” this was created when AT&T connected the WEAF station in New York City to the WNAC station located in Boston for a trial that broadcasted a saxophone solo of a concert over a telephone line. Just one year later in 1924, radio was broadcasting from coast to coast over a chain of 26 radio stations.
With this 100-year anniversary, I am sharing some fun facts on radio and its history in the latest edition of #FunFactFriday! Check them out:
- The first radio jingle in history was made for a Wheaties commercial.
- There are over 15,445 radio stations in the U.S. according to Statista.
- One of these is NASA’s own radio station. Titled Third Rock Radio, the station operates out of Houston and plays rock, indie and alternative music.
- 13 has been recognized as World Radio Day by the United Nations General Assembly since 2012.
- Station WLW in Cincinnati is regarded as the most powerful radio station in history as it broadcasts at 700KHz.
- According to Statista, radio has a weekly reach of 82.5 percent of adults.
- During WWI, the Eiffel Tower was used to intercept German messages.
- With both computer programs and video games stored on audio cassettes in the 1980s, engineers at a Dutch broadcasting company discovered that it was possible to transmit data from a radio broadcast to a cassette in order to play on the computer. This created radio broadcasts that were specifically designed to allow listeners to download free video games for their computers.
- As of 2022, the U.S. radio industry has a market size of $20.9 billion. The largest radio station in the U.S. is WTOP-FM in Washington, D.C., which pulled in $70 million in revenues in 2021.
- Unless something absorbs them, radio waves are believed to continue traveling forever and may have been heard by life forms on other planets.
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