Written by George Grow
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VOICE ONE:
I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today, we will tell about several men who influenced the development of radio.
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VOICE ONE:
Some people say radio was invented by Guglielmo (Gu-Lee-YER-Mo) Marconi of Italy. Marconi sent the first radio communication signals through the air in eighteen ninety-five. In fact, no one person can be called the inventor of radio. Many people, including several Americans, helped to develop radio. You may not know their names. However, their work affected many people.
Over the years, radio has become one of the most important forms of communication. It can be used for two-way communication, such as between a ship and land. Scientists even use radio to communicate into space. And radio broadcasts let people send words, music and information to any part of the world.
VOICE TWO:
The first experimental radio broadcasts in the United States were made in the early nineteen hundreds. One of the first broadcasts came from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in nineteen ten. It included music by the great singer Enrico Caruso. An American inventor, Lee De Forest, produced that broadcast.
VOICE TWO (CONT):
Only a few people could hear the broadcast. Some were people in the New York area who had built radio receivers. Some ships at sea and military radio stations received the broadcast. Many newspapers of the day reported on the event. The name of Lee De Forest became part of broadcasting history.
Lee De Forest
VOICE ONE:
De Forest developed some of the technology used in early radio. During his lifetime, he invented hundreds of devices that were used in telephones, shortwave radio broadcasts, and similar technology.
His most famous invention was the vacuum tube, or electron tube. In nineteen-oh-six, the electron tube was considered the single most important development in electronics. The device made it possible to strengthen radio signals and to send them over long distances. It was a major reason for the fast growth of the electronics and communications industries in the early part of the twentieth century.
VOICE TWO:
Edwin Armstrong was another American inventor who was important in the development of electronics and radio communication. Armstrong developed technology that helped to improve radio reception. He discovered ways to limit unwanted radio signals.
Edwin Armstrong also was a leader in using radio to reproduce sounds clearly. This process became known as frequency modulation, or FM radio. FM radio provided better sound reproduction and less noise or interference than traditional AM radio. Armstrong also developed radio receivers that became widely used.
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VOICE ONE:
Many experts say station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the first American radio station. It broadcast results of the American presidential election in November, nineteen twenty. That is generally considered the start of professional radio broadcasting in the United States.
Soon, radio stations began to appear in other areas. In nineteen twenty-two, two stations in New York State joined together to broadcast the championship game of American baseball. The stations were connected by telephone lines. This permitted them to share the same program. It was one of the first examples of a radio network.
VOICE TWO:
By the middle of the nineteen-twenties, there were two main radio networks in the United States. The National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, was formed by the Radio Corporation of America. NBC became the first permanent national network.
The other network was the Columbia Broadcasting System, called CBS. The networks provided programs to radio stations across the country. Local stations created very few programs. What listeners heard in New York was often heard in Los Angeles, California and other cities.
VOICE ONE:
David Sarnoff was the man responsible for NBC. As a young man, Sarnoff had taught himself Morse code. He got a job with the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company where he worked as a telegraph operator. He was on duty when the passenger ship Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean in nineteen twelve. Sarnoff helped the rescue effort by informing other ships about the accident. He understood that someone using radio could affect many lives.
By nineteen twenty-one, Sarnoff was an official of the Radio Corporation of America. He pushed RCA to enter broadcasting. The company soon earned huge profits. Five years later, David Sarnoff helped create NBC. David Sarnoff developed the theory of broadcasting.
This was very different from the communication between two people speaking to each other on a telephone. Radio meant that someone could speak to millions of people.
