The Philip B. Petersen Collection Broadcast June 20, 1990

     It was on the 17th of October in 1919 when radio amateur Dr. Frank Conrad, 8XK of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania came on the air with his radiophone transmitter and startled many radio amateurs who were hearing Frank's voice answering their Morse code signals.  Until then, almost all amateurs used spark gap Morse code.  Frank was one of the few amateurs in the country who were starting to use vacuum tube transmitters with voice.  Within a few days, he received so many requests to talk; he held the microphone next to the phonograph and played records instead.  At that time, about the only persons who had radio receivers were the radio amateurs who designed and built their own.  When they heard the music, not only were the radio amateurs listening, but their families and friends were too.
     Frank got so many requests to play records that he announced that he would broadcast every Wednesday and Saturday evening for two hours.  In fact, he originated the term "broadcast."  He mostly played records.  At times his two sons gave live vocal and instrumental music.  The programs depleted his supply of records but the local music store offered to keep him supplied with new records if Frank would announce that the records came from the Hamilton Music Store.  He agreed and became the first radio advertiser.
     He continued these twice-weekly programs for almost a year, developing a large number of listeners among the public who were using simple crystal sets made by radio amateurs.  The local music store was getting increased business too.  Then, the Joseph Forin Department Store in Pittsburgh arranged with Frank to have a special live program broadcast from his home and advertise it in the Pittsburgh Sun.  It consisted of two orchestra numbers, a soprano solo, and a child's recitation.  The ad mentioned that the program could be heard in the store on wireless receiving sets selling for ten dollars up.
     Frank worked at Westinghouse.  One of his regular listeners was Vice President Davis, who saw the newspaper story.  He convinced other company officials to operate a commercial broadcast station.  At this time, Frank had been operating regularly scheduled programs for one year.  Then on the 27th of October in 1920, Westinghouse was authorized to operate the first commercial broadcast station with the call letters KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
     The Golden Anniversary booklet celebrating 50 years of KDKA broadcasting mentions that Dr. Conrad's station, 8XK, was one of the leading amateur stations and became the undisputed leader of amateur radio broadcasting.  It also states that it was to this ready-made audience that KDKA made its bow on November the 2nd in 1920.  A plaque placed at the site of Dr. Frank Conrad's former home and amateur radio station 8XK in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania designates the site as the birthplace of radio broadcasting.

June 20, 1990

** Broadcasts recordings preserved and presented here by Mr. Robert Buss and Mr. Bernie Ricciardi, Phil's friends and fellow Marconi Chapter 138 QCWA members **

Page updated January 12, 2004  page created June 11, 2001