1920 in radio
Encyclopedia
The year 1920 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.
Events
- In January the first informal and spasmodic broadcasts in Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
are made by the Marconi CompanyMarconi CompanyThe Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company...
from ChelmsfordChelmsfordChelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
. These broadcasts include both speech and music. - Radio 2XG (see 19191919 in radioThe year 1919 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.-Events:*17 October – The assets of Marconi Company's American operations are acquired by General Electric and are incorporated as the Radio Corporation of America...
) is forced to close down after Lee De ForestLee De ForestLee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
moves the station from the Bronx (where it was licensed) to ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
(where it was not). - 23 February to 6 March – The Marconi CompanyMarconi CompanyThe Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company...
broadcasts from Chelmsford a series of 30-minute shows repeated twice daily. These include live music performances. - 15 June Dame Nellie MelbaNellie MelbaDame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
is the first professional artiste to broadcast in Britain. - 20 August – Station 8MK in Detroit is the first in the world to broadcast news bulletins. The news in compiled from reports supplied by the Detroit News.
- 27 August – Sociedad Radio Argentina airs a live performance of Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera ParsifalParsifalParsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
from the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. Only about twenty homes in the city have a receiver with which to tune in to the broadcast. - November: The broadcasts from Chelmsford cease after it is claimed they interfere with aircraft and ship communications. (See also 19221922 in radioThe year 1922 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.-Events:*8 February: President of the United States, Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House....
)
Debuts
- November 2: KDKAKDKA (AM)KDKA is a radio station licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations , a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in...
in Pittsburgh begins broadcasting as the first commercial radio station in the United States.