1925 in radio

The year 1925 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.

Contents

• Events
• Debuts
• Closings
• Births
• References

Events

• 1 January – In Sweden, AB Radiotjänst (forerunner of Sveriges Radio) broadcasts its first programme.
• 27 January – Australia's second oldest surviving radio station, 2HD, goes on air for the first time in Newcastle, New South Wales.
• 1 February – The Polish Radiotechnical Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Radiotechniczne, PTR) makes its first official broadcast from Warsaw.
• 22 February – First radio transmission of a religious service in Denmark, from the Garrison Church, Copenhagen.
• 4 March – Second inauguration of Calvin Coolidge as President of the United States, the first inauguration to be broadcast. ^[1]
• 8 March – Westinghouse Electric, owner of KDKA among other stations, announces from its Pittsburgh headquarters a proposal to form "radio networks" via shortwave technology.
• 22 March – JOAK, NHK Radio One of Tokyo, an official inauguration service start, and a first license radio station in Japan.^{[ citation needed ]}
• 1 April – In Denmark, Radioordningen (Statsradiofonien from 1926, Danmarks Radio from 1959) is established.
• 23 April – KRO (the Katholieke Radio Omroep) is established in the Netherlands.
• 15 May – Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft established in Berlin ^[2] as an umbrella organisation ^[3] by nine German regional broadcasters.
• 1 June – JOBK, NHK Radio One of Osaka, an official inauguration service start in Japan.^{[ citation needed ]}
• 17 June – In Spain, Unión Radio opens station EAJ-7 Radio Madrid.
• 7 July – Inauguration in France of state radio station Marseille PTT.
• 15 July – JOCK, NHK Radio One of Nagoya, an official inauguration service start in Japan.^{[ citation needed ]}
• 27 July – The British Broadcasting Company's Daventry transmitting station on Borough Hill, Daventry in central England opens as the world's first longwave broadcast radio transmitter, taking over from its Chelmsford facility. ^[4]
• 25 September – The Berliner Funkturm (Berlin Radio Tower) begins transmissions.
• 1 November – VARA (the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs) is established in the Netherlands.
• 16 December – Colombo Radio is launched in Ceylon; the station subsequently becomes known as Radio Ceylon .
• In Norway, broadcasting company Kringkastingsselskapet begins operating from Oslo. ^[5]

Debuts

• 14 January – First broadcast on Swedish national radio (AB Radiotjänst) of one of the world's longest-running radio programmes, Barnens brevlåda ("Children's letterbox"), which will run for 1,785 editions – all presented by "Uncle Sven" (the radio sports commentator Sven Jerring) – until 1972.
• 21 March – Lowell Thomas is first heard on the radio on Pittsburgh station KDKA.
• 31 March – Radio station WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana begins broadcasting.
• 8 April – Station WADC commences regular programming in Akron, Ohio. It had debuted earlier (in February 1925) as a temporary station during a car show held at the Central Garage, the call letters standing for the station's sponsor, the Automotive Dealers Company. Known from 2 June 2005 as WARF, it becomes Akron's oldest surviving radio station.
• 23 September – In Decatur IL, WJBL signs on, now referred to as WSOY.
• 4 October – The Atwater Kent Hour debuts on WEAF and 10 other connected stations. ^[6]
• 5 October – WSM signs on in Nashville, Tennessee.
• 15 November – First transmission from Radio RV-10 in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (modern-day Belarus).
• 28 November – The weekly country music-variety program Grand Ole Opry is first broadcast on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee, ^[6] as the "WSM Barn Dance".
• 24 December – KMOX begins broadcasting in St. Louis, Missouri.

Closings

• April – WGI-Medford Hillside, Massachusetts declares bankruptcy and shuts down for good; this leaves WBZ-Springfield as the oldest surviving station in New England.
• Undated – WAAB 1150 AM ceases broadcasting. 1150 AM will return the next year as WJBO.

Births

• 17 February – Joy Nichols, Australian-born musical comedy performer (d. 1992)
• 2 April – Hans Rosenthal, German radio editor, director and media host (d. 1987)
• 25 April – Janete Clair, Brazilian broadcast play and novel writer (d. 1983)
• 15 May – Regis Cordic, American radio personality and actor (d. 1999)
• 25 May – Derek Cooper, English food writer and broadcaster (d. 2014)
• 15 June – Richard Baker, English broadcaster (d. 2018)
• 7 July – Wally Phillips, American radio personality (d. 2008)
• 14 July – Pip Freedman, South African radio comedian and film actor (d. 2003)
• 8 September – Peter Sellers, English comic actor (d. 1980)
• 19 September – Pete Murray, English DJ
• 22 September – William Franklyn, English actor (d. 2006)
• 28 September – Jerry Clower, American country music comedian (d. 1998)
• 27 October – Monica Sims, British radio executive (d. 2018)
• 31 October – Shirley Dinsdale, American ventriloquist (d. 1999)
• 11 November – June Whitfield, English comic actress (d. 2018)

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Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Federal States of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 to 31 December 1955. Until 1954, it was also responsible for broadcasting in West Berlin. NWDR was a founder member of the consortium of public-law broadcasting institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany, the ARD.

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NHK General TV, abbreviated on-screen as NHK G, is the main television service of NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster. Its programming includes news, drama, quiz/variety shows, music, sports, anime, and specials which compete directly with the output of its commercial counterparts. The channel is well known for its nightly newscasts, regular documentary specials, and popular historical dramas. Among the programs NHK General TV broadcasts are the annual New Year's Eve spectacular Kōhaku Uta Gassen, the year-long Taiga drama, and the daytime Asadora.

1924 in radio details the internationally significant events in radio broadcasting for the year 1924.

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W4XA was an "experimental audio broadcasting station" operated by The National Life and Accident Insurance Company in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1939 to 1940. It was part of a group of stations informally referred to as "Apex" stations, because it transmitted programming intended for the general public over what was then known as "ultra-high short-wave" frequencies. Although co-owned with AM station WSM, it primarily originated its own programs. W4XA ceased broadcasting in 1940, as station management prepared to inaugurate a new FM station, W47NV.

The following is a list of events from British radio in 1932.

References