Nov 2, 1920: First Commercial Radio Broadcast in the U.S.

KDKA Pittsburgh lights up the airwaves, announcing the winner of the presidential race in 1920.
Visit HistoryBuff.com for more!

[@aronleppik3359]

Beep beep! This recording's 100 years old.

[@tedrobinson372]

No it was recorded in the 1940's as a reconstruction.

[@irvine112]

103 years old.

[@ZackO.O]

104 now

[@butchfletcher5694]

Hey! So is KDKA!

[@0tt0z]

Wrong

[@BlackFlagHeathen]

I love that little throat clear after he mentions the election results. I think it weirdly really humanizes the announcer and makes you think about how this is an actual person you’re hearing, who is now long dead and never imagined just how far his voice would actually one day reach, not just in an actual live broadcast, but worldwide via the internet, which he could’ve probably never imagined.

[@steelers6titles]

This is a re-creation, easily identified as such by the fact that, in the original election-results broadcast, the station identified itself using its temporary call letters 8ZZ, rather than "KDKA".

[@Flirri]

Yes, the station had a centennial and on that site, folks can find a lot more information on this broadcast, and the station, which sold a lot of radios for Westinghouse.

[@miggans21012]

That's disapointing.

[@bobcat24]

How do you know this?

[@jimamato456]

They used KDKA as their call sign, not 8ZZ. That call didn’t even exist.

[@steelers6titles]

@@jimamato456 From Wikipedia: Westinghouse's preparations included the construction of a shack and antenna system on the roof of the nine-story K Building at the East Pittsburgh Works in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania.[24] The antenna consisted of six 90-foot-long (27 m) wires spread 20 feet (6 m) apart, strung 210 feet (64 m) above the ground between a brick smokestack and a 100-foot (30 m) pipe mast atop the K Building.[25] Frank Conrad had originally planned to broadcast the election results over 8XK, in cooperation with the American Radio Relay League, but shifted his efforts to help with the Westinghouse broadcast. He and Donald G. Little had primary responsibility for constructing a 100 watt vacuum-tube transmitter, scaling up Conrad's previous 50 watt radiotelephone transmitter design.[25] A telephoned temporary authorization was received to operate under the call sign of 8ZZ.[26] (The first "Z" in this call sign indicated it was a "Special Amateur" grant,[27] which was a classification that permitted the use of transmitting frequencies other than the congested 200 meter (1500 kHz) standard amateur wavelength.) Although the pre-broadcast publicity and contemporary accounts stated that 8ZZ was the call sign used for the election night broadcast - for example, in 1922 L.R. Krumm, Westinghouse's Superintendent of Radio Operations, referred to Westinghouse's "station at East Pittsburgh, now known as KDKA, the matured successor of 8ZZ"[28][e] - later reviews, including a 1930 re-creation of the original broadcast, often incorrectly state that the KDKA call sign was used during the debut broadcast.[29]

[@shirleyvanmechelen5742]

Salutations good to be back on the air- Alastor

[@steelers6titles]

KDKA is still on the air, of course. It is east of the Mississippi, but retained its call letters, which date from before the east-west separation between "W" and "K".

[@steelers6titles]

Actually, more accurately, from Wikipedia: At this time, radio stations in the United States were regulated by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Navigation. Beginning with the introduction of licensing in late 1912, the standard practice had been to assign call letters starting with "W" to radio stations east of the Mississippi River. However, KDKA happened to receive its assignment during a short period during which land stations were being issued call letters from a sequential block of "K" call letters that had previously been assigned only to ship stations. Although the original policy was restored a few months later, KDKA was permitted to keep its non-standard call sign.

[@parinpatel5719]

And to think that this broadcast is still out there in deep space, light years away!

[@trevordance5181]

Just to let you know that I am receiving this quite clearly and I live just south of London in England.

[@user-xl1eh9fp7i]

Whatever date it really is and whenever it really was it's still pretty cool to listen to

[@tasibsharar7357]

My friend has sent me down a radio spiral

[@steelers6titles]

I think the earliest actual radio recording is the National Defense Test Day recording from September 12, 1924, which is easily available on the Internet. It was made over telephone lines, and the fidelity is remarkably good.

[@steelers6titles]

@Sebastian Guevara The KDKA broadcast here is a re-enactment from many years later. It is not the actual broadcast recording. For one thing, in the original broadcast, which was not preserved, KDKA used its temporary call letters, 8ZZ, rather than KDKA. I stand by my statement--the oldest actual broadcast RECORDING is the National Defense Test Day broadcast of September 12, 1924, which is widely available on the Internet.

[@steelers6titles]

@Sebastian Guevara Does anyone else on here care to enlighten this gentleman regarding broadcast history, and the distinction between an unrecorded live broadcast and a later recorded re-enactment? He told me to shut up, so I think I will. This refusal to accept facts could be alarming, regarding more important matters.

[@plumjet09]

What about the 2LO broadcast from 1922? Did they give it the wrong date or is it a reenactment?

[@steelers6titles]

@@plumjet09 I don’t know. Where can it be found?

[@plumjet09]

@@steelers6titles I think I found it on the Wikipedia Article for 2LO

[@LouBloom-fp7xq]

literally all i hear is alastor 💆‍♂️

[@Nam3lessAyesha]

LMAOOOOO

[@angelbagelofficial]

SAMEEEE

[@AllLoudNation365]

I love Alastor ❤️

[@iVenge]

Old radio afficionados knew the moment it started that it was not the real broadcast.

[@CassetteMaster]

Fascinating to hear!

[@CassetteMaster]

Not even close to the fringe of even beginning to be as fascinating as I thought it was a year ago, to find this was not recorded in 1920, but later in 1950 (when tape recorders were common). If this was a 1920 recording, that would be freaking amazing.

[@ChrisMezzolesta]

@@CassetteMaster If you want fascinating early radio audio verite, seek out the 1924 National Defense Test Day, it's on here, the content is a mite boring (army generals talking to each other over radio), on the other hand it's Army Generals Talking To Each Other Over Radio (actually AT&T network phone lines) in 1924, which was one heck of a feat! The main announcer reads off all the stations in the pre-network network, operators at the various phone offices around the country creating the network chime in...again, there's dry stuff to skip over, but as a historical document of early pre-network broadcasting it's fascinating...and a hi-Q direct electrical recording as well!

[@steelers6titles]

@@ChrisMezzolesta It's interesting for military buffs to hear John "Blackjack" Pershing, the highest-ranking military figure of his day, being congratulated by old comrades-in-arms. Pershing held the rank of "General of the Armies", and was authorized to create his own insignia. He wore four gold stars in a row. Since then, military ranks, and their insignia, have been revised. During the Bicentennial, George Washington (the rank of "General" was not subdivided during his time) was posthumously awarded the rank of "General of the Armies", plural. No one else will ever hold it, making Washington the permanently-highest-ranking military officer in U.S. history.

[@ChrisMezzolesta]

@@steelers6titles Something for everyone indeed.

[@smetro77]

Loud and clear in Glen Avon, California.

[@dannazione653]

alastor who

[@jamesbehrje4279]

it's amazing its almost 100 yrs to the date of this comment that this was broadcasted. amazing how much progress went on since then and how fast time flys. Younger kids don't realize it. I started to really realize how short our time here is on this blue and green ball of rock and water when in was about 30 yrs old. Since then it seems like everything is going hyperspeed!!!

[@Truck6000]

I personally find it devastating that everything is going hyper speed. In fact, I feel that we have gone directly from 2009 to 2020.

[@jamesbehrje4279]

@@Truck6000 yeah. I don't know if it's just an age thing or things really are speeding up. It seems like yesterday you could go see a comedy that wasnt afraid of offending anyone. Now we have all this woke garbage. I feel bad for the younger generations.

[@Truck6000]

@@jamesbehrje4279 I am personally not fond of younger generations of people. I am also worried sick what the next 100 years will hold for the world

[@jamesbehrje4279]

@@Truck6000 im afraid too. Hopefully u and i will be gone before the world goes completely to shit.

[@georgebrusstar2539]

Sorry, but there is so much inaccurate here I don't even know where to start. This is NOT a recording from 1920. No recording of the election night broadcast has ever surfaced. Westinghouse commissioned a re-creation, I believe for the 30th anniversary, in 1950. That may be what is here. Also, the election broadcast was not the first commercial one. (And there is little reason to believe it was commercial at all.) Sponsored broadcasts went on all over America through the latter 1910s- in New York, Detroit, San Jose, right there in Pittsburgh, and elsewhere. Finally, it is now widely believed that the actual election coverage was broadcast under the temporary callsign 8ZZ. There are few if any contemporary reports, including in the "Post" itself, mentioning KDKA. Sorry to burst any bubbles, but many radio historians have spent years trying to correct the nearly century-old myth that KDKA was "the first radio station." Westinghouse sure had one heck of a publicity machine!

[@MDRstudi0s]

Dude we get it; ur a bit hurt historian

[@altonpitts5303]

Thank you very much for setting the record straight.

[@square-dealsam9102]

Historical accuracy. A rare gem, indeed. Thank you, Mr. Brusstar.

[@davidharing6475]

8ZZ became KDKA after call sign standardization.

[@RRaquello]

@@MDRstudi0s Well, if you're going to report history you might as well get it right, otherwise it's fiction.

[@hotsickle]

I don't think the background music is part of the original broadcast

[@terryharvey6504]

This is a recreation broadcast from the 1940's. The oldest know radio recording is the Armistice Day broadcast November 11, 1923 by former President Woodrow Willson.

[@jessebarlow1277]

ah finally someone who knows what they are talking about. thank you for the accurate info.

[@samuelli-a-sam]

Wow the quality is very good

[@RRaquello]

It's too good. It sounds like an electrical recording, which didn't exist in 1920, so it's obviously a recreation. What fools people is that the recreation itself is old, so it sounds old. But not as old as 1920.

[@caveguy22]

Feels so alien to me

[@lisszart9609]

Salutation! God to be back on the air!

[@holden190]

This is not the actual first broadcast. There are no recordings of it. This is a recreation!!

[@bessied.5694]

This is a simulation, not an authentic broadcast, and the overdubbed background music is intrusive.

[@glennso47]

One of the first radio stations that is still broadcasting is WOC Davenport Iowa. I think it’s either the 2nd or 3rd oldest station in the country.

[@ewf1415]

'One of the earliest', not 'One of the first'. There is only one first.

[@heatherhoffman6221]

I live in Pittsburgh lol

[@ewf1415]

Me too. It's fun to see people who know nothing about KDKA act like they are experts.

[@sleepybaby5970]

Tomorrow is September 21 2020

[@XtremeDirtRacing]

Was this Opie Hughes? He’s been doing radio since he was 18.

[@hilarioph]

This could be the first radio commercial in the 1920

[@Libbytardo]

I saw this on Broadwalk Empire

[@gregh6719]

This has been cleaned up. I heard this from a 1920 78 RPM home record of that day there was QRN(static) and drifting Morse on frequency. It was audiable and understandable but that's it.

[@chloeedmund4350]

Wow. This is so cool! How far DID it reach?

[@JohnSmithZen]

That was dreadfully short. Still - THANK YOU!

[@MrMusicfan65]

i was born on november 2 so was warren i hardy president us

[@actofcawd209]

A recording almost as old as wax cylinders, and I'm sure wax cylinders stopped being used by the mid to late 1920s when radio became more and more popular.

[@jimdrake-writer]

Wax cylinders date from 1887, when Edison refined his phonograph, and were superseded by disc recordings (including Edison’s own Diamond Discs) by the early-1910s.

[@nybraschanter7265]

The broadcast is reaching over 100 years

[@Ozark_Kaiser]

Huh, that's my birthday

[@RavenousTree]

Wasn’t it 1920 in Boston first known to regularly schedule radio broadcasts?

[@ewf1415]

Name your sources.

[@alexluna6810]

Maybe this signal is in space

[@JasonDelarosa2000]

WOW!

[@Marie.Jager.]

Radio’s NOT dead! But it did end this broadcast a century ago

[@BCuniverse-ce4ih]

I can’t believe this happened on my birthday more than 100 years ago, its insane.

[@tuxedeoproductions3844]

Tomorrow is November 2

[@justinthyme7275]

Should I let them know I heard it all the way over here?

[@LouisRosales]

2024

[@BrucesPhonograph]

Interesting as to how this was recorded in 1920. It sounds like an electrical recording.

[@CadetGriffin]

And at 0:17 it sounded like the speaker was blowing a raspberry like he hated the winning candidate.

[@BryanX64]

Apparently this was a 1950's recreation

[@TheBanMan]

Uploader should *really* update the title and description to indicate that this is a recreation, NOT the original broadcast.

[@ChrisMezzolesta]

@Sebastian Guevara A little more Googling & reading, and a lot less being a comment-section jerk and you'd find out that you are 100% wrong. Here, I'll save you the trouble. jeff560.tripod.com/airchecks.html

[@dogwaterz0]

@@ChrisMezzolesta What a hero, respect.

[@user-tm7dx2nf2f]

It's like alistor's voice in hazbin hotel

[@KenHeron]

Why did you have to add the music? Shameful.

[@angelbagelofficial]

Alastor? Is that you?

[@r.kashner5209]

I knew I would find a comment like this.

[@Faregameishere]

no

[@phusel1]

Is there a second Radio Broadcast. And if, is it also uploaded? Would really like to here the first 50 or so broadcasts :D that would be awsome listening :)

[@CadetGriffin]

0:26 - On JG Science's channel, they incorrectly call this part "The 1928 project".

[@jimsiokos4272]

I’ve heard a recording of a snippet of the actual broadcast on a Longines Symphonette album about the history of radio. This ain’t it.

[@jennifermartinezovoid4977]

Most can handle downhill Soundwave force but there are those who just don't handle things as well. Perhaps every home below the tallest treeline is at ground zero? Just thoughts. Not to tie that in with the Twin Tower attacks. There are endless 2s from West to East coasts and im in a 2 county still destressing from that day. It's difficult to let go this quick. I try to keep in mind that guns don't fire themselves but, I still feel shockwaves. I think too many soundwaves make rods between is so they need smoothing over if at all possible. In my case they push me. I must be sensitive.

[@zahidshakeel8900]

If radio not invented ,how peoples live today ?👏

[@Pittlc1184]

Also note that KDKA is the only callsign east of the Mississippi that begins with "K."

[@georgebrusstar2539]

Alexander Locke - The folks at KYW in Philadelphia and KQV in Pittsburgh would probably disagree.

[@ApartmentKing66]

It never has been "the only." KYW started in Chicago, and for a while was in Cleveland before moving to Philly.

[@jerrycapodilupo9195]

Psychotronics begins

[@Professor-taboo]

Radio caused polio 📻🎙🧬🦠prover me wrong 🤷‍♂️

[@JamesIrwins78s]

Funny thing KDKA only claimed the earliest broadcast to boast of themselves, this broadcast never happened.

[@Atwater20]

Find out which commercial radio station was really the first to broadcast - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qomlnWeslr19h68

[@shilyou9101]

あ〜声がアラスターみたい

[@midniteGMG]

Not the first _commercial_

[@sammysoppy3361]

I watched another video that said kdka was not the first but used it as a marketing gimmick to be known as the first

[@ewf1415]

It just goes to show that on the 'net people can upload whatever they want to and act like a historian, even if they're still in elementary school. Don't believe everything you hear.

[@CeeStyleDj]

Is this even real?

[@ChrisMezzolesta]

No, it is a recreation, the technology to achieve such a clear recording did not exist in 1920, the best they could have done was put a radio next to an acoustic recording horn to cut a disc in real time, and it would not have sounded anywhere near as clear as this. By the late 40s/early 50s they had the tech to dramatize audio to make it sound like 1920, but in 1920 they were limited to acoustic recording...also just about all surviving recordings from the first few years of radio are linechecks recorded direct over the phone transmission lines (AT&T, Western Electric) and not from over-the-air radio reception (there are a scant couple of these but from much later than 1920). See jeff560.tripod.com/airchecks.html - still fascinating regardless!

[@ChrisMezzolesta]

@Sebastian Guevara Sure thing...now tell us all how they did it and how the media was transferred. We'll wait. Please also tell us about WHA in Madison and Doc Herrold's station in San Jose. It's one thing to be wrong, it's another to be loudly and angrily wrong.

[@luisruizalvarez6860]

Fake.

[@pearlpaucarcardsAU]

i dont hear the proper accent and the quality sounds fake i know and heard audios where the voice s more thin with a british accent this video shows a fake one

[@TheKnobCalledTone.]

FAKE

[@GUITARTIME2024]

Fake

[@ImmortalSociopath]

I read you loud and clear, California 2023 🥲

[@MrPillowStudios]

Fake

[@dudeoffical5828]

Real man but you dont know history man