First US Commercial Radio Broadcast

Based in Florida, Scott Westerman is a multifaceted entrepreneur whose experience spans telecommunications, radio, podcasting, and publishing. With an extensive background in Michigan radio, Scott Westerman has a strong interest in the history of the airwaves and technologies that drove communications breakthroughs in the early 20th century.

The first-ever commercial broadcast was made by KDKA, Pittsburgh, on November 2, 1920. The background was one in which voice radio was largely reserved for engineers and enthusiasts known as amateur, or “ham” operators. These people typically dealt with cumbersome equipment of the time that required skill to put together and operate.

With a next generation of ready-made radios set to target purely recreational consumers, manufacturer Westinghouse sought a way of boosting sales in 1920. Instead of the radio simply being a means of communication between “hams,” the device could be used by any listener who tuned in to a specific frequency at a certain time.

November 2 was selected for the broadcast premiere because it was the date of the Harding-Cox Presidential election. This was an opportunity to demonstrate that election results could be broadcast to the public much sooner than newspapers printed them. Prompted by the success of this broadcast, by the mid-1920s, more than 600 commercial radio stations had emerged nationwide.