KDKA Radio history and broadcasting impact

KDKA

On November 2nd in 1920, four individuals in Pittsburgh, PA made history when they reported election results over airways, becoming one of the first broadcasting stations in the United States. While their broadcast consisted of only election results, their efforts brought personal, immediate information to listeners in a way that had never before been seen, and is commonly thought to be the birth of radio journalism (Finn, 294). While their original broadcast made history, the events preceding and following the occurrence made what was to become the KDKA radio station a landmark of radio broadcasting over the next 80 years.

It is important to understand the events leading up to the broadcast in 1920, as those events made possible the historical November 2nd transmission. Dr. Frank Conrad, Assistant Chief Engineer of Pittsburgh's Westinghouse Electric Company, had been experimenting with radio since 1912. Occupying his spare time with the construction of receivers, transmitters, and other radio devices, Conrad soon had a makeshift broadcasting booth in his garage. By 1916, Conrad's radio transmissions, under the license 8XK, were broadcasting music over the air (Dunning, 484).

By 1920, Westinghouse had become one of the largest manufacturers of radio receivers in response to a need for such devices by the military during World War I. When Westinghouse Vice President H.P. Davis heard of Conrad's radio interests, he asked Conrad to begin broadcasting to listeners. Conrad teamed up with Horne's Department Store to begin the commercial sale of receivers, sold for $10 each (Stone, 1333). That same year, in October, Westinghouse applied for a radio station license. On October 27, 1920, the Federal Government issued what is now known as the first commercial radio license, and KDKA was born (Dunning, 484).

To prepare for the historic broadcast, Westinghouse set up a makeshift, one room shack atop the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing building in east Pittsburgh. Within the room, transmitting equipment and a turntable were installed. Further, arrangements were made with the Pittsburgh Post to secure the election results. Company employees were also given receivers (Rosen, 15).

On the night of KDKA's first broadcast, four men were manning the studio. Announcer Leo Rosenberg, engineer William Thomas, telephone operator John Frazier, and standby R.S. McClelland waited patiently for the results to be phoned in. At 6:00 PM, the transmitters were turned on, and the results of the Harding vs. Cox presidential election were broadcast (Rosen, 15). Ironically, Conrad was not present for the broadcast he was so influential in coordinating. Afraid the newly constructed transmitter would fail, Conrad waited at home to relay the results from his private station (Kittross, 66).

The broadcast was a huge success. Listeners at a local country club heard election results broadcast over loudspeakers, courtesy of Westinghouse. In all, nearly 2,000 individuals heard the pioneer KDKA transmission, which initially ran from 6 pm through noon the following day, continuing to announce as presidential candidate James Cox conceded the election to Warren Harding (Kittross, 66). This play by play of announcements was one of the first known journalism broadcasts.

The following day, KDKA was only on air for an hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 PM. Over the next few months, the station continued to broadcast intermittently, but the transmitter was relocated and increased in power (Kittross, 66). By January of 1921, Harold Arlin was hired by KDKA as the first known full-time radio announcer (Washington Times, C02).

Until May of 1921, KDKA had no studio, but instead broadcast directly from the transmission room, or from remote locations such as hotels and churches. In May of 1921, however, Westinghouse erected a tent near the transmission room to experiment with the effects of drapes, acoustical boards, and other sound engineering equipment. These lessons guided engineers in their efforts for future indoor studios (Smith, 39).

On August 5th of the same year, KDKA became the first known radio station to perform a play-by-play of a baseball game, in this case, between the Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies. Announcer Arlin set up a remote broadcasting booth at Forbes Field, and continued broadcasting through the entire game. As Arlin himself stated:

Sometimes the transmitter worked, and sometimes it didn't. Sometimes the crowd noise would drown us out, and sometimes it wouldn't. Quite frankly, we didn't know what the reaction would be - whether we'd be talking into a complete vacuum or whether somebody actually would hear us. No one had the foggiest idea, the slightest hint of an inkling that what we started would take off like it did." (Washington Post, C02).

Over the next several years, the studio location of KDKA changed frequently. Moving from the roof of Westinghouse, the studio was relocated to the William Penn Hotel, and again to the third floor of the Grant Building in 1934. In 1956, KDKA moved to the Gateway Center, where it and its sister television station are still housed today (Smith, 39).

By 1923, KDKA was involved in the first attempts of network broadcasting. at&T developed the necessarily technology to connect stations together originally using telephone lines. By June of 1923, WEAF of New York, WGY of Schenectady, KYW of Chicago, and KDKA were connected together by at&T for a special program on the anniversary of the electric light. Within a month, this connection was permanent, and the four stations began to pipe programs together in the first radio network (Kittross, 77).

By 1924, KDKA was also involved in one of the first trans-continental broadcasts. From the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, WJZ relayed the short-wave signal to KDKA in Pittsburgh, who relayed it again to KFKX in Hastings, NE, who relayed it to KGO in California (Kittross, 79). While this was not the first, KDKA was part of the pioneering groups.

In 1926, KDKA radio was also one of the first stations to join NBC's Blue Network. By 1941, they shifted to NBC's Red Network, which it still uses today. By that time, nearly 85 stations were carried by NBC (Dunning, 471).

Throughout the 1920's, KDKA was highly influential in radio firsts. As mentioned, KDKA reported the first broadcast of a baseball game in 1921. That same year, they were the first to broadcast a religious service, Herbert Hoover's fist radio address, the first inaugural address, the first theater broadcast, and the fist regular farm reports. Additionally, they also broadcast the first Will Rogers comedian appearance in 1922 (Schecter, 5).

Throughout the 30's and 40's, KDKA became increasingly popular with such announcers are "Uncle Ed" Schaughency, Slim Bryant, and "Buzz & Bill." The station broadcast reports of floods, Pearl Harbor, the live inauguration of David Lawrence as mayor, and numerous other vital stories.

It was in 1946 that the station teamed with the Old Newsboys charity organization in an effort to raise money for health care for children. Since that time KDKA has become a vital support system for the Children's Hospital, and in the late 1960's, began a fund drive for the Free Care Fund of the hospital. The fund has helped raise millions of dollars each year for the patients at the hospital (Schecter, 5).