Radio & Television History

Inventors of Radio:
Heinrich Hertz: Was the 1st to detect radio waves in 1887.

Guglielmo Marconi: Started the 1st wireless Telegraph and Signal company in Britain in 1897, and 1 year later the world’s 1st radio factory, at the age of only 21.

Reginald Fessenden: Made the 1st wireless broadcast over the North Atlantic on Christmas Eve of 1906.

Edwin Armstrong: Discovered FM Radio Frequencies in 1933 but they were rejected by the   RCA Corporation who was trying to develop television.

Black Accomplishments in Radio:
WEAD: first black owned radio station in Atlanta Georgia began broadcasting 52 years ago.

Ethel Walters: the first black woman heard on the radio, who broke down many barriers so that other blacks could be heard.

Earl F. Hines: was one of the first black men heard on radio.
On November 3, 1929, white owned radio station WSBC in Chicago premiered “The All Negro Hour” hosted by Jack L. Cooper

Local History

*WLW: The creation of Powel Crosley who created the station to sell the radios his factory produced. WLW became the most powerful AM radio station to be licensed by the U.S. government.

*J.B. Blayton purchased WERD in Atlanta, GA on Oct. 4, 1949 and established the first Black-owned radio station in that city.

*On August 29, 1979, the first completely Black-owned radio network in the world, “Mutual Black Network” was purchased by Sheridan Broadcasting Corp.

*WGUC, Cincinnati’s Classical Public Radio, was founded in 1960 by a group of citizens who saw the need for a tri-state radio station devoted to cultural and public affairs programming in the region.  Today, the station remains committed to this heritage.  WGUC 90.9FM broadcasts the fines in classical music programming and is the leading provider of arts information for Greater Cincinnati.  In 2003, WGUC was the first public radio station in Ohio to broadcast an HD Radio signal and in 2006 it became the first station in America to broadcast in Surround Sound.

Major Radio Corporations

RCA: Incorporated in 1919, by controlling audio technology patents of GE, AT&T, Westinghouse, and United Fruit.

Radio Shack Co.: Formed in 1921 in Boston to sell equipment to “ham” operators, taking its name from the small wooden buildings for radio equipment on ships.

Major Corporations

NBC: Formed in 1926, owned by RCA, GE and Westinghouse.

Arthur Judson, in 1927, created United Independent Broadcasters.

This grew quickly and in 1928 the company was reorganized as the Columbia Broadcasting System or CBS.

Television History

Contributors to Television:
Phil Farnsworth: Also known as The "Father of Television" because he was the first person to invent the electronic television at the age of 21. Farnsworth was also the first to make a working electronic image pickup device (video camera tube) and the first to demonstrate an all-electronic television system to the public.

Al Schottelkotte: Worked for The Cincinnati Enquirer  at the age of 16, in 1943 making him the youngest journalist at that time for any major American newspaper. In 1959 he joined WCPO anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast, where he became known locally and nationally as "The Voice of Cincinnati". He expanded WCPO's newscasts to a half hour, and created newscast slots at 6 p.m. By 1967 he was made general manager of Scripps Howard's fledgling news division.

Minorities Making History

Max Robinson: Co-Anchored alongside Frank Reynolds and Peter Jennings on ABC's nightly news World News Tonight in 1978 - 1983 and was also part of the NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists).

Ed Bradley: The first black television correspondent to cover the White House and anchor his own news broadcast, “CBS Sunday Night with Ed Bradley.” Also a respected American journalist, best known for 26 years of award-winning work on the CBS News television magazine 60 MINUTES.

Cicely Tyson: A well-known inspiring actress. Tyson won two Emmy Awards for the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and many more. She was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1977. Cicely Tyson hasn't had a steady appearance onscreen because she will only portray strong images of Black women.

Oprah Winfrey: At the age of 19, she became the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. Oprah has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century and the world’s only black billionaire for three consecutive years.

Denzel Washington: One of the first African Americans that won an Oscar as best actor and his first television debut was in St. Elsewhere in 1982.

National News

*In 1884, George Eastman invents flexible photographic film.

*In 1895 the first public demonstration of motion pictures displayed in France.

*In 1926 John Logie Baird invented the very first picture that transmitted from room to room.

*In 1938, color TV broadcast was made by George Valensi.

*In 1965 NBC begins the color boom.

*By the start of 1993, 98% of households owned at least one TV set in their household, 64% out of that 98% had two or more.

*The first Black-owned station in the US, WGPR-TV in Detroit, MI began broadcasting on Sept. 29, 1975 after it became the first African-American television station given a permit to operate on June 1, 1973.

*Jan. 25, 1980 marks the beginning of Black Entertainment Television (BET) broadcasting from Washington, D.C. as the first Black owned company to be listed on the NYSE.  BET Networks is now the preeminent entertainment brand serving African Americans and consumers of Black culture on a global basis.

Local News

*In 1948 WLWT, Cincinnati’s first television station, begins broadcasting.

*WCPO-TV went on the air July 26, 1949 and began broadcasting 75 to 80 hours per week.  Before long, the station was one of only two TV stations nationwide feeding programming to the networks for rebroadcast.  In later years, the E. W. Scripps-owned media company was the first station in the country to launch an hour-long noon report.  WCPO was the first local station to create an investigative unity now known as the “I-Team.”  9News was also the first Cincinnati station to use regular mobile reports and taped interviews.  As an ABC-TV network affiliate, WCPO broke ground with its live coverage of spot news, using remote vans and later a jet helicopter all led by legendary news veteran, Al Schottelkotte.

*In 1954 WCET, the first educational station in Ohio. The seventh PBS station in the country begins broadcasting and was the first educational station officially licensed by the Federal Communications Commission.

*In 1967, Public fundraising to save Cincinnati’s WCET, the first public television show in Ohio, reaches the goal of $100,000, the amount needed to keep it afloat.

*The station first signed on the air on July 26, 1949 as Cincinnati's third television station. Originally on channel 7, it moved to channel 9 in 1952. With DuMont's demise in 1956, WCPO was left with just ABC until it swapped affiliations with WKRC-TV in 1961, becoming a CBS affiliate, then back to ABC again in 1996. WCPO produced The Uncle Al Show, a children's show that ran from the early 1950s to the mid-1980s. Beginning in the early 60s, WCPO was the undisputed leader in local newscasts, led by anchor and news director Al Schottelkotte and remained Cincinnati's news leader for over 20 years.