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This is actually a very controversial subject among broadcast historians. Many books will tell you that it was KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, but that is not accurate. While KDKA did in fact receive a license in late October of 1920, there were already other stations on the air, most notably 8MK (today known as WWJ) in Detroit, which had been on the air since late August 1920. There is also evidence that 1XE (later WGI) was on the air in Medford Hillside, Massachusetts in the summer of 1920. And in Canada, XWA (later known as CFCF) was on the air in December 1919.

The problem is the categorization of a "commercial radio station"-- for one thing, there were no commercials or advertisements allowed on radio in those early days. For another, there were no commercial radio licenses issued till September 1921, and the first of these went to a Springfield, Massachusetts station, WBZ. (Prior to that, stations first used an amateur radio license, for a special kind of land station. The first license KDKA got was in fact an amateur license, since there was no professional broadcasting industry yet.) KDKA had a wonderful publicity department and was able to spread the story of being the first station, but evidence suggests it was the second or perhaps even the third.

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12y ago

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