Public Radio Broadcasting Day #PublicRadioBroadcastingDay
Public Radio Broadcasting Day celebrates the fact that on this day, January 13th, in 1910, the first public radio broadcast was held. A live opera was broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, Via Wikipedia
The birth of public radio broadcasting is credited to Lee de Forest who transmitted the world’s first public broadcast in New York City on January 13, 1910. This broadcast featured the voices of Enrico Caruso and other Metropolitan Opera stars. Members of the public and the press used earphones to listen to the broadcast in several locations throughout the city. This marked the beginning of what would become nearly universal wireless radio communication.
The few radio receivers able to pick up this first-ever “outside broadcast” were those at the De Forest Radio Laboratory, on board ships in New York Harbor, in large hotels on Times Square and at New York City locations where members of the press were stationed at receiving sets. Public receivers with earphones had been set up in several well-advertised locations throughout New York City. There were members of the press stationed at various receiving sets throughout the city and the public was invited to listen to the broadcast.
The experiment was considered mostly unsuccessful.The microphones of the day were of poor quality and could not pick up most of the singing on stage. Only off-stage singers singing directly into a microphone could be heard clearly.[5] The New York Times reported the next day that static and interference “kept the homeless song waves from finding themselves”.
De Forest’s Radio Telephone Company manufactured and sold the first commercial radios in the demonstration room at the Metropolitan Life Tower in New York City for this public event.[9] The wireless transmitter had 500 watts of power. It is reported that this broadcast was heard 12.5 miles (20.1 km) away on a ship at sea. The broadcast was also heard 60 miles (97 km) away in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
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