How the Radio Changed the World

Listening to country radio with the windows down in the car is absolutely one of my favorite things about the summertime. This is what inspired me to explore the history of the radio and how it revolutionized communication. 

The radio was first discovered when Heinrich Hertz first detected and produced radio waves in 1888. Then, a man named Guglielmo Marconi was able to build the first radio equipment in 1894 and was patented in 1896. In 1901, he was able to successfully transmit radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. He called his idea for the radio “the wireless telegraph” as the telegraph was the biggest innovation in communication up to this point. The issue with the telegraph is that it required knowledge of morse code and infrastructures to receive messages. This is the problem that radio was ultimately able to solve. 

 
Before this time, the radio was primarily used to contact ships that were out to sea and it was especially helpful to them in emergency situations, like the sinking of the Titanic. In fact, if there was no radio, there would have been no survivors on the Titanic. The radio became an increasingly valuable tool during World War I to send and receive messages to the armed forces. 
 
The 1920s is when the radio became streamlined among civilians. It had totally changed the world of mass broadcasting. This incredible innovation was able to easily transmit important information from across the globe making spreading news and crucial developments easy and widespread. The radio became the main source of news and it now easier than ever to access information from other parts of the world including important wartime news as well as current events. 
 
After using radio in WWI, the military was well aware of how important radio communication would be for WWII. The radio was the source of success of massive operations during the war. It allowed faster communication channels between the varied corps and ensured that any decision made by the higher commands could be immediately communicated to the ground forces for the most efficient and rapid execution. The need for faster communication during the war led to great improvisions of radio technology.

 
Not only did the radio transform the way people accessed information, but it also changed the way the accessed everyday things. Business and social structures adapted to the new medium as universities began to offer radio-based classes and churches began to broadcasting their services. It changed the way they consumed entertainment as listeners enjoyed hearing comedy routines, sports broadcasts, comedies and dramas, live bands, and especially music. 
 
A great contribution of the radio was its development of music and establishing the music industry. One of the reasons we have “timeless” artists like Elvis Presley is because of the radio spreading their music so widely and allowing families to stream their voices all over the world. If it weren’t for the radio, we might not know these voices today. 
 

As a strategic communications major, it was interesting for me to explore how this communication technology changed the world of advertising and marketing. AT&T was the first company to release a radio advertisement in 1923. This would soon spark a movement of companies buying radio advertising licenses that would change the world of advertising and how companies marketed their products.