ABSTRACT
In the early days of radio, amateur operators just put something on the air-often on the spur of the moment. Maybe someone would drop by a station to sing or play an instrument or to talk about some issue to whoever was listening. Some years later, radio station licensing required the transmission of scheduled programming. Listeners crowded around their radios to hear sports, news, music, dramas, and church services. By today’s standards, the level of static and poor audio quality would make radio unlistenable, but to yesterday’s audience, radio was magic.
