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Reginald Fessenden |
BBC World Service Discovery -
Fessenden: King of the Radio Waves
The world's first radio broadcast took place a hundred years ago on Christmas
Eve 1906.
The broadcast, a programme of live music, readings and phonograph recordings,
was transmitted to ships in the Atlantic Ocean by Reginald
Fessenden – a prolific inventor largely forgotten
by history.
Presenter Richard Hollingham traces the events of the world's first radio
broadcast in Discovery - Fessenden: King of the Radio Waves
on Wednesday 20 December.
In the early 1900s, people communicated by radio using Morse code. Fessenden,
a Canadian rival of Marconi, decided to broadcast a voice message. His
invention of AM radio was years ahead of its time.
On 24 December 1906, radio operators at sea were startled to hear a voice
coming over their receivers. Before the word broadcast had even been invented,
they heard a mix of speech with live and recorded music – including
a rendition of 'silent night'. However, Fessenden's innovation failed
to take off commercially and it wasn't until the 1920s that the massive
potential of radio for entertainment was realised.
Fessenden originally planned to broadcast across the Atlantic to Scotland.
With considerable effort, masts and equipment were built at the small
hamlet of Brant Rock near Plymouth, Massachusetts and at Machrihanish
on the west coast of Scotland. When, at the last minute, a storm destroyed
the Scottish installation, he decided to broadcast to ships at sea instead.
Presenter/Richard Hollingham, Producer/Georgie
Robinson
Programme times:
Europe: Wed 1232 rpt 1632, 2032, Thu 0032, Sat 1032, Sun 0332
Australasia: Tue 2232 rpt Wed 0432, 1032, 1432
East Asia: Wed 0132 rpt 0832, 1332, 2132, Sat 0032
South Asia: Wed 0432 rpt 1032, 1532, 2232, Sat 0632
East Africa: Wed 0632 rpt 1432, 2232, Thu 0132
West Africa: Wed 0832 rpt 1432, 2232, Thu 0132, Sat 0332
Middle East: Wed 0732 rpt 1332, 1932, Sat 0432
Americas: Wed 1232 (not Caribb), 1332 (Caribb only) rpt 2332, Thu 0332,
Sun 0732
Listen on demand:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/meta/tx/nb/discovery_au_nb.asx
Our thanks to Mike Barraclough
for spotting this story
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