Author: Unknown
One interesting side note that I have read in the past is that when radio first came on the scene people did not just take up immediately with the idea of radio listening each evening.
This has more to do with economics than with programming: prior to 1927, all radio receivers operated off batteries -- a large 45-volt dry "B" battery (or two or three) to provide the high voltage for the plates of the tubes, and a six-volt lead-acid storage "A" battery to light the filaments. The "A" battery was the major issue here -- the filaments drew a high current, and drained the battery rather quickly. While GE began marketing battery chargers for the home market during the early twenties to coincide with the radio boom, most people had to drag their "A" batteries to a gas station to be recharged every couple of days if they were heavy listeners. It was this issue, more than any matter of program content, which kept radio listening a "special occasion" sort of thing rather than a night-in-night-out practice.
The battery manufacturers tried to change peoples' thinking -- after all, the more batteries consumed, the better for them. The National Carbon Company, makers of EverReady batteries, was on the air as early as 1924 with the "EverReady Hour," a big-time variety show featuring name talent -- and their print ads constantly trumpeted the slogan "The Air Is Full Of Things You Should Not Miss!" And, indeed, the Red Network was in operation, under the auspices of AT&T in 1924-26, and most radio owners were within reach of an affiliate. There were plenty of sponsored programs worth listening to -- but as long as it cost money to do so in terms of charging and replacing batteries, audiences were hesitant.
The real turning point of radio listening was the introduction of the all-AC radio in 1927. This required the development of special tubes, but it eliminated the issue of batteries for all but rural families. This innovation -- coupled with single-dial tuning, introduced around the same time -- really made radio into a piece of living-room furniture instead of a piece of technical equipment. And once this happened, people began to treat it as a household fixture rather than a novelty.
Published in U S Legacies November 2004
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