Radio and World of Worlds

     Over the last week we have been discussing radio and the impact that radio had on the world. On March 29, 1899 Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio message that would span the English Channel. However, it wouldn't be until 1916 that the idea of bring the radio into peoples homes would be introduced. One element that really helped to promote the utilization of the radio was World War One. In 1920 KDKA was the first radio station ever. Based out of Pittsburgh, the radio station broadcasted at  1020 kHz. However, I found it to be surprising that the first commercial wasn't aired on the radio until 1922.

     As with the introduction of most things radio caused some controversy at the beginning of its life. An example of the was the program entitled World of Worlds. World of Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama  anthology series. The program was fallowed a news bulletin format that suggested that an aileen invasion was currently in progress. In an attempt to add to the realism of the show it ran without commercial breaks. However, fallowing the airing of the programing that was a wide spread panic and outrage by listeners how thought that the show was a real news broadcast. News papers and prominent public figures described that shows format as being cruel and deceptive.