March 1
FM RADIO DAY
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Hey gang, crank up the FM stereo tuner and celebrate the reason why you listen to that hard rock/alternative music stuff in the first place. Commercial FM broadcasting began in the U.S. when station W47NV (WSM-FM) in Nashville, TN started operations on this day in 1941. W47NV was the first commercial FM radio station to receive a license, some 20 years after its AM radio counterpart, KDKA in Pittsburgh. For those of you who don’t remember, FM stands for ‘frequency modulation’ as opposed to ‘amplitude modulation’.W47NV operated with 20,000 watts on a frequency of 44,700 kilocycles. FM stations don’t do that anymore. They operate in a different segment of the radio spectrum (88-108 MHz) and at power outputs not exceeding 100,000 watts, except in rare instances. (There are a few FM stations in the U.S. with power output up to 300,000 watts and antennas more than a thousand feet high.)
In the beginning, FM radio was pretty much a graveyard for beautiful music that numbed us in doctor’s offices and in elevators. It became a primary source for educational programming; featuring classical music, opera and jazz.
Today, more than 80 percent of radio listening in the United States is done by way of FM and one can hear just about everything, from oldies, rock and pop, country and blues to National Public Radio -- not to mention Howard Stern and his ilk. (And if you haven’t heard Howard Stern’s ilk, you haven’t heard anything.)
That’s it. I’m Mr. Wizard. Thank you. And thank you FM!
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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