#Radio July 23

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Commercial RADIO is less than 100 years old in North Carolina.

This post is a contribution to the 30 Day History #Coach4adayChallenge for July.

Three men are responsible for launching the first RADIO station in the state of North Carolina. It began in 1920 with Fred W. Laxton of General Electric, Frank L. Bunker of Westinghouse Electric, and Earle J. Gluck with the Charlotte office of Southern Bell forming a partnership. They launched the first radio station from Laxton’s home near the entrance of Charlotte Country Club. 

In a few years, April 1922 to be exact the station evolved into WBT, the first radio station in Charlotte, and the third licensed station in the country. It started out broadcasting four hours a day with a 100-watt signal. That would probably only result in a range of about 15 miles.

When WBT began it was still an industry that was full of small operations similar to what Laxton, Bunker, and Gluck had started. Things began to change in the late 1920’s. Not long after the birth of commercial radio, corporate broadcasters began scrambling to tap into the newfound commercial options. Fledgling networks such as NBC and CBS began calling for government protection of the airwaves, and as a result many small stations opted for the security and additional programming of the larger corporations. WBT joined CBS in 1929, which, by 1933, increased its power to 50,000 watts, the legal limit at the time.

There is a great post on the “Golden Age” of North Carolina RADIO at this link.

RADIO made some people famous and wealthy including a Rocky Mount NC native named Kay Kyser. Kyser’s mom was North Carolina’s first registered pharmacist. He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1708 Vine Street and for Radio at 1601 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Kyser achieved national success with his big band variety show Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge, made $1 million with his nationally syndicated program that reached an estimated 20 million listeners.