![]() ![]() After that, the Commerce Department generally assigned Eastern stations four-letter calls with first "A" and then "B" as the third letter. Until mid-1922 new broadcast stations received three-letter calls. However, four current Washington area stations can trace their origin back to the 1920s: WTEM-980 (established June, 1923 as WRC), WOL-1450 (December, 1924 as WRHF), WMAL-630 (October, 1925), and WFED-1500 (began September, 1926 as WTRC in Brooklyn, New York). None of the first eleven broadcast stations, licenced in 19, survived past 1925. In November, 1924 the upper end of the broadcast band was extended from 1350 to 1500 khz, providing 15 additional Class A frequencies.Īlthough Washington was a major early center for broadcasting, the first stations to go on the air were operated primarily for publicity purposes, and had relatively short lifespans. ![]() Class A stations were assigned to frequencies from 1050 to 1350 khz, although existing stations were permitted to stay at 360 meters, as "Class C" stations. Under the initial allocation 640 and 690 khz were assigned for use by Washington area Class B stations-WCAP and WRC were assigned to share 640, while NAA got exclusive use of 690. 550 to 1040 were set aside for Class B stations. On the broadcasting service was greatly expanded, with the designation of a band of frequencies, in 10 kilohertz steps, from 550 to 1350 kilohertz. About thirty stations nationwide would eventually qualify to use 400 meters, although none was located in the Washington area. Stations on the new wavelength were designated "Class B" outlets, while those on 360 became known as "Class A" stations. In late September of 1922 a second entertainment wavelength of 400 meters (750 khz) was assigned for better quality, higher powered stations. I'm not sure which of these three stations was first to actually go on the air, although it may have been WDM, which began broadcasting church services on January 1, 1922. Both WDM, the Church of the Covenant, and WDW, the Radio Construction and Electric Company, received licences on December 22, 1921, tying for 25th place nationwide. WJH tied with four other stations as the nation's 11th to receive a broadcast licence. The first broadcast station authorized in the Washington area was WJH, the White & Boyer Company, on December 8, 1921. The stations eventually settled their dispute, after receiving bad publicity nationwide for their lack of civic-mindedness. ![]() During December, 1922 WDM and WJH started transmitting simultaneously on 360 meters on Sunday evenings, drowning each other out. The single entertainment wavelength meant that stations were supposed to negotiate timesharing agreements, to keep from interfering with each other. (In the Washington area only WIAY and WQAW ever received an authorization for 485 meters). In December, 1921 the Commerce Department formally established a broadcast service, with 360 meters (833 kilohertz) set aside for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 khz) designated for official government market and weather reports. In the Washington area a number of government stations, including the Navy's NAA in Arlington, Virginia and NOF in Anacostia, D.C., and the Bureau of Standard's WWV plus the Post Office's WWX, both in Washington, were the first area stations to conduct pioneering experimental broadcasts. Frequency Charts for DC-area AM Stationsįirst off, an overview of broadcasting over the last near-century years, and how it relates to the Washington area: 1912 to 1926 - Beginning in 1912, radio was regulated by the Bureau of Navigation of the Department of Commerce.This is a brief review of the AM (mediumwave) stations which have operated in the greater Washington, DC area, from 1921 to January 4, 2023. ![]()
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