Sacramento Airwaves 1920s-1940s
SacTV.com "Video of the Day" review by
Alex Cosper on March 12, 2013
The evolution of the Sacramento radio dial has its roots that trace back to the 1920s. I was invited by
local writer and historian William Burg of the Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA) on March 9 to give a
presentation on local radio history, since I worked in the industry for years and have written several
reports about it including The Legend of KZAP.
Throughout the presentation I intertwined national and local radio history, pointing out that Sacramento
has played a significant role in the development of the radio industry. A major event included the first
radio broadcast of a human voice over the air by Doc Herrold in 1909 at what is now San Francisco station KCBS.
Although Gugliel Marconi demonstrated electrical signals over the air in 1901, Nikola Tesla had actually
invented radio technology and was eventually awarded the patent. Tesla also invented many electrical devices
that others got credit for and he eventually died broke. His name is remembered today partly due
to Sacramento's most successful band taking his last name. Sacramento's first stations on the AM dial
were KFBK in 1922 and KROY in 1937. KFBK was owned by Sacramento Bee owner McClatchy while KROY was owned
by Royal Miller, a city councilman in the 1920s.
Sacramento Airwaves 1920s-1940s
Sacramento Airwaves 1950s-1960s
Sacramento Airwaves 1970s-1990s
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