Karl Kandt is a Kansas-based employment representative who works closely with veterans and service members, guiding them through career planning, resume development, and interview preparation. In addition to his work connecting individuals to meaningful employment opportunities, Karl Kandt has supported students and alumni at Kansas State University and Wichita State University, providing academic and career guidance. He previously served as a vocational rehabilitation counselor with the Department of Veterans Affairs, assisting veterans in accessing training benefits and support services. With academic credentials in communication, counselor education, and sports administration from Emporia State University and Wichita State University, he has a longstanding interest in broadcasting, including experience calling college basketball games on the radio. His background in communication and public service offers a relevant perspective on the historical development of radio broadcasting in the United States.
How US Radio Broadcasts Emerged in the Early 20th Century
Radio broadcast in the United States has a legacy that extends to the early years of the 20th century. The roots of radio extend back even further, to Hans Christian Oersted’s discovery in 1820 that a wire with a current passing through it carries a magnetic field. The principle of electromagnetic induction led to Cambridge University physicist James Clerk Maxwell’s theorizing in 1864 that electromagnetic currents travel at light speed and can be recognized and received from a distance. By the 1880s, Heinrich Hertz had generated electromagnetic waves in a laboratory and confirmed Maxwell’s predictions of light speed.
Guglielmo Marconi took the next step forward, forgoing the use of telegraph wire and Morse code in creating an electromagnetic wave transmitter and receiver. By 1898, he had the capacity to send a message 18 miles with no wires, and the following year he set up a vessel at sea that wirelessly telegraphed America’s Cup yacht race results to a land-based station. In 1900, he patented these technologies, which the US Navy had a particular interest in.
In 1901, Marconi attempted the broadcast of a pioneering transatlantic signal in Morse code from Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland, Canada. On the Newfoundland side, he constructed a wireless receiver with an antenna lifted by balloons to the highest height possible. Though experts had predicted a dissipation of the radio waves as the earth curved over a long range, Marconi did indeed receive a message of pip-pip-pip from 1,700 miles away.
Until 1906, all radio messages were in Morse code and employed discontinuous waves. However, Reginald Fessenden, whose work as head of electrical engineering with the US Weather Bureau had allowed him to experiment with voice transmission, discovered a method of continuous wave transmission.
On Christmas Eve, Fessenden successfully broadcast music and human voice from a Brant Rock, Massachusetts, station. Radio enthusiasts as far away as Norfolk, Virginia, and even the West Indies, tuned in and successfully listened to the broadcast. This led to the United Fruit Company acquiring equipment from Fessenden that allowed for radio communications with its far-flung ships.
The Audion signal detector introduced by inventor Lee De Forest in 1907 amplified such broadcasts greatly, with the first entertainment broadcast taking place in 1910. The program, aired by De Forest, involved the broadcast of a Metropolitan Opera House performance in New York City. The performer enshrined for posterity through this landmark broadcast was opera singer Enrico Caruso.
From there, several experimental radio stations took flight, including those operated by the University of Wisconsin in 1915 and a Pittsburgh-based consortium the following year. Growth was exponential, with the 322 licensed US amateur radio operators in 1913 climbing to 13,581 radio operators by 1917. Wartime restrictions prevented non-governmental broadcasts for a couple of years until the end of World War I.
One pioneering use of radio signals during this time involved communications with military aircraft in the sky. In addition, super heterodyne technologies developed by Edwin H. Armstrong enabled the use of a loudspeaker for receiving broadcasts, instead of earphones. KDKA in Pittsburgh launched on November 2, 1920, as the first ever commercial radio station. Its initial broadcast tallied results from the Harding-Cox presidential election.
About Karl Kandt
Karl Kandt serves as an employment representative in Kansas, assisting veterans and active service members with career searches, resume writing, and interview preparation. A former vocational rehabilitation counselor with the Department of Veterans Affairs, he helped participants access training benefits and subsistence allowances. He holds degrees in communication and counselor education from Emporia State University, as well as a master’s in sports administration from Wichita State University. Active in community service, he supports the Manhattan Solar Kiwanis Club and various alumni and veteran organizations.
