Though it is a facet of society taken for granted, commercial radio was born on a fall night in 1920 when an unsuspecting audience began receiving presidential election results interspersed with music in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Prior to this historic night, radio had been limited to person-to-person use by engineers and amateur hobbyists called ham operators. What resulted from that radio broadcast nearly 90 years ago is a massive worldwide industry that continues to thrive in 2010.

History
On Nov. 2, 1920, Westinghouse radio station KDKA became the first commercial radio station in the United States with its broadcast of presidential election results. Westinghouse---a leading radio manufacturer at the time---decided to air election results in an attempt to sell radios. Between ballot results---which were obtained from the Pittsburgh Post via telephone---KDKA played live banjo music and phonographic recordings to its small audience. KDKA followed its initial broadcast up with nightly hour-long broadcasts that became the nation's first scheduled radio programming.

Growth
Within four years of KDKA's first commercial radio broadcast, 600 radio stations were created across the United States. These radio stations relied on advertising revenue to fund their need for improved equipment and on-air entertainment. On Aug. 28, 1922, WEAF in New York City aired the first commercial radio advertisement. The ad was for a real estate developer who encouraged listeners to purchase shares in a housing development in Jackson Heights, New York.

Networking
Networks of local commercial radio stations were formed during the 1920s as the radio industry quickly became big business. In 1926, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) formed the first national radio network called the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The network's first nationwide broadcast was the 1927 Rose Bowl game between Alabama and Stanford from Pasadena, California. Radio networking quickly became popular and caused the airwaves to become so crowded that the Federal Radio Commission was formed and radio stations were assigned air wave frequencies for broadcasting.

Advances
Technological advances to the radio helped commercial radio grow during its early days. Headsets were replaced by speakers in the 1920s. Frequency modulation (FM) radio broadcasting was established in 1929. The transistor was created in the 1940s and the transistor radio followed in 1952. With the advent of commercial radio, a mass culture ensued as Americans were able to hear the same songs and to receive news faster than at any time previous.

Evolution
he technology through which commercial radio is listened to in 2010 has changed significantly since 1920. The Internet is a medium through which scheduled radio programming can be listened to. Streaming audio of radio programming has been available since the mid-1990s. Early in the 21st century, satellite radio came into existence and has a steadily gathering audience. The cost of satellite transmitters and restrictions on radio spectrum licenses has slowed the growth of the satellite commercial radio industry.

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