Last month we began the tale of the great 1922 boom of commercial radio. The number of broadcasting stations and radio sets quickly mushroomed faster than any other technology in the world.  In one year alone, the number of radios in American consumers' hands exploded from 50,000 to nearly a million. Read part 1 here.

Ma Bell (AT&T) was determined not to be left out of  the sudden popularity of radio. It had already been developing radio techniques for extending telephone call service for several years, so AT&T easily stepped into the commercial radio business. Its first station, WEAF (now WFAN) in New York, went on the air in February 1922. AT&T's goal from the start was to build a radio network. Less than a year later, WEAF and WNAC (now WRKO) in Boston were linked together for radio's first network broadcast. Two more stations joined the network in the following months. What's important to know is that this was done over telephone lines, which they controlled.

As new listeners tuned in to news, sports scores, impromptu musical performances, records, and even bedtime stories, business owners took notice. This was a prime opportunity to advertise to a very captive audience.

When radio with the start it already has, receives the further thought and scientific development of the next few months it will be completely adapted for many kinds of commercial enterprises that do not employ it as yet. It will become as necessary as transportation. It will be communication personalized. There will be no limit to its use.

How to Retail Radio, 1922

The radio boom had created a whole new market for industries, some selling directly to the radio enthusiast:

It is in the sale of batteries for radio work and in the recharging of them that the battery man can 'cash-in' on the radio phone 'craze.'

The Automobile Storage Battery, 1922

Selling radios and the batteries to make them work was one thing. Selling on the radio became a whole new industry. The first radio broadcast advertisement was on WEAF on August 22, 1922 at 5 PM. AT&T had built its telephone business on charging by the minute, so it was only natural to parlay that business model over to radio. Hawthorne Court Apartments in Jackson Heights, New York bought 10 minutes of airtime for $50. By October, WEAF had sold $550 in advertising. Executives called their simple formula of trading airtime for dollars "toll radio." It was here to stay.

For advertising to be successful, the programming had to be enticing to listeners. Everybody was learning this new craft and stumbling through each broadcast, but a few started to develop regular programming in 1922. The previous year, Frank Conrad advertised schedules of music entertainment to be played on his little amateur station in Pittsburg. His listeners ballooned from 200 to 400 almost overnight. Horne's Department Store advertised that his radio station could be heard on radio sets sold by Horne's:

AIR CONCERT "PICKED UP" BY RADIO HERE
 

  Victrola music, played into the air over a wireless telephone, was "picked up" by listeners on the wireless receiving station which was recently installed here for patrons interested in wireless experiments. The concert was heard Thursday night about 10 o'clock, and continued 20 minutes. Two orchestra numbers, a soprano solo- which rang particularly high and clear through the air- and a juvenile "talking piece" constituted the program.
 

   The music was from a Victrola pulled up close to the transmitter of a wireless telephone in the home of Frank Conrad, Penn and Peebles avenues, Wilkinsburg. Mr. Conrad is a wireless enthusiast and "puts on" the wireless concerts periodically for the entertainment of the many people in this district who have wireless sets.
 

   Amateur Wireless Sets, made by the maker of the Set which is in operation in our store are on sale here $10.00 up.

Gwen Wagner, another radio pioneer who did just about every job at the upstart WPO in Memphis, Tennessee, shared that station's program from its innaugural broadcast in 1922:

7 p. m.--Baseball results.
7:05 p. m.--News brevities.
7:20 p. m.--Cortese Bros. on harp and violin.
7:50 p. m.--Bedtime story.
8:10 p  m.--Selections on the reproducing piano.
8:30 p. m.--New records on the phonograph.

Radio Age, September 1925

Music was often heard on this newfangled device – sometimes out of true desire by the operator to enrich the lives of listeners, and sometimes just to fill time. One thing was certain, live music sounded better than music from records. That's because radios used electrical microphones, and records were still being recorded and played back mechanically (you know, with the big bell protruding from the tone arm). Electrical microphones weren't being used yet to produce records (though telephones had been using them for decades), and they were still being played back with a steel needle that was amplified by a large bell. As a consequence, radio exploded, and record sales fell off. It wouldn't be until 1925 that records began to start selling in large numbers again. That's when RCA Victor started recording with the better electrical microphones. They also built an electrical reproducing turntable that didn't need to be wound up.