The adoption of the December 1, 1921 regulations by the Commerce Department restricted broadcasting to stations which held a Limited Commercial licence plus an authorization to use the Entertainment wavelength of 360 meters (833 kilohertz), and/or the Market and Weather wavelength of 485 meters (619 kilohertz). These new regulations meant that stations operating under other licence categories -- in particular amateur and experimental -- could no longer make broadcasts intended for the general public. The first list of broadcast stations operating under the new regulations was issued by the Bureau of Navigation for March 10, 1922--it included just 67 stations. However, the new broadcasting service grew rapidly nationwide, and only six months later exceeded 500 stations, again triggering concern that there were too many stations on the air. The following extracts from Radio News review the explosive growth, month by month, as broadcast stations were licenced in all of the then 48 states, plus the territories of Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. (The last state to get a broadcasting station was Wyoming, with the licencing of KFBU in Laramie on October 3, 1922).
Radio News, June, 1922, page 1136:
SOURCES OF ENTERTAINMENT, NEWS AND WEATHER REPORTS.
Ninety-eight radio stations were broadcasting music, concerts, lectures, and market and weather reports, according to the Department of Commerce on March 23.
Among the sending stations are 10 newspapers, a church, a Y. M. C. A., several large department stores, and two municipalities. Many manufacturers, radio sales and equipment shops, and five universities are also sending out amusement features in several forms so that today "all who listen may hear," just as all who "ran" have been able to "read" for many years. Even Hollywood, Calif., has a broadcast.
On March 10 the list of broadcasting stations sending entertainment on 360-meter wave were as follows:
[March 10, 1922 list: 67 stations]
TWENTY-SIX STATES BROADCASTING.
Today there are broadcasting radio telephone stations in 26 states of the Union, California leading with 26 stations, Pennsylvania, second, with 11; New York, 9; Ohio, 8; New Jersey, 6 and District of Columbia, 5. Twenty other states have one or more stations, but 23 have no stations broadcasting as yet.
Page 1218:
MORE ENTERTAINMENT IN THE AIR.
During the past week 21 limited commercial broadcasting stations have been licensed by the Department of Commerce, among them five colleges, Purdue, New Mexico State, St. Joseph, St. Martins and Loyola. The Des Moines Register and Tribune has entered the aerial news field.
Radio News, August, 1922, page 237:
BROADCASTING STILL INCREASING
With the licensing of 18 more broadcasting stations recently by the Department of Commerce, the country now has 253 stations sending out news, entertainment, and Government information. On March 10, there were but 67 stations broadcasting, showing that the number has practically quadrupled in two months, and that new stations are being licensed at a rate of three a day.
It is not strange that everyone is wondering how long it will be before the ether is literally filled with music, news, market and weather reports, and the need for legislation is obvious. To aid the Secretary of Commerce in controlling commercial and amateur radio transmission, particularly radio telephone broadcasting, and to insure the maximum and practical use of the ether by assigning wave-lengths for specific purposes, a bill is in course of preparation.
Following the recommendations of the Radio Committee which assembled at the call of Secretary Hoover, the final report was circulated in the Departments of War, Navy and Commerce, and it is understood, has received the approval of these agencies.
A special committee composed of Senator F. B. Kellogg, Representative W. H. White, Jr., W. D. Terrill, Chief Radio Inspector, Department of Commerce and Mr. A. J. Tyrer, Deputy Commissioner of Navigation, Department of Commerce, met recently to go over the final draft of a proposed bill which Congressman White will shortly introduce in the House of Representatives. Present plans in Congress aim to push this needed legislation so that it will be enacted during the present session.
TRANSMITTING STATIONS TOTAL 19,067
A survey of all radio transmitting stations licensed by the Department of Commerce shows that there are today 19,067 stations. Of this number 15,495 are amateur stations, 348 experimental and technical training schools, 2,783 American ships and the balance, 439, commercial stations.
Of this last number there are today 274 broadcasting stations, known as limited commercial stations, 20 of which were licensed recently. They comprise universities, municipalities, newspapers, electrical manufacturers and retail stores, sending entertainment or information on weather, crops and market reports.
The growth of this class of radio stations has been remarkable; it jumped from 67 stations a little over two months ago to 274 today. Applications are filed on an average of about three or four a day.
TRANSMITTING STATIONS
Trans-Oceanic 11; General Public or "ship to shore" 31; Point to Point 124; Broadcasting 274; American ships 2,783; Experimental 225; Technical and Training Schools 123; Amateur 15,294; Special Amateur 201.
AMATEURS BY DISTRICTS
1. Boston 2,490; 2. New York 2,313; 3. Baltimore 1,831; 4. Baltimore (Savannah) 319; 5. New Orleans 699; 6. San Francisco 1,616; 7. Seattle 726; 8. Detroit 2,393; 9. Chicago 2,907.
The Commerce Department does not regulate or record receiving stations, and will not guess at the total number, now unofficially estimated at about a million and a half.
PACIFIC COAST STATES AND CITIES LEAD IN BROADCASTING
CALIFORNIA FIRST AND OHIO SECOND OF STATES, WHILE LOS ANGELES LEADS CITIES
There were 310 broadcasting stations licensed by the Department of Commerce up to June 2d to send out news, entertainment and market and crop reports. This number would have been 314, except that four stations have dropped out of the broadcasting business. These stations--one each in Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia--are the only ones which have stopped broadcasting since last June, according to officials of the Department of Commerce Radio Section; whereas new stations are being licensed at the rate of about three per day.
California takes the lead in broadcasting development, according to late figures, with 60 stations. Ohio is next with 23, Pennsylvania and New York are tied for third with 20 each, and Washington is a close fourth with 19, Illinois has 13, Missouri 12, Texas 11 and New Jersey, Kansas and Oregon follow with 10 each.
Only six states and territories are without one of the modern sources of news, information and entertainment--Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Hampshire, Kentucky and South Carolina--although there are several states with but one station. [Note: The state of Mississippi and the territory of Puerto Rico, omitted in the list below, also did not have any broadcast stations at this time.]
Los Angeles, like its progressive state, leads other cities in the number of broadcasting stations, with 19 in that city; Philadelphia is second with 7; and San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, New Orleans and Minneapolis have 6 each; while New York, Chicago, Washington and St. Louis have 5 each. It is obvious that the Pacific Coast states and cities lead in this development.
BROADCASTING STATIONS BY STATES AND CITIES
Alabama, 2--Birmingham 1, Montgomery 1.
Alaska, 0.
Arizona, 2--Phoenix 1, Tucson 1.
Arkansas, 4--Fort Smith 1, Little Rock 2, Pine Bluff 1.
California, 60--Altadena 1, Bakersfield 2, Berkeley 2, El Monte 1, Eureka 1, Fresno 2, Gridley 1, Hollywood 1, Long Beach 1, Los Altos 1, Los Angeles 19, Modesto 2, Monterey 1, Oakland 4, Pasadena 2, Pomona 1, Redwood City 1, Reedley 1, Sacramento 1, San Diego 4, San Francisco 6, San Jose 2, Stockton 2, Sunnyroll 1.
Colorado, 5--Colorado Springs 1, Denver 4.
Connecticut, 3--Greenwich 1, Hartford 1, New Haven 1.
Delaware, 0.
District of Columbia, 5--Washington 5.
Florida, 3--Jacksonville 2, Tampa 1.
Georgia, 5--Atlanta 3, Decatur 1, College Park 1.
Hawaii, 2.
Idaho, 0.
Illinois, 13--Chicago 5, Decatur 2, Peoria 1, Quincy 2, Springfield 1, Tuscola 1, Urbanna 1.
Indiana, 7--Anderson 1, Indianapolis 2, Richmond 1, South Bend 1, Terre Haute 1, West Lafayette 1.
Iowa, 5--Ames 1, Centerville 1, Davenport 1, Des Moines 1. Fort Dodge 1.
Kansas, 10--Anthony 1, Atwood 1, El Dorado 1, Emporia 1, Lindsborg 1, Manhattan 1, Wichita 4.
Kentucky, 0.
Louisiana, 8--New Orleans 6, Shreveport 2.
Maine, 1--Auburn 1.
Maryland, 2--Baltimore 2.
Massachusetts, 6--Boston 1, Medford Hillside 1, New Bedford 1, Springfield 1, Worcester 2.
Michigan, 7--Bay City 1, Dearborn 1, Detroit 3, E. Lansing 1, Flint 1.
Minnesota, 8--Minneapolis 6, Northfield 1, St. Paul 1.
Missouri, 12--Columbia 1, Jefferson City 1, Kansas City 4, St. Louis 5, St. Joseph 1.
Montana, 1--Great Falls 1.
Nebraska, 4--Omaha 3, University Place 1.
Nevada, 2--Reno 2.
New Hampshire, 0.
New Jersey, 10--Camden 1, Jersey City 1, Moorestown 1, Newark 4, Paterson 1, Plainfield 1, Roselle Park 1.
New Mexico, 2--Roswell 1, State College 1.
New York, 20--Albany 1, Buffalo 2, Canton 1, Ithaca 2, Newburg 1, New York 5, Ridgewood 1, Rochester 1, Schenectady 2, Syracuse 2, Tarrytown 1, Utica 1.
North Carolina, 1--Charlotte 1.
North Dakota, 1--Fargo 1.
Ohio, 23--Akron 1, Athens 1, Canton 1, Cincinnati 4, Cleveland 1, Columbus 1, Dayton 1, Defiance 1, Danville 1, Hamilton 2, Marietta 1, New Lebanon 1, Portsmouth 1, Toledo 3, Youngstown 2, Zanesville 1.
Oklahoma, 2--Muskogee 1, Oklahoma City 1.
Oregon, 10--Eugene 2, Klamath Falls 1, Hood River 1, Portland 6.
Pennsylvania, 20--Bridgeport 1, Brownsville 1, Clearfield 1, Crafton 1, East Pittsburgh 1, Erie 2, Harrisburg 1, McKeesport 1, Philadelphia 7, Pittsburgh 2, Wilkes-Barre 1, Villanova 1.
Rhode Island, 1--Edgewood 1.
South Carolina, 0.
South Dakota, 1--Rapid City 1.
Tennessee, 3--Memphis 2, Nashville 1.
Texas, 11--Amarillo 1, Austin 1, Dallas 2, El Paso 1, Fort Worth 2, Houston 2, Paris 1, San Antonio 1.
Utah, 3--Salt Lake City 2, Ogden 1.
Vermont, 1--Burlington 1.
Virginia, 2--Norfolk 1, Richmond 1.
Washington, 19--Aberdeen 1, Bellingham 1, Centralia 1, Lacy 1, Seattle 6, Spokane 2, Tacoma 2, Wenatchee 3, Yakima 2.
West Virginia, 3--Charleston 1, Huntington 1, Morgantown 1.
Wisconsin, 3--Madison 1, Milwaukee 2.
Page 379:
PORTO RICO AND SOUTH CAROLINA GET FIRST BROADCASTING STATIONS
The Department of Commerce issued 13 more broadcasting licenses during the past week, including one to a radio school in Porto Rico [Note: WGAD, Spanish-American School of Radiotelegraphy, Ensenada, June 19th] and one to a radio shop in Charleston, S. C. [Note: WFAZ, South Carolina Radio Shop, Charleston, June 17th] the first stations on the Island and in the State. This leaves but five States without one or more broadcasting stations.
The 13 new stations licensed bring the total list of broadcasters in the United States and territories to 361.
Radio News, September, 1922, page 451:
NINE MONTHS OF BROADCASTING
On June 30th the Department of Commerce licensed the 382d broadcasting station, issuing 21 during the past week. Within nine months all these broadcasting stations have sprung up until to-day the air is literally charged with news, music and data of various sorts. The future of radio telephonic broadcasting seems assured, as the remarkable growth still goes on at the rate of about three new stations each day.
Since the advent of broadcasting only ten stations have dropped out of the new and fascinating game, and most of those on account of the termination or transfer of a business or due to the death of the owner. [Note: KQL's owner, Arno A. Kluge, died on December 31, 1921.] Among the recent stations deleted are the following:
KGC--Electric Lighting Supply Co., Hollywood, Cal.
KQL--A. A. Kluge, Los Angeles, Cal.
WGH--Light & Water Power Co., Montgomery, Ala.
WPB--Newspaper Printing Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.
WQB--C. D. Tuska, Hartford, Conn.
KOJ--University of Nebraska.
Among the new stations listed recently is the first department of the American Legion to take up broadcasting, the Nebraska Department of this organization having been assigned the call, "WGAT," the last three letters of which seem to have a special military significance and recall a weapon with which most veterans were familiar not so long ago.
A newspaper in Fort Smith, and one in South Bend, have put in broadcasting stations, making nearly fifty dailies with private stations, while three more universities have opened stations.
Radio News, November, 1922, page 1017:
IDAHO JOINS BROADCASTING STATES
Among 12 broadcasting stations licensed by the Department of Commerce during one week recently, there were two in Idaho, one of the five states which had no broadcasting station. They are operated by an electric shop in Moscow [Note: KFAN, The Electric Shop, July 6th] and a firm in Lewiston [Note: KFBA, Ramey & Bryant Radio Co., also July 6th]. Wyoming will soon be in the broadcasting field, it is reported, and then there will be but three states with no radio news distributing stations--Mississippi, Kentucky and Delaware.
Los Angeles appears to be pretty near the saturation point, as far as radio broadcasting is concerned, as with 29 stations in the vicinity contributing to the aerial barrage of news, music and entertainment, time schedules and Wave assignments will be necessary soon.
Three daily papers took up broadcasting recently, one school of music, and the city of San Jose, California.
Radio News, September, 1922, page 480:
ALL BUT TWO STATES NOW BROADCAST
The states of Kentucky and Mississippi went on the Department of Commerce's Broadcasting Map last week when stations in Louisville [Note: WHAS, Courier-Journal and Louisville Times, July 13th] and Corinth [Note: WHAU, Corinth Radio Supply Company, July 14th] were licensed. There are but two states, Delaware and Wyoming, left without broadcasting stations, every other state of the Union having one or more dispensers of news and entertainment via the ether.
Eleven limited commercial stations licensed last week bring the total broadcasters to 406. Of the new stations, Nevada, District of Columbia, California, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Montana and Wisconsin, besides Mississippi and Kentucky, opened one station each.
Radio News, October, 1922, page 632:
451 BROADCASTERS OPERATE IN ALL STATES EXCEPT WYOMING
When KDKA, the first broadcasting call, was assigned nine months ago to the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., East Pittsburgh, Pa., even the Chief Radio Inspector did not suspect that today there would be 451 stations broadcasting, one or more in every state except Wyoming. The growth has been phenomenal, but at the same time healthy, for the applications for broadcasting station licenses continue to pour into the Department of Commerce at the rate of about three a day, with very few withdrawals.
During the week ending July 29 twenty-six more stations were licensed, including the stations of the Wilmington Electrical Specialty Co. [Note: WHAV, July 22nd], the first in the state of Delaware, which leaves but one state without a broadcasting station.
Wyoming, last of the states alphabetically, is also the last of the states to take up radio communication. There are no public service or broadcasting stations there, no experimental or technical operators and only three special or advanced amateur stations; one each at Douglass, Casper and Elk. In the whole of the Seventh Radio District, comprising Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, there are only about 750 amateurs transmitting, while in other districts the number runs into two or three thousand. Evidently something must be done to awaken the great Wyoming to the call of the air, when even the smallest state, Delaware, has one broadcaster.
Naturally the greatest number of broadcasting stations are operated by electrical manufacturers and dealers, but one of the keenest interests displayed is that of the press of America : sixty-eight newspapers are broadcasting today for the benefit of their readers and the public in general. Last week five joined the throng, one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
Radio News, December, 1922, page 1087:
FIRST BROADCASTER IN ALASKA IS WLAY
Thirteen regular broadcasting licenses, now known as Class "A," were issued by the Department of Commerce during the week ending September 30, among them the first broadcasting station in Alaska, WLAY, the station of the Northern Commercial Company, located at Fairbanks, [Note: First licenced September 27th--Alaska was a territory, not a state, at this time] nearly in the center of that territory, will broadcast a program of entertainment for the benefit of the citizens within a radius of about 500 miles.
Page 1138:
CALIFORNIA LEADS IN BROADCASTING STATIONS--SERVICE CONTINUES IN ALL BUT ONE STATE
Broadcasting still continues in all but one state in spite of the pessimistic reports from some quarters that this service, which is likened to a fad, is falling off and likely to collapse. On September 21, there were 510 active broadcasting stations, according to a survey by the Radio Section of its Limited Commercial Stations, operating on 360 meters.
California still leads the procession, with 66 stations sending entertainment, news and information; Ohio is second with 34; and New York third, having 28 stations, while Wyoming brings up the rear without a single station. Every other State of the Union has one or more transmitting stations carrying entertainment in some form for the owners of receiving sets.
NUMBER OF BROADCASTING STATIONS BY STATES ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1922
California 66; Ohio 34; New York 28; Pennsylvania 27; Texas 25; Washington 23; Missouri 22; Illinois 20; Iowa 20; Nebraska 17; Oregon 15; Kansas 15; Minnesota 12; Indiana 12; Massachusetts 12; Michigan 11; New Jersey 11; Louisiana 10; Wisconsin 10; Florida 9; Dist. of Columbia 8; Oklahoma 8; Georgia 7; Arkansas 6; Colorado 6; Arizona 5; Connecticut 5; Idaho 5; Rhode Island 5; West Virginia 5; Alabama 4; Maine 4; Utah 4; Kentucky 4; Montana 4; Maryland 3; North Carolina 3; South Dakota 3; Tennessee 3; Nevada 2; New Mexico 2; North Dakota 2; Porto Rico 2; South Carolina 2; Hawaii 2; Vermont 2; Virginia 2; Delaware 1; Mississippi 1; New Hampshire 1;
Wyoming 0. Total: 510.
Page 1156:
BROADCASTING INCREASES FIVE-HUNDRED FOLD IN YEAR. STATIONS NOW IN EVERY STATE--ONLY 23 OUT
OF 558 LICENSES LAPSE
By WASHINGTON RADIO NEWS SERVICE
There were 546 broadcasting stations in the country on October 5; one or more stations supply radio enthusiasts with all the in every state of the union. These stations supply radio enthusiasts with all the entertainment, news, government data on weather, agriculture, health, and other subjects that they can listen to all day and far into the night. But the total of 546 stations, is literally too great, and the stations are not well distributed, according to the Department of Commerce officials. Most of the broadcasters are located in the east and southwest, where time schedules have to be employed to avoid interference. The public would be better served, it is believed, if there were fewer stations and they were more widely distributed or located in proportion to areas and population; 535 stations are broadcasting on 360 meters, the balance on 400 meters.
SIFTING OF STATIONS NEEDED
"What is needed now," one official explained, "is a sifting out of the lesser stations, which are not rendering satisfactory service and popular entertainment, so that the Radio Public can listen in to good music, authoritative statistics and current news." The creation by the Department of the Class B license, granted to only the superstations, will guarantee high-class entertainment and excellent radio service, since those stations are granted authority to use a special wave-length of 400 meters. There are 11 of these stations located in seven states, making good programs, without mechanical music and cheaper forms of entertainment, available in practically all the Eastern and some central states, where the fans listen in on 400 meters, watching local papers for the daily programs.
The 535 stations operating on 360 meters will have to look to their programs, as public opinion will indicate which of them are to continue in service for any length of time. The operating expense is so high that eventually only the good ones with sound backing will remain.
BROADCASTING IN EVERY STATE
With the issuance of a license in Laramie, Wyoming, [Note: KFBU, The Cathedral (Bishop Thomas), October 3rd] every state in the Union has one or more broadcasting stations. As has been the case since the industry got a fair start, California still leads, having today 66 stations; Ohio follows with 35 and New York is third, having 30.