KDKA 1020 AM started in a Wilkinsburg garage as a 75-watt hobby station before transforming into a commercial broadcaster on November 2, 1920. That evening, operating from Pittsburgh, the station broadcast the Warren G. Harding versus James Cox presidential election results alongside live banjo music and phonograph records, reaching a few thousand listeners and creating the blueprint for commercial radio.
From a Wilkinsburg Garage to 8XK
Frank Conrad, assistant chief engineer for Westinghouse Electric, set up the experimental 8XK station in 1916. Working out of his garage in Wilkinsburg, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Conrad broadcast music, baseball scores, and chatted with fellow radio amateurs. Westinghouse executives quickly realized that to sell radio receivers, consumers needed something to listen to.
That realization led directly to the station securing a commercial license under the call letters KDKA. On the night of November 2, 1920, starting at 18:00, the station transmitted election returns phoned in from the Pittsburgh Post. It marked the first time a broadcast was regular, announced and targeted an unstratified general audience rather than point-to-point amateur communication.
Building the First American Radio Network
Following that landmark night, KDKA established the country’s first daily one-hour evening schedule, inventing the broadcast program format. Westinghouse expanded its media footprint in 1921 by launching three additional stations: WJZ in Newark, WBZ in Springfield, and KYW in Chicago, creating the first radio chain. This model fueled an industry boom that saw 600 stations open across the United States within four years.
Pittsburgh served as the incubator because Westinghouse possessed the necessary transmitters, technical staff, and a direct commercial incentive. More listeners translated directly into higher receiver sales. While WEAF in New York broadcast the first commercial advertising spot on August 28, 1922, the financial model of advertiser-supported broadcasting sprang directly from the commercial foundation built by KDKA.
Broadcasting From Pittsburgh Into a Second Century
More than 100 years later, KDKA 1020 AM continues to broadcast from Pittsburgh as a news and talk station. During daylight hours, its signal covers central and western Pennsylvania, alongside parts of Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland, occasionally reaching western New York and southern Ontario. At night, a strong radio can pick up the signal across much of the eastern United States and eastern Canada.
The station also serves as a primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System in western Pennsylvania. Recognized as the oldest licensed commercial radio station still operating in the United States, KDKA evolved from an experimental garage project to the voice of Westinghouse Broadcasting, to an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network in 1927, into today’s news/talk format, maintaining its historic call letters throughout.
Keep reading
