1934 in radio

The year 1934 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.

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Events

1 January – In New Zealand, station 3YL Christchurch is opened.{{cite web|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/broadcasting-and-television/4|title=An Encyclopedia of New Zealand|year=1966|access-date=7 September 2010|archive-date=12 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612100847/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/broadcasting-and-television/4|url-status=live}}
14 January – The Lucerne Frequency Plan, reallocating long and short wave frequencies in Europe, comes into force.
February – The government of France suppresses radio reporting of the Stavisky Riots.{{cite book|author=Anthony Adamthwaite|title=Grandeur And Misery: France's Bid for Power in Europe, 1914-1940|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lPPCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT179|date=4 March 2014|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4725-7802-0|pages=179|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093724/https://books.google.com/books?id=lPPCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT179|url-status=live}}
26 March – In New Zealand, station 4YO Dunedin is opened.
1 April – NIROM (Nederlandsch-Indische Radio-omroepmaatschappij), the Dutch East Indies Radio Broadcasting Corporation, begins broadcasting from studios in Batavia and Surabaya.{{cite book|title=Sonic Modernities in the Malay World: A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s – 2000s)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wUSBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA57|date=9 January 2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-26177-8|pages=57|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093724/https://books.google.com/books?id=0wUSBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA57|url-status=live}}
6 May – "Day of the Saar": all Germany's radio stations broadcast propaganda material aiming to influence the result of the 1935 Saar status referendum.{{cite book|author=K. Somerville|title=Radio Propaganda and the Broadcasting of Hatred: Historical Development and Definitions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MkLPwvWmS_QC&pg=PT170|date=31 August 2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-137-28415-0|pages=170|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093742/https://books.google.com/books?id=MkLPwvWmS_QC&pg=PT170|url-status=live}}
28 June – Fireside chat: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcasts a Review of the Achievements of the Seventy-third Congress.
1 July – The Federal Communications Commission is created, replacing the Federal Radio Commission in the United States.
August – At the first congress of the Union of Soviet Writers, several of the union's most prominent figures, such as Alexander Serafimovich and Marietta Shaginyan, comment on the merits of radio as a medium for writers.{{cite book|author=Stephen Lovell|title=Russia in the Microphone Age: A History of Soviet Radio, 1919-1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5NqmCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-872526-8|pages=93|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093725/https://books.google.com/books?id=5NqmCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|url-status=live}}
30 September – Fireside chat: On Moving Forward to Greater Freedom and Greater Security.
7 October – In the United Kingdom, the new high-power longwave transmitter at Droitwich takes over from Daventry 5XX as the main station radiating the BBC National Programme.
10 December – WJBO is relocated from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and relaunched as WJBO 1150AM.
EKCO introduces its distinctive round bakelite radio cabinets in the United Kingdom.
date unknown – Radio Misr is launched in Egypt, the first radio station in the Arabic-speaking world.{{cite book|editor=Jeffreys, Andrew|title=The Report: Egypt 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dcVBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA268|date=13 November 2013|publisher=Oxford Business Group|isbn=978-1-907065-91-0|pages=268|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093744/https://books.google.com/books?id=-dcVBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA268|url-status=live}}

Debuts

13 January – Al Pearce and His Gang debuts on NBC Blue.Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3848-8}}.
10 March – Beatrice Fairfax debuts on NBC.Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-507678-3}}.
17 March – The Growth of a Poet (about John Masefield) is broadcast by the BBC in Belfast, Northern Ireland.{{cite book|author1=Matthew Feldman|author2=Henry Mead|author3=Erik Tonning|title=Broadcasting in the Modernist Era|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djJjAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24|date=22 May 2014|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4725-1359-5|pages=24|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093725/https://books.google.com/books?id=djJjAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24|url-status=live}}
26 March – The Adventures of Frank Merriwell debuts on NBC.
16 April – Babe Ruth debuts on the Blue Network.
April – Major Bowes Amateur Hour debuts on the New York City station WHN.
15 September – The Gibson Family debuts on NBC.
29 September – The Quality Network cooperative is reorganized and renamed the Mutual Broadcasting System. The stations participating in the co-op, all serving as part-owners, include WOR-New York (Bamberger Broadcasting Service/Macy's), WGN-Chicago (Chicago Tribune), WLW-Cincinnati (Crosley Broadcasting Corporation) and WXYZ-Detroit (Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting).
5 October – Hollywood Hotel debuts on CBS.
14 October – Lux Radio Theater debuts on NBC Blue for its first year, before moving to CBS for the remainder of its run.
December – The first episode of Ovaltiney's Concert Party is broadcast, with Harry Hemsley and Gladys Young as presenters.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hemsley_harry.htm|title=Harry Hemsley|website=lambiek.net|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=21 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421215624/https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hemsley_harry.htm|url-status=live}}

Endings

2 January – Blackstone Plantation ends its run on network radio (NBC).
25 February – The American Revue ends its run on network radio (CBS).
3 March – Tarzan of the Apes ends its run on WOR.{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|title=Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476612270|pages=248–250|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLzwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA249|language=en|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093725/https://books.google.com/books?id=gLzwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA249|url-status=live}}
16 November – Bring 'Em Back Alive ends its run on network radio (Blue Network).
17 December – The Atwater Kent Hour ends its run on network radio (CBS).

Births

1 January – Alan Berg (died 1984), Denver-based liberal radio talk show host, previously an attorney.
30 January – Tammy Grimes (died 2016), American actress and singer, host of the final season of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
4 March – John Dunn (died 2004), British radio presenter.
25 April – George Bogle, minister and religious broadcaster in Detroit, Michigan.
10 May – Gary Owens (died 2015), American radio host and voice actor.
5 June – Bryon Butler (died 2001), British radio football correspondent.
5 August – Gay Byrne (died 2019), Irish broadcaster.
18 December – Michael Freedland (died 2018), British journalist, biographer and broadcaster in London (You Don't Have To Be Jewish).

Deaths

8 June – Dorothy Dell, 19, US actress"What Never Was Told About the Tragic Crash of Lovely Dorothy Dell", The Salt Lake Tribune, 12 August 1934, p. 7
28 July – Marie Dressler, 65, Canadian-born actress,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NoleAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qUsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4682,1570000&dq=marie+dressler+cancer&hl=en|title=Marie Dressler Loses Long Battle For Life|date=29 July 1934|work=The Portsmouth Times|page=1|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=9 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609110851/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NoleAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qUsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4682,1570000&dq=marie+dressler+cancer&hl=en|url-status=live}} whose 1933 birthday party, hosted by MGM, was broadcast live
30 August – Don Lee, 54, pioneer California broadcasting mogul.
10 September – George Henschel, 84, singer and pianist (a few months after his first radio performance as a singer){{cite book|author1=George S. Bozarth|author2=Johannes Brahms|title=Johannes Brahms and George Henschel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MsEHAQAAMAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Harmonie Park Press|isbn=978-0-89990-140-4|access-date=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222093727/https://books.google.com/books?id=MsEHAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}

References

Category:Radio by year