CBS News, National Press Club produce documentary commemorating the centennial of radio

One hundred years ago today, on August 20, 1920, WWJ Radio in Detroit (then known as station 8MK and owned by The Detroit News) launched the age of electronic media, broadcasting a series of musical selections by connecting a megaphone to a phonograph and sending the sounds through its transmitter to some 30 homes with receiving sets throughout the city. With that, the station launched the first regularly scheduled programming on radio in America.

Less than three months later, on November 2, 1920, radio’s ‘big bang’ occurred when station KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcast live coverage of the Harding-Cox presidential election returns.

And for 100 years since, radio has been the sound of our lives.

To commemorate the centennial of America’s first electronic medium, CBS News Radio and The National Press Club joined forces this year to produce a ten-part series "Celebrating a Century of Sound," which has aired on the CBS World News Roundup and individual stations across the country.

Today, CBS News Radio and the National Press Club are introducing a mini-documentary based on a compilation of the ten chapters. Anchored by correspondent Sam Litzinger, the program chronicles, in sight and sound, the history of radio from crystal sets to digital platforms, and from soap operas, sitcoms, and symphonies to rock-n-roll, all-news, talk, and sports radio.

"From the creation of broadcast journalism by Edward R. Murrow to today's offerings on multiple media platforms, CBS has provided programming you can trust," said CBS News Radio Vice President and General Manager Craig Swagler. "Our CBS stations have also been there from the start, inventing many of the formats we know and love, while also creating our successful path forward into the 21st century. We're pleased and proud to partner with The National Press Club to bring this unique series - and now this mini documentary - to listeners across the country and around the world."

Radio can exert an emotional pull on listeners.

"Radio is the one medium you can fall in love with--and hundreds of millions of us have done just that over the decades," said Executive Producer Michael Freedman, president of the National Press Club and former general manager of CBS Radio Network. "At its best, it is an art form, painting pictures for the mind's eye. It is a world of information and entertainment, a lifelong companion and a trusted friend. It is part of the fabric of America and indeed, represents the sound of our lives."

Today, the most intimate of all media continues to grow, reaching 90 percent of American adults on a weekly basis via broadcast and online programming, a mark that is higher than that of any other media format. More than 270 million Americans listen to traditional radio every week, with millions also tuning into online audio programming.