August 20, 2025 • 24 mins
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On this bonus episode of Fully Modulated, Tyler drops the curtain on the weirdest holiday in broadcasting: National Radio Day. Why August 20th? Who actually invented radio? And what happens when the whole country suddenly remembers the tower selfie folder on their phones?
Tyler digs into the chaotic, disputed origins of National Radio Day, spins stories about how radio became the most personal mass medium on the planet, and shares why radio still matters in a world ruled by screens and algorithms. You’ll get tales of World War II newsflashes, wild morning show stunts, and the timeless agony of dead air.
This episode busts radio myths, unpacks a few engineer legends, and gives practical tips for making National Radio Day special—whether you’re running a big stick, a one-room LPFM, or just listening from your kitchen table. Plus, you’ll hear the strangest thing ever found in a transmitter building, and a few facts you’ll want to drop at your next engineer’s lunch.
If you’ve ever wondered why radio has so many birthdays, why people still care, or what makes this medium so stubbornly magical, this is the episode for you. Happy National Radio Day!
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Fully Modulated is not affiliated with or endorsed by any station, media company, or network. All opinions are solely my own.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ever notice how, every August, radio stations all
across the country suddenlyremember they exist Suddenly?
You see old transmitter selfies, radio save my life stories,
and that one picture of a towercovered in snow making its
rounds online.
That is National Radio Day aholiday with no Hallmark cards,
(00:23):
no parades and, honestly, noteven a single real rule.
But radio people.
We go all in, from honor stuntsto history, deep dives.
Today we're cracking open thestory of the world's most
stubborn, resilient anddownright magical mediums Radio.
(00:43):
Hey, it's tyler woodward.
(01:19):
Yeah, that broadcast engineer,the one who still likes a nicely
racked STL, and well, Iprobably have too many XLR
cables in the back of my carright now.
But that's besides the point.
Today's a little special.
We're dropping this episode asa bonus for National Radio Day.
(01:46):
This is Fully Modulated, theshow where we celebrate the
beautiful, chaotic world ofradio and audio.
One weird story at a time.
Maybe you're here because youjust love radio, or maybe
because you're the only personunder 40 who still knows what an
EAS header sounds like.
Either way, you're in the rightplace.
So what's actually up with thisNational Radio Day?
Why does it land on August 20th?
(02:09):
Is this about Marconi Sarnoffor Tesla, or some other
mustachioed inventor from.
I just built this in my garage.
Era Spoiler alert historiansstill don't agree on this.
But today we're going to diginto how National Radio Day
(02:30):
started, the real and sometimesjust plain wild history behind
it, and why, even now, radiostill makes people feel things
in ways TikTok can't even touch,makes people feel things in
ways TikTok can't even touch.
We'll get into the stories, themyths and even a couple of
(02:54):
tricks to make your own stationsound just a little more magical
on this holiday that someonesomewhere just made up.
So spin the dial, grab a cup ofDJ coffee.
Oh, nevermind, we know thatcoffee sucks, which is basically
just regular coffee, but colderand more disappointing.
Let's make some RF.
But first I have to remind youthat this episode, and well the
(03:18):
podcast in general, is fullyindependent.
No company paid me to say nicethings about their transmitters.
These are just my thoughts,plus maybe a ghost or two from
the golden age of AM radio.
(03:41):
Let's start here.
Nobody actually knows whodecided that National Radio Day
would be August 20th.
There's no law, there's nosigned declaration and there's
not even a single angry memofrom the FCC.
It just sort of happened.
If you poke around you'll findsome folks who say it marks the
(04:05):
anniversary of Lee DeForest'sfirst real broadcast.
Other people say it's just aday someone got tired of arguing
about and threw up a website.
That last part isn't even ajoke.
The current nationalradiodaycomdates back to the early 2000s
and it pretty much just said hey, let's call it August 20th.
(04:26):
That's radio for you, purechaos plus community.
Now if you ask 10 differentengineers or DJs, you'll get 10
different real radio birthdays.
Some people say the very firstradio program happened on
(04:47):
December 24, 1906, when ReginaldFassenden supposedly broadcast
violin music and a Bible readingfrom Brant Rock, massachusetts.
But did anybody actually hearit?
To this day people still argueabout it.
Others insist that November 2nd1920 is the real starting line,
(05:14):
because that's when KDKA inPittsburgh went on the air with
election results.
Unless, of course, you're fromDetroit, then it was 8MK.
If you're from San Jose you'llhear about Charles Harold
Station.
The point is everybody wantsthe bragging rights.
(05:39):
And then April 15th 1912, getstossed around because when the
Titanic went down, the worldfound out via radio that was
Morse code, frantic sparktransmitters and, honestly, a
whole new reason to care aboutwireless.
So why did we land on August20th?
(06:03):
Honestly, nobody really knows.
Does it matter?
Not really.
Like most of the great thingsin radio, the story is messy.
Everyone argues about it andI'm pretty sure at least one
person was eating a donut atthree in the morning when it all
went down.
Let me tell you about my firstNational Radio Day as an
(06:25):
engineer.
I totally missed it.
I was fixing an STL at a littleRoyal FM and the only holiday
feeling I got was trying not tobe zamped by the rack's mystery
power supply.
But that's kind of the beautyof it.
But that's kind of the beautyof it.
Radio's birthday is wheneverand wherever you decide to make
(06:47):
it.
Every time someone fires up atransmitter somewhere in the
world it's a new beginning.
The real takeaway is this Radiohas been born more times than I
can count and more places thanI can point to on a map, but
every single time it's becausesomeone wanted to make a
(07:10):
connection with somebody outthere in the world.
If you're digging the show, dome a favor Hit, follow.
Leave a rating or tell yourweirdest radio buddy to check
(07:33):
out.
Fully Modulated, no big pledgedrives, just one guy trying to
keep the audio nerd communityalive.
Drop a review on Apple, hit afollow on Spotify or find us on
Instagram, TikTok or the world'smost random Facebook page.
(08:18):
Seriously, people from 1920 allthe way up to today care enough
about radio to give it aholiday, even if it's a made up
one, it comes down to.
This Radio is weirdly personal.
It's a one to many medium thatstill feels like it's just for
you.
Rewind to World War II and yourgrandmother probably found out
(08:44):
about D-Day on the kitchen radio, maybe while canning peaches,
maybe while shushing the kids.
I mean, we still do that today,don't we?
There wasn't any refresh button.
If you didn't hear it on theair, it didn't happen.
The whole world listenedtogether.
(09:05):
There's this endless debate overthe first song ever played on
the radio.
Some folks say it was Old HolyNight, but others think it was
something scratchy out of KDKA.
Or Come Josephine and my FlyingMachine on some forgotten AM
station.
The truth is nobody agrees.
And that's radio for you.
Come Josephine and my flyingmachine on some forgotten AM
(09:25):
station.
The truth is nobody agrees.
And that's radio for you.
It's a game of telephone playedwith actual telephones.
And then there's the classicturn down your radio moment in
every call-in radio show.
If you've ever run a console,you know the pain.
The first time you say it yourealize you've become part of a
(09:54):
secret club.
Let's talk about weird radiostunts, though.
There have been stations wherethe morning show hosts tried to
see who could stay on the airthe longest or who could eat the
most donuts while broadcasting.
One place I worked the morningshow once, did a whole hour
standing on one foot.
Did it help ratings?
No, of course not.
(10:15):
Was it good radio?
I don't know, nobody's seen it.
But here's the real magic.
Radio matters because it's messy, live and totally human.
It's the last place where youcan still mess up in real time,
have I don't know a patch ofdead air and hear an actual
(10:36):
person scramble to recover.
When you're streaming, thealgorithm usually covers your
mistakes On radio.
The dead air is part of theexperience, and radio is still
there when nothing else is.
When a tornado knocks out acell tower, when the power's
gone, you find a battery-poweredradio and you hear a voice
(10:59):
coming through the static.
Maybe it's just the weather,maybe it's something more, but
you realize that radio sneaksinto places nothing else can
reach.
It also keeps people company inways nothing else can, if
(11:34):
you've ever tuned into anovernight show and felt like the
only person awake.
You're not alone.
A million other people aredoing the same exact thing, each
convinced they're the only one.
So every National Radio Day,when you see those tower selfies
and DJ throwbacks, it's notbecause anyone made us do it.
(11:58):
It's because, even now, radiois just a little bit wild, a
little bit wobbly and a lot ofwonderful.
(12:24):
Here is a few tips on how youcan make National Radio Day feel
like a real celebration, evenif you're the only one in the
building.
Go find an old air check or digup a back when we used carts
photo and share it somewhereFacebook, instagram, tiktok,
youtube, I don't care, put itsomewhere.
It doesn't need to be polished.
Radio is about stories, notperfection.
Take a second to thank thepeople who keep things running
(12:45):
behind the scenes.
Give a shout out to yourbroadcast engineers, board ops,
it folks and that one person whostill knows how to reboot a XDS
receiver.
No station survives without itstech crew.
Have some fun with your soundfor the day.
Run a special legal ID with avintage voice or maybe let a DJ
(13:10):
go completely off script for theday.
Have fun with it.
And if you're an all automatedshop.
You can still record a goofydrop-in or a hey, it's National
Radio Day message to run acouple of times during I don't
know the afternoon.
Call someone instead of sendingan email.
(13:32):
I promise it's way more radiothan typing it in over in Slack.
And finally, just remember yourwhy.
Why did you pick radio for yourprofession?
Every single radio person hasone of them.
The first station you listenedto, the first time you nailed a
(13:56):
live break, the first time youmanaged to keep the transmitter
from catching on fire for awhole month.
Share that story on air or offair, and I guarantee it'll make
your day better.
You don't need a party, youjust need to make the day yours
(14:31):
now.
Typically in this spot I wouldthrow in maybe a listener
question and answer it the bestI can.
But I want to tell you about myhow I got into radio story.
I was five years old, I think.
My mother gave me a AM FMcassette recorder.
(14:53):
That was it.
I figured out that I couldrecord cassette tapes with my
own voice.
That is the first time I thinkI've ever heard my own voice
played back to me.
And of course, no, no DJactually likes the sound of
their voice.
I mean, yeah, there's some ofthem with an ego that probably
do, but most of us probablydon't and that was it that
(15:16):
sealed the deal.
As I got older I will I Imemorized every call sign
growing up.
I knew the station's addresses,I knew who was on the air what
day part.
I could tell you their phonenumbers.
The station that I used tolisten to growing up the most
(15:36):
was WFLZ in Tampa.
Mj and BJ Morning Show.
Z in Tampa, mj and BJ morningshow.
Mj Kelly, which I follow onInstagram, uh, is still on the
air at WRBQ Q one oh, five oneoh, 4.7 FM down there Still
doing it, still going.
When I was in I want to saymiddle school, maybe high school
(16:01):
, I got to sit in on the lasthour of their morning show.
This is before BJ Harris leftthe show and went elsewhere and
watching there was probably acrew of five or six guys running
around.
You had froggy, you had faster,you had MJ, you had BJ Uh.
There was probably other peoplein the room I didn't even know,
uh, or even knew what they looklike up until that day running
(16:23):
around putting putting CDs andgetting promos ready, figuring
out what they're going to talkabout next.
I watched those guys for anhour plus and, man, I wanted to
do that.
And then, as I got into highschool, I took television
production, I took journalism.
I did all that stuff.
Uh, I volunteered at a publicaccess station in Tampa, uh.
(16:49):
And then I went to theConnecticut school of
broadcasting in the eveningswhile I was still in high school
, interned at WWBA and WHBO AMin Tampa.
It wasn't until I moved up toWisconsin that I really got into
the radio business.
But I never lost the love forit.
I'm still doing it to this day,still still out there, fixing
(17:10):
transmitters, making audio pass,carving it out on the network.
Five years old is when the fireof radio was lit underneath me.
Um, well, by the time this showcomes out I'll be 40, still
doing it.
Man, 35 years later, still likeit.
(17:32):
I'll probably retire in thisbusiness.
I don't know if I could doanything else, but that's my
story.
If you've got a story on howyou got interested in radio, let
me hear it.
Text the show the link is inthe episode description or you
can send me an email if it's along one.
Tyler at fullymodulatedcom,send me a voice memo.
Maybe I'll play it, I'll put itup on the socials or something.
(18:23):
So Radio is packed with legends.
Some are true, some arecompletely made up and a lot
fall somewhere in the middle.
Let's break down a few.
There's this myth that Marconiinvented radio.
Well, not exactly Marconi wasbrilliant at marketing, but
(18:47):
Tesla, besondon and DeForestwere all in the game too.
There were a lot of patentfights, plenty of drama and a
whole lot of wait.
I did that first shenanigans.
In reality, radio is more of anaccidental group project than
(19:08):
one guy's big old idea.
You'll hear people say radio isdying.
But here's the reality, folks.
But here's the reality, folks.
Over 80% of Americans stilllisten every single month.
That's more than the number ofpeople who even know how to set
up their smart TV.
Some folks still insist that AMis completely unlistenable.
(19:33):
It really depends on where youlive for that one.
In some places AM is still howyou get your farm reports, your
high school football games andthat one preacher who sounds
like he probably hasn't slept inthree days plus.
There's nothing quite like thesound of a classic am radio on a
(19:53):
stormy night sometimes.
Sometimes, nostalgia is thebest feature.
Then there's the endless debateover the first song ever aired
on radio.
Was it, oh Holy Night?
Maybe I don't know, buthonestly, the first thing
probably that was broadcast wassomeone reading the weather
(20:18):
report or testing a tone into acrusty old carbon mic.
So much for glamour.
And don't let anyone tell youthat nobody cares about antennas
.
Every radio engineer I know hasat least three pictures of
their favorite tower, probablystill saved somewhere on an old
(20:38):
flip phone.
Oh, and here's a fact that youcan use at your next transmitter
maintenance day the very firstradio commercial ever aired
wasn't for beer or cars, it wasfor apartments in New York City.
Some things don't change.
(21:00):
So there it is, national RadioDay, a holiday no one can really
explain, but every radio nerdcelebrates it in their own way.
(21:26):
That's it for the National RadioDay bonus episode.
Whether you're in a studio, acar or just listening from the
middle of nowhere, happyNational Radio Day and thanks
for keeping radio alive.
Radio is messy, miraculous andstill the best way to hear
something real right now fromsomeone who probably spilled
(21:47):
coffee on the control board atleast once that morning.
Us broadcast engineers hatethose people.
Next time you're driving orshopping or scrolling past an
old radio tower online.
Just remember, behind every RFsignal story is probably a
grumpy old engineer doing theirbest to keep it alive.
(22:11):
If you like this episode, followus on Apple Spotify wherever
you listen, leave a review orsend your weirdest radio story.
The fully modulatedcom bonuspoints if it involves dead air
or finding wildlife inside thetransmitter shack.
A snake across three phases ata am site is, uh, still the
(22:33):
worst smell, from what I've beentold.
I wasn't there in person.
This show runs on curiosity andyour support.
If you want to help keep the RFflowing and the studio lights
on, head over tofullymodulatedcom.
You can leave a tip or justsend a note.
There's no merch, no secretclub, just a bunch of weirdos
who love radio.
Thanks for listening andkeeping the signal strong.
(22:58):
I'll see you next time.
Ever notice how, every August, radio stations all
across the country suddenlyremember they exist Suddenly?
You see old transmitter selfies, radio save my life stories,
and that one picture of a towercovered in snow making its
rounds online.
That is National Radio Day aholiday with no Hallmark cards,
(00:23):
no parades and, honestly, noteven a single real rule.
But radio people.
We go all in, from honor stuntsto history, deep dives.
Today we're cracking open thestory of the world's most
stubborn, resilient anddownright magical mediums Radio.
(00:43):
Hey, it's tyler woodward.
(01:19):
Yeah, that broadcast engineer,the one who still likes a nicely
racked STL, and well, Iprobably have too many XLR
cables in the back of my carright now.
But that's besides the point.
Today's a little special.
We're dropping this episode asa bonus for National Radio Day.
(01:46):
This is Fully Modulated, theshow where we celebrate the
beautiful, chaotic world ofradio and audio.
One weird story at a time.
Maybe you're here because youjust love radio, or maybe
because you're the only personunder 40 who still knows what an
EAS header sounds like.
Either way, you're in the rightplace.
So what's actually up with thisNational Radio Day?
Why does it land on August 20th?
(02:09):
Is this about Marconi Sarnoffor Tesla, or some other
mustachioed inventor from.
I just built this in my garage.
Era Spoiler alert historiansstill don't agree on this.
But today we're going to diginto how National Radio Day
(02:30):
started, the real and sometimesjust plain wild history behind
it, and why, even now, radiostill makes people feel things
in ways TikTok can't even touch,makes people feel things in
ways TikTok can't even touch.
We'll get into the stories, themyths and even a couple of
(02:54):
tricks to make your own stationsound just a little more magical
on this holiday that someonesomewhere just made up.
So spin the dial, grab a cup ofDJ coffee.
Oh, nevermind, we know thatcoffee sucks, which is basically
just regular coffee, but colderand more disappointing.
Let's make some RF.
But first I have to remind youthat this episode, and well the
(03:18):
podcast in general, is fullyindependent.
No company paid me to say nicethings about their transmitters.
These are just my thoughts,plus maybe a ghost or two from
the golden age of AM radio.
(03:41):
Let's start here.
Nobody actually knows whodecided that National Radio Day
would be August 20th.
There's no law, there's nosigned declaration and there's
not even a single angry memofrom the FCC.
It just sort of happened.
If you poke around you'll findsome folks who say it marks the
(04:05):
anniversary of Lee DeForest'sfirst real broadcast.
Other people say it's just aday someone got tired of arguing
about and threw up a website.
That last part isn't even ajoke.
The current nationalradiodaycomdates back to the early 2000s
and it pretty much just said hey, let's call it August 20th.
(04:26):
That's radio for you, purechaos plus community.
Now if you ask 10 differentengineers or DJs, you'll get 10
different real radio birthdays.
Some people say the very firstradio program happened on
(04:47):
December 24, 1906, when ReginaldFassenden supposedly broadcast
violin music and a Bible readingfrom Brant Rock, massachusetts.
But did anybody actually hearit?
To this day people still argueabout it.
Others insist that November 2nd1920 is the real starting line,
(05:14):
because that's when KDKA inPittsburgh went on the air with
election results.
Unless, of course, you're fromDetroit, then it was 8MK.
If you're from San Jose you'llhear about Charles Harold
Station.
The point is everybody wantsthe bragging rights.
(05:39):
And then April 15th 1912, getstossed around because when the
Titanic went down, the worldfound out via radio that was
Morse code, frantic sparktransmitters and, honestly, a
whole new reason to care aboutwireless.
So why did we land on August20th?
(06:03):
Honestly, nobody really knows.
Does it matter?
Not really.
Like most of the great thingsin radio, the story is messy.
Everyone argues about it andI'm pretty sure at least one
person was eating a donut atthree in the morning when it all
went down.
Let me tell you about my firstNational Radio Day as an
(06:25):
engineer.
I totally missed it.
I was fixing an STL at a littleRoyal FM and the only holiday
feeling I got was trying not tobe zamped by the rack's mystery
power supply.
But that's kind of the beautyof it.
But that's kind of the beautyof it.
Radio's birthday is wheneverand wherever you decide to make
(06:47):
it.
Every time someone fires up atransmitter somewhere in the
world it's a new beginning.
The real takeaway is this Radiohas been born more times than I
can count and more places thanI can point to on a map, but
every single time it's becausesomeone wanted to make a
(07:10):
connection with somebody outthere in the world.
If you're digging the show, dome a favor Hit, follow.
Leave a rating or tell yourweirdest radio buddy to check
(07:33):
out.
Fully Modulated, no big pledgedrives, just one guy trying to
keep the audio nerd communityalive.
Drop a review on Apple, hit afollow on Spotify or find us on
Instagram, TikTok or the world'smost random Facebook page.
(08:18):
Seriously, people from 1920 allthe way up to today care enough
about radio to give it aholiday, even if it's a made up
one, it comes down to.
This Radio is weirdly personal.
It's a one to many medium thatstill feels like it's just for
you.
Rewind to World War II and yourgrandmother probably found out
(08:44):
about D-Day on the kitchen radio, maybe while canning peaches,
maybe while shushing the kids.
I mean, we still do that today,don't we?
There wasn't any refresh button.
If you didn't hear it on theair, it didn't happen.
The whole world listenedtogether.
(09:05):
There's this endless debate overthe first song ever played on
the radio.
Some folks say it was Old HolyNight, but others think it was
something scratchy out of KDKA.
Or Come Josephine and my FlyingMachine on some forgotten AM
station.
The truth is nobody agrees.
And that's radio for you.
Come Josephine and my flyingmachine on some forgotten AM
(09:25):
station.
The truth is nobody agrees.
And that's radio for you.
It's a game of telephone playedwith actual telephones.
And then there's the classicturn down your radio moment in
every call-in radio show.
If you've ever run a console,you know the pain.
The first time you say it yourealize you've become part of a
(09:54):
secret club.
Let's talk about weird radiostunts, though.
There have been stations wherethe morning show hosts tried to
see who could stay on the airthe longest or who could eat the
most donuts while broadcasting.
One place I worked the morningshow once, did a whole hour
standing on one foot.
Did it help ratings?
No, of course not.
(10:15):
Was it good radio?
I don't know, nobody's seen it.
But here's the real magic.
Radio matters because it's messy, live and totally human.
It's the last place where youcan still mess up in real time,
have I don't know a patch ofdead air and hear an actual
(10:36):
person scramble to recover.
When you're streaming, thealgorithm usually covers your
mistakes On radio.
The dead air is part of theexperience, and radio is still
there when nothing else is.
When a tornado knocks out acell tower, when the power's
gone, you find a battery-poweredradio and you hear a voice
(10:59):
coming through the static.
Maybe it's just the weather,maybe it's something more, but
you realize that radio sneaksinto places nothing else can
reach.
It also keeps people company inways nothing else can, if
(11:34):
you've ever tuned into anovernight show and felt like the
only person awake.
You're not alone.
A million other people aredoing the same exact thing, each
convinced they're the only one.
So every National Radio Day,when you see those tower selfies
and DJ throwbacks, it's notbecause anyone made us do it.
(11:58):
It's because, even now, radiois just a little bit wild, a
little bit wobbly and a lot ofwonderful.
(12:24):
Here is a few tips on how youcan make National Radio Day feel
like a real celebration, evenif you're the only one in the
building.
Go find an old air check or digup a back when we used carts
photo and share it somewhereFacebook, instagram, tiktok,
youtube, I don't care, put itsomewhere.
It doesn't need to be polished.
Radio is about stories, notperfection.
Take a second to thank thepeople who keep things running
(12:45):
behind the scenes.
Give a shout out to yourbroadcast engineers, board ops,
it folks and that one person whostill knows how to reboot a XDS
receiver.
No station survives without itstech crew.
Have some fun with your soundfor the day.
Run a special legal ID with avintage voice or maybe let a DJ
(13:10):
go completely off script for theday.
Have fun with it.
And if you're an all automatedshop.
You can still record a goofydrop-in or a hey, it's National
Radio Day message to run acouple of times during I don't
know the afternoon.
Call someone instead of sendingan email.
(13:32):
I promise it's way more radiothan typing it in over in Slack.
And finally, just remember yourwhy.
Why did you pick radio for yourprofession?
Every single radio person hasone of them.
The first station you listenedto, the first time you nailed a
(13:56):
live break, the first time youmanaged to keep the transmitter
from catching on fire for awhole month.
Share that story on air or offair, and I guarantee it'll make
your day better.
You don't need a party, youjust need to make the day yours
(14:31):
now.
Typically in this spot I wouldthrow in maybe a listener
question and answer it the bestI can.
But I want to tell you about myhow I got into radio story.
I was five years old, I think.
My mother gave me a AM FMcassette recorder.
(14:53):
That was it.
I figured out that I couldrecord cassette tapes with my
own voice.
That is the first time I thinkI've ever heard my own voice
played back to me.
And of course, no, no DJactually likes the sound of
their voice.
I mean, yeah, there's some ofthem with an ego that probably
do, but most of us probablydon't and that was it that
(15:16):
sealed the deal.
As I got older I will I Imemorized every call sign
growing up.
I knew the station's addresses,I knew who was on the air what
day part.
I could tell you their phonenumbers.
The station that I used tolisten to growing up the most
(15:36):
was WFLZ in Tampa.
Mj and BJ Morning Show.
Z in Tampa, mj and BJ morningshow.
Mj Kelly, which I follow onInstagram, uh, is still on the
air at WRBQ Q one oh, five oneoh, 4.7 FM down there Still
doing it, still going.
When I was in I want to saymiddle school, maybe high school
(16:01):
, I got to sit in on the lasthour of their morning show.
This is before BJ Harris leftthe show and went elsewhere and
watching there was probably acrew of five or six guys running
around.
You had froggy, you had faster,you had MJ, you had BJ Uh.
There was probably other peoplein the room I didn't even know,
uh, or even knew what they looklike up until that day running
(16:23):
around putting putting CDs andgetting promos ready, figuring
out what they're going to talkabout next.
I watched those guys for anhour plus and, man, I wanted to
do that.
And then, as I got into highschool, I took television
production, I took journalism.
I did all that stuff.
Uh, I volunteered at a publicaccess station in Tampa, uh.
(16:49):
And then I went to theConnecticut school of
broadcasting in the eveningswhile I was still in high school
, interned at WWBA and WHBO AMin Tampa.
It wasn't until I moved up toWisconsin that I really got into
the radio business.
But I never lost the love forit.
I'm still doing it to this day,still still out there, fixing
(17:10):
transmitters, making audio pass,carving it out on the network.
Five years old is when the fireof radio was lit underneath me.
Um, well, by the time this showcomes out I'll be 40, still
doing it.
Man, 35 years later, still likeit.
(17:32):
I'll probably retire in thisbusiness.
I don't know if I could doanything else, but that's my
story.
If you've got a story on howyou got interested in radio, let
me hear it.
Text the show the link is inthe episode description or you
can send me an email if it's along one.
Tyler at fullymodulatedcom,send me a voice memo.
Maybe I'll play it, I'll put itup on the socials or something.
(18:23):
So Radio is packed with legends.
Some are true, some arecompletely made up and a lot
fall somewhere in the middle.
Let's break down a few.
There's this myth that Marconiinvented radio.
Well, not exactly Marconi wasbrilliant at marketing, but
(18:47):
Tesla, besondon and DeForestwere all in the game too.
There were a lot of patentfights, plenty of drama and a
whole lot of wait.
I did that first shenanigans.
In reality, radio is more of anaccidental group project than
(19:08):
one guy's big old idea.
You'll hear people say radio isdying.
But here's the reality, folks.
But here's the reality, folks.
Over 80% of Americans stilllisten every single month.
That's more than the number ofpeople who even know how to set
up their smart TV.
Some folks still insist that AMis completely unlistenable.
(19:33):
It really depends on where youlive for that one.
In some places AM is still howyou get your farm reports, your
high school football games andthat one preacher who sounds
like he probably hasn't slept inthree days plus.
There's nothing quite like thesound of a classic am radio on a
(19:53):
stormy night sometimes.
Sometimes, nostalgia is thebest feature.
Then there's the endless debateover the first song ever aired
on radio.
Was it, oh Holy Night?
Maybe I don't know, buthonestly, the first thing
probably that was broadcast wassomeone reading the weather
(20:18):
report or testing a tone into acrusty old carbon mic.
So much for glamour.
And don't let anyone tell youthat nobody cares about antennas
.
Every radio engineer I know hasat least three pictures of
their favorite tower, probablystill saved somewhere on an old
(20:38):
flip phone.
Oh, and here's a fact that youcan use at your next transmitter
maintenance day the very firstradio commercial ever aired
wasn't for beer or cars, it wasfor apartments in New York City.
Some things don't change.
(21:00):
So there it is, national RadioDay, a holiday no one can really
explain, but every radio nerdcelebrates it in their own way.
(21:26):
That's it for the National RadioDay bonus episode.
Whether you're in a studio, acar or just listening from the
middle of nowhere, happyNational Radio Day and thanks
for keeping radio alive.
Radio is messy, miraculous andstill the best way to hear
something real right now fromsomeone who probably spilled
(21:47):
coffee on the control board atleast once that morning.
Us broadcast engineers hatethose people.
Next time you're driving orshopping or scrolling past an
old radio tower online.
Just remember, behind every RFsignal story is probably a
grumpy old engineer doing theirbest to keep it alive.
(22:11):
If you like this episode, followus on Apple Spotify wherever
you listen, leave a review orsend your weirdest radio story.
The fully modulatedcom bonuspoints if it involves dead air
or finding wildlife inside thetransmitter shack.
A snake across three phases ata am site is, uh, still the
(22:33):
worst smell, from what I've beentold.
I wasn't there in person.
This show runs on curiosity andyour support.
If you want to help keep the RFflowing and the studio lights
on, head over tofullymodulatedcom.
You can leave a tip or justsend a note.
There's no merch, no secretclub, just a bunch of weirdos
who love radio.
Thanks for listening andkeeping the signal strong.
(22:58):
I'll see you next time.
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