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129-718: In 2013, it extensively redesigned and renovated the Irene Helen Jones Parks Gallery of Art and the Gamble Firearms Gallery in its main building. In its related opening exhibit for the Parks Gallery, Art of the West, the new organization enabled material to be presented in relation to themes rather than chronology, and paintings were shown next to crafts, photography, video and other elements in new relationships. The Autry Museum of

258-685: A Mutual radio series, The Adventures of Champion and a CBS-TV series of the same name . In response to his many young radio listeners aspiring to emulate him, Autry created the Cowboy Code, or Ten Cowboy Commandments. These tenets promoting an ethical, moral, and patriotic lifestyle that appealed to youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts , which developed similar doctrines. The Cowboy Code consisted of rules that were "a natural progression of Gene's philosophies going back to his first Melody Ranch programs—and early pictures." According to

387-480: A 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason , as recorded on his headstone. On November 16, 1941, the town of Berwyn, Oklahoma, north of Ardmore , was renamed Gene Autry in his honor. Though Autry was born in Tioga, Texas , his family moved to Oklahoma while he was an infant. He was raised in the southern Oklahoma towns of Achille and Ravia . Autry had also worked as a telegraph operator near Berwyn. In 1939, he bought

516-517: A July 1912 broadcast by Charles Herrold in San Jose, California that featured records supplied by the Wiley B. Allen company. However, this quickly fell out of favor once stations began to be numbered in the hundreds, and phonograph companies found that excessive repetition was hurting sales. The earliest U.S. radio stations were commercial-free, with their operations paid for by their owners. However,

645-463: A broadcast station category. As of January 1, 1922 there were twenty-nine formally recognized broadcasting stations, in addition to a few experimental and amateur stations still in the process of being converted to meet the new standard. By mid-1922 a "radio craze" began, and at the end of the year there were over 500 stations, with the number of listeners now counted in the hundreds of thousands. Even President Warren G. Harding, whose May 1922 speech to

774-504: A few entertainment broadcasts in the summer of 1920. As others joined the broadcasting ranks, in the late summer of 1920 QST magazine reported that "it is the rare evening that the human voice and strains of music do not come in over the air". However, broadcasting efforts were still scattered and largely unorganized. In the fall of 1920 a major industrial firm, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. , entered

903-605: A few government stations renewed experimental work with broadcasting technology, and in February 1919 the Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. gave a public demonstration, predicting that "Washington merrymakers will soon be able to dance to the music made by an orchestra on one of New York's roof gardens". By May of the next year the Bureau was broadcasting weekly Friday night concerts over its station, WWV , and it displayed

1032-760: A group headed by RCA, which used the assets to form the National Broadcasting Company . Under the new management the WEAF chain became the NBC Red network, while the WJZ chain became the NBC Blue network. The agreement with AT&T gave NBC access to AT&T's long-distance lines for station links, and also allowed the new network to sell advertising. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) began in 1927 as an initially struggling attempt to compete with

1161-594: A handful of local stations serving the Haitian diaspora and Creole populations also serve areas in the southeast. There are also radio stations broadcasting in the Navajo language to members of the Navajo tribe in Arizona , New Mexico , and Utah . Spanish language radio is the largest non-English broadcasting media. While other foreign language broadcasting declined steadily, Spanish broadcasting grew steadily from

1290-637: A labor song, "The Death of Mother Jones ", in 1931. Autry also recorded many " hillbilly "-style records in 1930 and 1931 in New York City, which were certainly different in style and content from his later recordings. These were much closer in style to the Prairie Ramblers or Dick Justice , and included the "Do Right, Daddy Blues" and "Black Bottom Blues", both similar to " Deep Elem Blues ". These late Prohibition -era songs deal with bootlegging , corrupt police , and women whose occupation

1419-590: A longwave broadcasting band, the only other authorized use of longwave in the United States is the unlicensed low-frequency experimental radio band. In contrast to the over-the-air terrestrial radio services, wireline and subscription audio services are not regulated for content by the FCC. Depending on the medium, the FCC may have some indirect and general jurisdiction over some technical aspects of these broadcasts. Despite television's predominance, radio's impact

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1548-880: A museum." Since 2019, The Autry Museum has hosted several of Indigenous Pride LA LGBT+ Pride events. The Autry's Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection of Native American art is one of the most significant museums dedicated to Native culture in the United States, second only to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian . The 238,000-piece collection includes 14,000 baskets, 10,000 ceramic items, 6,300 textiles and weavings, and more than 1,100 pieces of jewelry. It represents work by indigenous peoples from Alaska to South America, with an emphasis on cultures of California and

1677-410: A nominal cost, thereby ensuring the widest possible distribution for both the programming and the advertising. The advertisers then became the network's primary clients and, because of the wider distribution brought by the growing network, Paley was able to charge more for the ad time. Affiliates were required to carry programming offered by the network for part of the broadcast day, receiving a portion of

1806-474: A part of its line of iron toys. The toy was commissioned by Kenton vice-president Willard Bixler, who had conceptualized an iron cap revolver modeled after the pearl-handled gun used by Gene Autry. Selling at 50 cents per gun, the cap pistols were extremely popular and by 1939, two million units of the toy had been sold in the United States and abroad. Autry received a portion of all sales revenues. In

1935-404: A prototype "portaphone" receiver, which would allow the public to keep "in touch with the news, weather reports, radiophone conversations, radiophone music, and any other information transmitted by radio". However, the Bureau soon concluded that it had successfully achieved its goal of demonstrating broadcasting's practicality, and ended its entertainment broadcasts over WWV that August. Although

2064-581: A published story by Autry, the fire caused him to turn his attention to Griffith Park , where he would build his Museum of Western Heritage (now known as the Autry Museum of the American West ). In 1990, after his favorite horse Champion Three, which lived in retirement there, died, Autry put the remaining 12-acre ranch up for sale. It was purchased by the Veluzat family in 1991 and rebuilt. It

2193-757: A quarter share of the team to the Walt Disney Company and a controlling interest the following year, with the remaining share to be transferred after his death. Earlier, in 1982, he sold Los Angeles television station KTLA for $ 245 million. He also sold several radio stations he owned, including KSFO in San Francisco, KMPC in Los Angeles, KOGO in San Diego, and other stations in the Golden West radio network . The number 26

2322-431: A significant advance, but it took many years of research before quality audio transmissions became possible. In 1904 Valdemar Poulsen developed an arc converter transmitter, which, although still somewhat limited, would be the most commonly used transmitter employed for early audio experimentation. Initially the main objective for most inventors was developing devices usable for individual point-to-point communication, and

2451-621: A singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial The Phantom Empire . Shortly thereafter, Mascot was absorbed by the newly formed Republic Pictures Corp. and Autry went along to make a further 44 films up to 1940. Most were low-budget Westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion , had Smiley Burnette as his regular sidekick , and had many opportunities to sing in each film. His films were tremendously successful, so much so that almost every other studio tried to compete by showcasing their own singing cowboys. By 1940 Autry

2580-470: A small radio retailer in Cincinnati, Ohio, used a homemade transmitter to make occasional broadcasts over its experimental station, 8XB . That February 2 company president John L. Gates gave the station's first publicized broadcast, consisting of phonograph records, which garnered national attention, and a wire service report quoted Gates as predicting that nationwide broadcasts "will be an innovation of

2709-400: A station at the company's East Pittsburgh plant in time for the upcoming presidential election, which successfully debuted on November 2, 1920, initially operating as 8ZZ . A short time later it became KDKA , operating under a Limited Commercial license originally issued to the company for point-to-point transmissions. At the time of KDKA's 25th anniversary, station publicity claimed this to be

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2838-470: A very wide territory" for the "general transmission of news of every description", however he was never able to achieve adequate transmission distances. There were also a few examples of " telephone newspapers ", starting with the Budapest, Hungary Telefon Hírmondó , which in 1893 began transmitting a wide selection of news, instruction and entertainment over telephone lines to a local audience. In 1909

2967-583: Is a crucial part of the Autry's mission to promote art history and cultures of the American West. Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy , was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio , in films , and on television for more than three decades, beginning in

3096-614: Is a street in Palm Springs, California named Gene Autry Trail . Autry was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2004, Starz joined forces with the Autry estate to restore all of his films, which have been shown on Starz's Encore Westerns channel on premium television on a regular basis to date since. Radio in the United States Radio broadcasting has been used in

3225-668: Is now known as the Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio and Melody Ranch Studios on 22 acres. The ranch has the Melody Ranch Museum open year-round; and one weekend a year, the entire ranch is open to the public during the Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival , another legacy of Autry's multiple talents. From 1940 to 1956, Autry had a huge hit with a weekly show on CBS Radio , Gene Autry's Melody Ranch . His horse, Champion, also had

3354-540: Is primarily run by private foundations, universities and public authorities for educational purposes, which are financed by donations, foundations, subscriptions and corporate underwriting. A primary programming source is National Public Radio (NPR). The total listenership for terrestrial radio in the United States as of January 2017 was 256 million, up from 230 million in 2005. 82 million Americans listened to AM radio at some point in June 2023, with listenership strongest in

3483-453: Is still extensive, and every day it reaches 80 percent of the U.S. population. Ninety-nine percent of American households in 1999 had at least one receiver. By 2020, that figure had declined to 68 percent within the home, with the average home having 1.5 receivers. Revenue more than doubled in a decade, from $ 8.4 billion in 1990 to more than $ 17 billion in 2000. Radio continues to prevail in automobiles and offices, where attention can be kept on

3612-828: Is still remembered for his association with Christmas music , having debuted the seasonal standards " Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer ", " Frosty the Snowman ", and " Here Comes Santa Claus ". Autry is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame . He is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , for film, television, music, radio, and live performance. The town of Gene Autry, Oklahoma

3741-491: The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) launched WEAF (now WFAN) in New York City. (There are a few reports of earlier examples of airtime being sold by other stations, however this was generally done secretly.) AT&T initially claimed that its patent rights gave it the exclusive right to sell airtime. However, responding to charges that it was attempting to monopolize radio broadcasting, in 1924

3870-552: The Golden Age of Radio it had a major cultural and financial impact on the country. However, the rise of television broadcasting in the 1950s relegated radio to a secondary status, as much of its programming and audience shifted to the new "sight joined with sound" service. Originally the term "radio" only included transmissions freely received over-the-air, such as the AM and FM bands, now commonly called "terrestrial radio". However,

3999-752: The Native Voices at the Autry performing arts series. In 2003, the Autry acquired the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. In 2010, The Autry Museum received the International Gay Rodeo Association archives, thereby becoming the leading repository of gay rodeo items. The museum is located in Griffith Park directly across from the Los Angeles Zoo . The 4,000-square foot Parks Gallery

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4128-663: The Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1991. When the Anaheim Angels won their first World Series in 2002, much of the championship was dedicated to him. The interchange of Interstate 5 and State Route 134 , near the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, is signed as the "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange". There is also a street named after Autry in Anaheim, California , called Gene Autry Way , and there

4257-880: The Southwestern United States . The Library and Archives of the Autry includes the collections of the Braun Research Library and the Autry Library. It is a research enterprise that supports scholarly work in Western history and the arts. In 2002, the Women of the West Museum of Colorado merged with the Autry Museum. This has broadened the scholarly and educational emphasis to include gender issues and women's experiences in

4386-835: The Tel-musici of Wilmington, Delaware beginning in 1909, and the Musolaphone , which operated in Chicago in 1913–1914. Radio communication—originally known as "wireless telegraphy"—was first developed in the 1890s. The first wireless transmissions were achieved by Guglielmo Marconi in Europe and they were first replicated in the United States in April 1899 by Professor Jerome Green at the University of Notre Dame . The spark-gap transmitters initially employed could only transmit

4515-466: The U.S. Agency for Global Media , an independent agency. The federal government instead subsidizes nonprofit radio programming through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting . Nonprofit broadcasting typically comes in three forms: radio evangelism , community radio , and government-subsidized public radio , all of which rely at least to some extent on listener donations. Public-radio broadcasting

4644-677: The United States Telephone Herald Company licensed this technology and ultimately authorized a dozen or so regional affiliates. But due to financial and technical challenges only two systems, in Newark, New Jersey and Portland, Oregon, ever went into commercial service, and both were short-lived. Other early short-lived telephone-based entertainment systems included the Tellevent in Detroit, Michigan in 1907,

4773-669: The attack on Pearl Harbor . Autry joined the military in 1942 and sold the ranch after the war. In 1972, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma . Autry was a life member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks , Burbank Lodge No. 1497. His 1976 autobiography, co-written by Mickey Herskowitz ,

4902-494: The "world's first regularly scheduled broadcast". KDKA proved to be a very successful experiment, and during the next year Westinghouse constructed three additional prominent stations, in or near New York City (WJZ, now WABC ), Boston ( WBZ ) and Chicago ( KYW ). Responding to the growing activity, effective December 1, 1921 the United States Department of Commerce adopted regulations explicitly establishing

5031-515: The 1,200-acre (4.9 km ) Flying A Ranch on the west edge of Berwyn, and the town decided to honor him by changing its name. Approximately 35,000 people attended the ceremonies broadcast live from the site on Autry's Melody Ranch radio show. Expectations that Autry would make his permanent home on the ranch were heightened when Autry's house in California burned down just 8 days before the name change ceremony, but dashed three weeks later with

5160-622: The 110-acre Monogram Ranch in 1953, in Placerita Canyon near Newhall, California , in the northern San Gabriel Mountains foothills. He renamed it the Melody Ranch after his movie Melody Ranch . Autry then sold 98 acres of the property, most of the original ranch. The Western town, adobes , and ranch cabin sets and open land for location shooting were retained as a movie ranch on 12 acres. Numerous "B" Westerns and TV shows were shot there during Autry's ownership, including

5289-513: The 1920s to 1970s. The 1930s were boom years. The early success depended on the concentrated geographical audience in Texas and the Southwest. American stations were close to Mexico which enabled a steady circular flow of entertainers, executives and technicians, and stimulated the creative initiatives of Hispanic radio executives, brokers, and advertisers. Ownership was increasingly concentrated in

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5418-419: The 1950s, Autry had been a minority owner of the minor-league Hollywood Stars . In 1960, when Major League Baseball announced plans to add an expansion team in Los Angeles, Autry—who had once declined an opportunity to play in the minor leagues —expressed an interest in acquiring the radio broadcast rights to the team's games. Baseball executives were so impressed by his approach that he was persuaded to become

5547-436: The 1960s and 1970s. The industry sponsored the now-defunct trade publication Sponsor from the late 1940s to 1968. Spanish-language radio has influenced American and Latino discourse on key current affairs issues such as citizenship and immigration. All AM and FM radio stations are assigned unique identifying call letters by the FCC. International agreements determine the initial letters assigned to specific countries , and

5676-413: The 20th century. However MP3 players and internet sources have grown rapidly among younger listeners. Unlike many other countries, American radio has historically relied primarily on commercial advertising sponsorship on for-profit stations. The federal and state governments do not operate stations or networks directed toward domestic audiences, although the federal government does operate overseas through

5805-616: The American West has two sites, about 8 miles (13 km) apart: The Autry was established in 1988 by actor and businessman Gene Autry as "Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum," dedicated to exploring and sharing the comprehensive story of the American West and its multiple cultures, as well as further interpreting the West's significance. Its Griffith Park collection includes 21,000 paintings, sculptures, costumes, textiles, firearms, tools, toys, musical instruments, and other objects. The museum contains contemporary and historical exhibitions, year-round programs for children, intellectual forums, and

5934-473: The American West. Since 1995, Native Voices at the Autry has been the only existing equity theater solely focused on producing new works by Native American, Alaska Native, and First Nation playwrights. Randy Reinholz , a member of Oklahoma's Choctaw Nation, and his wife Jean Bruce Scott have run the program for 20 years. Native Voices has produced over 34 full productions, gone on over 20 tours, with 23 new play festivals and 13 Native playwrights. This program

6063-478: The Atlantic. During the war the U.S. military conducted extensive research in audio transmissions using vacuum-tube powered transmitters and receivers. This was primarily oriented toward point-to-point communication such as air-to-ground transmissions, but there were also scattered reports of special musical broadcasts conducted to entertain the troops. Prior to the lifting of the wartime ban on civilian radio,

6192-621: The Cowboys" in Gene's absence, which it did. Republic reissued old Autry westerns during the war years, to keep his name before the public. Autry's contract had been suspended for the duration of his military service, and he had tried to have it declared void after his discharge. The courts found in Republic's favor, and Autry returned to Republic after the war. He finished out his contract with four more features, with Autry now publicized as "King of

6321-574: The FM station itself lost 90% of its listenership after it flipped to national religious broadcaster K-Love . The majority of programming in the United States is in English , with Spanish the second-most popular language; these are the only two languages with domestically produced, national radio networks. In the largest urban areas of the United States, "world ethnic" stations broadcast a wide variety of languages, including Russian , Chinese , Korean and

6450-528: The Herrold College of Wireless and Engineering was inaugurating weekly musical concerts. These broadcasts were suspended during World War I, but after the war Herrold resumed broadcasting, and KCBS in San Francisco traces its history to Herrold's efforts. In the mid-1910s the development of vacuum tube transmitters provided a significant improvement in the quality and reliability of audio transmissions. Adopting this advance, Lee de Forest again took

6579-413: The NBC affiliates, owners typically viewed their stations as the broadcast equivalent of local newspapers, who sold ads to local business and had to pay for NBC's "sustaining" programs that didn't have sponsors. Individual stations bought programming from the network and, thus, were considered the network's clients. Paley changed the business model by providing network programming to affiliate stations at

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6708-525: The NBC networks, which gained new momentum when William S. Paley was installed as company president. Unlike NBC, which initially saw itself as primarily a public service and said its only profit goal was to break even, Paley recognized the potential for a radio network to make significant profits. Surveys and polls were used to determine audience sizes and affluence. Frank Stanton , a later president, worked with Columbia University sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld to develop techniques for measuring audiences. For

6837-423: The Navy. The October 1 end of the civilian transmitting ban allowed non-government stations to resume operating. Initially there were no formal regulations designating which stations could make broadcasts intended for the general public, so a mixture operating under a variety of existing classifications, most commonly Experimental and Amateur, were free to take to the airwaves. Perhaps the first to take advantage of

6966-489: The Saddle Again ". Autry made 640 recordings, including more than 300 songs written or co-written by himself. His records sold more than 100 million copies and he has more than a dozen gold and platinum records, including the first record ever certified gold. Today's listeners associate Gene Autry with Christmas songs, which are played perennially during each holiday season. These include " Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town ", his own composition " Here Comes Santa Claus ", " Frosty

7095-505: The Singing Cowboys". In 1947 Autry left Republic for Columbia Pictures , which offered him his own production unit. He chose a new sidekick, Pat Buttram , recently returned from his World War II service. Buttram would co-star with Gene Autry in more than 40 films and in more than 100 episodes of Autry's television show . In 1951, Autry formed his own company (Flying A Productions) to make westerns under his own control, and Columbia continued to distribute them through 1953. Autry purchased

7224-426: The Snowman ", and his biggest hit, " Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer ". He wrote "Here Comes Santa Claus" after being the Grand Marshal of the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade (now the Hollywood Christmas Parade ). He heard all of the spectators watching the parade saying, "Here comes Santa Claus!" virtually handing him the title for his song. He recorded his version of the song in 1947 and it became an instant classic. In

7353-420: The U. S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Part of his military service included his broadcast of a radio show for one year; it involved music and true stories. Several decades ago on an early afternoon show featuring Republic westerns, one of Gene's sidekicks said that when Gene told Republic Pictures of his intentions to join the military during World War II, Republic threatened to promote Roy Rogers as "King of

7482-415: The United States since the early 1920s to distribute news and entertainment to a national audience. In 1923, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one radio receiver , while a majority did by 1931 and 75 percent did by 1937. It was the first electronic " mass medium " technology, and its introduction, along with the subsequent development of sound films , ended the print monopoly of mass media. During

7611-535: The United States was Lee de Forest , who employed versions of the Poulsen arc transmitter to make a series of demonstrations beginning in 1907. From the outset he noted the potential for regular entertainment broadcasts, envisioning "the distribution of music from a central station" and that "by using four different forms of wave as many classes of music can be sent out as desired by the different subscribers". However, after 1910 he suspended his broadcasting demonstrations for six years, due to various financial issues, and

7740-417: The Washington, D.C. Chamber of Commerce was the first radio broadcast by a president, had a radio installed in the White House. The existence of early radio stations encouraged many young people to build their own crystal sets (with ear phones) to listen to the new technical marvel. Entrepreneurs established radio stores to sell parts as well as complete sets that evolved into stylish and expensive consoles

7869-474: The actress who played Annie Oakley in the television series of the same name that Autry produced. After Spivey died in 1980, he married Jacqueline Ellam , who had been his banker, in 1981. While Autry was quiet about his political views during his life, his voting records listed him as a registered Republican, and he supported the Civil Rights Movement. Autry was raised into Freemasonry in 1927 at Catoosa Lodge No. 185, Catoosa Oklahoma. He later became

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7998-426: The aforementioned citizens band, the Family Radio Service and the General Mobile Radio Service . Unlike most one-way broadcast services, these services are generally limited to voice transmission. With the exception of WWVB , a station mainly operating to allow electronic clocks to synchronize with the NIST atomic clock, the United States does not license longwave radio services. Unlike Europe, which established

8127-526: The beginning of advertisement-supported broadcasting, AT&T also introduced its plans for the development of the first radio network. The concept was based on a memo prepared by two company engineers, John F. Bratney and Harley C. Lauderback, who proposed a nationwide "chain" of thirty-eight stations, linked together by the company's telephone lines for simultaneously transmitting commercially sponsored programming. The network's primary studios were located at AT&T's WEAF (now WFAN ) in New York City, and

8256-403: The call sign WCBS from 1946 until 2024. Ideas for distributing news and entertainment electronically dated to before the development of radio broadcasts, but none of these earlier approaches proved to be practical. In 1902, Nathan Stubblefield predicted that his wireless ground-conduction technology would become "capable of sending simultaneous messages from a central distributing station over

8385-399: The code: Beginning in 1950, he produced and starred in his own television show on [CBS through his Flying A Productions studio. In the late 1950s, Autry also made several appearances on ABC-TV 's Jubilee USA . During World War II, Autry enlisted in the United States Army in 1942, and became a tech sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps. Holding a private pilot certificate , he

8514-480: The company announced that it would permit other stations to accept advertising if they were willing to first pay a one-time fee to AT&T for use of its radio patents. Following AT&T's industry-wide settlement, a majority of stations began to operate on a commercial basis. Initially stations were very cautious about the content of their advertising messages, generally preferring "indirect advertising" such as general sponsorship announcements, in order not to offend

8643-405: The dots-and-dashes of Morse code . Despite this limitation, in 1905 a small number of U.S. Navy stations inaugurated daily time signal broadcasts. In 1913 the high-powered station NAA in Arlington, Virginia began broadcasting daily time signals and weather reports in Morse code which covered much of the eastern United States. It was recognized that developing audio-capable transmitters would be

8772-532: The early 1930s. During that time, he personified the straight-shooting hero — honest, brave, and true. Autry was the owner of a television station and several radio stations in Southern California. From 1961 to 1997, he was the founding owner of the California Angels franchise of Major League Baseball (MLB). From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 motion pictures. Between 1950 and 1956, he hosted The Gene Autry Show television series. In many of them, he appeared with Champion , his Morgan horse . Autry

8901-499: The early 20th century, including NOF , NSS and NAA .) In the United States, by tradition the stations west of the Mississippi River normally receive call signs starting with "K", with "W" assigned to those east of the river. Almost all of the earliest AM band radio stations received three-letter call signs, however beginning in 1922 most have been issued four-letter ones, and the last new AM band three-letter assignment occurred in 1930. (FM and TV sister stations are permitted to share

9030-527: The entrance of the United States into World War I in April 1917, as the federal government immediately took over full control of the radio industry, and it became illegal for civilians to possess an operational radio receiver. However some government stations, including NAA in Arlington, Virginia, continued to operate to support the military during the conflict. In addition to time signals and weather reports, NAA also broadcast (in Morse code ) news summaries that were received by troops on land and aboard ships in

9159-409: The estate of Leo J. Cremer Sr., and put Canadian saddle bronc riding champion Harry Knight in charge of the operation. A merger with the World Championship Rodeo Company in 1956 made Autry the sole owner. He moved the entire company to a 24,000-acre (97 km ) ranch near Fowler, Colorado , with Knight as the working partner in the operation. For the next 12 years, they provided livestock for most of

9288-623: The fact that radio signals could be overheard by others was at first seen as a defect that limited secure communication. Thus, it took a while before the potential of "sending signals broadcast" was recognized. In late 1906, Reginald Fessenden demonstrated an alternator transmitter at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, and many years later stated that he had also conducted broadcasts on the evenings of December 24 and 31. However following this he concentrated on point-to-point transmissions and made no further efforts towards establishing organized broadcasting. The leading early proponent of radio broadcasting in

9417-532: The family ranch. With only his high school education, Autry became a telegrapher for the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway . His talent at singing and playing guitar led to performing at local dances. While working as a telegraph operator in Chelsea, Oklahoma , Autry would sing and accompany himself on the guitar to pass the lonely hours, especially when he had the midnight shift. This later got him fired. One night, he

9546-491: The federal level under the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause . However, in the years immediately after its development in the late 1890s, radio communication remained completely unregulated in the United States. The Wireless Ship Act of 1910 mandated that most passenger ships exiting U.S. ports had to carry radio equipment under the supervision of qualified operators; however, individual stations remained unlicensed. The U.S. policy of unrestricted stations differed from most of

9675-595: The field, and historian Erik Barnouw summarized this watershed event as "There was a fervent of interest, but without a sense of direction—until something happened in Pittsburgh." Westinghouse's entry was a result of a Pittsburgh department store advertisement, seen by company vice president H. P. Davis, for radios capable of receiving Frank Conrad's ongoing broadcasts over 8XK. Davis concluded that, expanding on work done during World War I, Westinghouse could make and market its own receivers. He quickly worked to establish

9804-433: The heyday of Western-themed comics , the 1940s and 1950s. The Register and Tribune Syndicate comic strip Gene Autry Rides by Till Goodan was the first entry, lasting from 1940 to 1941. From 1941 to 1943, Autry was the subject of a comic book initially published by Fawcett Comics and then picked up by Dell Comics that ran 12 issues. Dell then published 101 issues of Gene Autry Comics from 1946 to 1955. That title

9933-535: The idea. Information for this period is limited, but there were a number of other inventors during this era who made occasional experimental broadcasts. One example was the American Radio and Research Company (AMRAD), which operated experimental station 1XE in Medford Hillside, Massachusetts. As early as March 1916 the station was occasionally used to make voice and music broadcasts, although at

10062-537: The impact of technology on firearms, the conservation movement and the West in popular culture." The Firearms Gallery is part of the larger Western Frontiers: Stories of Fact and Fiction Gallery. From 2004 to 2015, it was known as the "Autry National Center of the American West”. However, in October 2015, the museum began using the name "Autry Museum of the American West" to emphasize its "principal activities as

10191-543: The inability to perfect the arc transmitter for consistent quality audio transmissions. De Forest received national attention, but far less known at the time was Charles "Doc" Herrold of San Jose, California, who is generally credited with being the first in the United States to conduct entertainment radio broadcasts on a regular schedule. Herrold began making test transmissions in 1909, and, after switching to an improved arc transmitter, announced in July 1912 that his station at

10320-418: The industry soon faced a crisis due to mounting costs, and the financial model eventually adopted by a majority of stations was selling advertising airtime, which became known as "American Plan". (This was contrasted with the "British plan" of charging license fees for set users.) The formal introduction of a "for hire" commercial station (initially called "toll broadcasting") was announced in early 1922, when

10449-467: The initial years of Gunsmoke with James Arness . A decade after he purchased Melody Ranch, a brushfire swept through in August 1962, destroying most of the original standing sets and dashing Autry's plans to turn it into a museum. However, the devastated landscape did prove useful for productions such as Combat! . A complete adobe ranch survived at the northeast section of the ranch. According to

10578-453: The languages of India ; although the relatively widespread languages French and German have comparatively few radio outlets; in the case of German, due to the fact that most of its speakers are Amish or from similar sects and thus shun radio technology. French speakers can generally receive programming direct from Canadian broadcasters, which are receivable across the Canada–US border , and

10707-613: The late 1950s he began recording other artists, as the original owner of Challenge Records . The label's biggest hit was " Tequila " by The Champs in 1958, which started the rock and roll instrumental craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He sold the label soon after, but the maroon (later green) label has the "GA" in a shield above the label name. Autry and Burnette were discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934. Together, Autry and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. in In Old Santa Fe as part of

10836-503: The late 1960s Republic was barely operational, managing only its film library. Gene Autry, correctly assessing the company's cash-poor situation, made a cash offer for the rights and negatives to his Republic films. The company accepted Autry's terms, and Autry now controlled the film materials for home-movie reprints and home-video tapes and discs. Autry died of lymphoma on October 2, 1998, at his home in Studio City, California . He

10965-418: The lead, establishing experimental station 2XG in New York City. During a successful demonstration program held in October 1916, de Forest now prophesied "in the near future a music central in every large city whence nightly concerts will radiate to thousands of homes through the wireless telephone". The next month a daily program of news and entertainment was begun, which included election returns broadcast on

11094-564: The lifting of the civilian station restrictions was a Westinghouse engineer, Frank Conrad , who had worked on radio communication contracts during the war. On the evening of October 17, 1919 he made the first of what would ultimately become a twice-weekly series of programs, broadcast from his home in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania over experimental station 8XK . Beginning in early 1920 the Precision Equipment Company,

11223-467: The listeners who had "invited them into their homes". At first "hard sell" and "direct advertising" was discouraged under the oversight of the then-head of the Department of Commerce, Herbert Hoover . However, Madison Avenue recognized the importance of radio as a new advertising medium, and commercials eventually became more prominent and insistent. At the same time in early 1922 that it announced

11352-503: The major rodeos in Texas, Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska. When the company was sold in 1968, both men continued to be active in rodeo. For his work as a livestock contractor, Autry was inducted into the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association 's ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. Autry received several honors for his contributions to rodeo. Gene Autry was often portrayed in the comics, primarily during

11481-419: The midwest (Western New York was noted as being the only media market where a majority of listeners listened to AM) and portions of California where terrain makes groundwave reception more reliable. 68 percent of homes have at least one radio, with the average home having 1.5 radios as of 2020, both figures being steep declines from 2008. According to information collected from a data analytics company in 2019, it

11610-461: The near future". Programming offered by the station gradually expanded, including a special broadcast arranged at the end of October that featured the playing the latest Victor phonograph records, held in conjunction with the local Rudolph Wurlitzer Company . In early November 8XB conducted an election night broadcast, coinciding with Westinghouse's broadcast of returns from East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania over station 8ZZ (later KDKA ), which included

11739-478: The network became known as " WEAF chain ". Specially prepared broadcast-quality lines had to be used for the station connections, so the network took a while to be constructed. The first permanent link, between WEAF and WMAF in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, went into service during the summer of 1923. RCA responded by establishing its own smaller network, centered on station WJZ (now WABC ), although it

11868-730: The night of the November 7th presidential election. However, 2XG also had to suspend operations the following April due to the World War I restrictions. While it was active, it inspired David Sarnoff , then the Contract Manager at American Marconi and future president of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), to author his first "Radio Music Box" memo, suggesting that his company establish a broadcasting station and sell receivers, but his superiors did not take him up on

11997-794: The on-field celebration, and the public address system played his hit song, " Back in the Saddle Again ". He invested in property, owning by 1964 the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco; the Hotel Continental in Hollywood; the Sahara Inn, a $ 12-million motel near Chicago; plus property in Palm Springs . Autry retired from show business in 1964, having made almost 100 films up to 1955 and over 600 records. He

12126-502: The ones used by U.S broadcasting stations—currently "K" and "W"—date back to an agreement made in 1912. The assignment of the letters "K" and "W" to the United States was randomly made and there was no particular reason given for their selection. (The United States was also allocated full use of the letter N, and later some of the range for the letter A, but does not allocate those initial letters to broadcasting stations. A small number of U.S. Navy stations with N call signs made broadcasts in

12255-746: The owner of the franchise rather than simply its broadcast partner. The team, initially called the Los Angeles Angels upon its 1961 debut, moved to suburban Anaheim in 1966, and was renamed the California Angels, then the Anaheim Angels from 1997 until 2005, when it became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Autry served as vice president of the American League from 1983 until his death. In 1995, he sold

12384-542: The playing Victor records for entertainment. The station was later relicensed as broadcasting station WMH , however it was shut down in early 1923 after Precision was purchased by the Crosley Manufacturing Company. Some time in the fall of 1919 Lee de Forest reactivated 2XG in New York City. However, the station was ordered to shut down in early 1920, after it was moved to a new site without first getting government approval. De Forest transferred

12513-520: The poll ceased. He appeared in the similar Boxoffice poll from 1936 to 1955, holding first place from 1936 to 1942 and second place (after Rogers) from 1943 to 1952. While these two polls are really an indication only of the popularity of series stars, Autry also appeared in the Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll of all films from 1940 to 1942, His Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show debuted in 1940. Autry served in

12642-584: The prohibition on civilian radio transmitters would continue until the following October, effective April 15, 1919 the ban on private citizens owning radio receivers was lifted. A short time later a wartime station located at the Glenn L. Martin Co. in Cleveland announced it was inaugurating a weekly concert broadcast, although these broadcasts were suspended a few weeks later due to a complaint about interference from

12771-602: The promotion of newspaper-run broadcasting stations, offering local franchises and asking in national advertisements "Is Your Paper to be One of the Pioneers Distributing News and Music by Wireless?" The Detroit News became the company's first—and ultimately only—newspaper customer, leasing a small de Forest transmitter, initially licensed as 8MK. On August 20, 1920 the newspaper began limited daily broadcasts, which were expanded beginning August 31 with programming featuring local election returns. The station

12900-399: The publication also questioned its practicability, noting "no one wants to pay for shouting to the world on a system by which it would be impossible to prevent non-subscribers from benefitting gratuitously". A form of barter adopted by many early experimental stations was publicizing the name of the provider of phonograph records played during a broadcast. This practice dated back to at least

13029-552: The rest of the world. The 1906 International Radiotelegraph Convention , held in Berlin, called for countries to license their stations, and although United States representatives had signed the agreement, the U.S. Senate did not ratify this treaty until April 3, 1912. In order to codify the 1906 Convention's protocols, the Radio Act of 1912 , which also incorporated provisions of a subsequent London Convention signed on July 5, 1912,

13158-520: The road or the task at hand, while radio acts as an audio background. The popularity of car radios has led to drive time being the most listened-to daypart on most stations, followed by midday (or the "at work" shift). Transistor radios , available since the 1950s, were the preferred listening choice for music on-the-go for most of the late 20th century, before personal stereos , portable CD players , digital media players , and later smartphones (some of which include FM receivers) took those roles in

13287-477: The same "base" three-letter call.) While some stations, especially on the AM band, still use their call signs as the main way of identifying themselves to the general public, a majority now prefer to emphasize easy to remember identifying slogans or brand names. Stations frequently choose call signs that relate to their slogan or brand; the longtime flagship of the CBS Radio Network , for example, used

13416-496: The station's transmitter to the California Theater building in San Francisco, where it was relicensed as 6XC , and in the spring of 1920 it began daily broadcasts of the theater's orchestra. De Forest later stated this was the "first radio-telephone station devoted solely" to broadcasting to the public. In March 1920 Radio News & Music, Inc., established by Lee de Forest associate Clarence "C.S." Thompson, took up

13545-557: The term has evolved to more broadly refer to streaming audio services in general, including subscription satellite, and cable and Internet radio . Radio communication in the United States is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Under its oversight a variety of broadcasting services have been developed, including: Two way radio services take up most of the rest of the geomagnetic spectrum, including marine VHF radio , amateur radio ,

13674-482: The time this was described as "merely incidental" to the company's primary efforts. In addition, George C. Cannon reported that from December 1916 to February 1917 he had maintained "a regular schedule from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m." of news and entertainment broadcasts over Special Amateur station 2ZK, located at his New Rochelle, New York home. Because radio signals readily cross state and national boundaries, radio transmissions were an obvious candidate for regulation at

13803-542: The time, Autry asked to speak to Shilkret after finding that he had been turned down. Shilkret explained to Autry that he was turned down not because of his voice, but because Victor had just made contracts with two similar singers. Autry left with a letter of introduction from Shilkret and the advice to sing on radio to gain experience and to come back in a year or two. In 1928, Autry was singing on Tulsa radio station KVOO (now KOTV ) as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy". The Victor archives show an October 9, 1929, entry stating that

13932-587: The vocal duet of Jimmie Long and Gene Autry with two Hawaiian guitars , directed by L. L. Watson, recorded "My Dreaming of You" (Matrix 56761) and "My Alabama Home" (Matrix 56762). Autry signed a recording deal with Columbia Records in 1929. He worked in Chicago on the WLS-AM radio show National Barn Dance for four years, and with his own show, where he met singer-songwriter Smiley Burnette . In his early recording career, Autry covered various genres, including

14061-436: The whole family could listen to, or which restaurants and shops could buy to entertain customers. Although radio stations were primarily used to broadcast entertainment, many educational institutions used their stations to further their educational missions. One early example occurred in April 1922, when WGI in Medford Hillside, Massachusetts introduced an ongoing series of lectures provided by Tufts College professors, which

14190-643: Was Republic's biggest star, and his films became more costly and more elaborate. They played first-run in large cities, unlike the usual "B" westerns that played in neighborhood theaters. In the Motion Picture Herald Top Ten Money-Making Western Stars poll, Autry was listed every year from the first poll in 1936 to 1942 and 1946 to 1954 (he was serving in the AAF 1943–45), holding first place 1937 to 1942, and second place (after Roy Rogers ) 1947 to 1954, when

14319-401: Was also one of the most important pioneering figures in the history of country music , considered the second major influential artist of the genre's development after Jimmie Rodgers . His films were the first media vehicle to carry Western music to a nationwide audience. In addition to his signature song " Back in the Saddle Again ", as well as his recording hit " At Mail Call Today ", Autry

14448-666: Was awarded the American Patriots Medal by Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania . Johnny Cash recorded a song in 1978 about Autry called "Who is Gene Autry?" Cash also got Autry to sign his famous black Martin D-35 guitar, which he plays in the video of " Hurt ". In 1983, Autry received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement . Autry was inducted into

14577-487: Was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. His epitaph read, "America's Favorite Cowboy ... American Hero, Philanthropist, Patriot and Veteran, Movie Star, Singer, Composer, Baseball Fan and Owner, 33rd Degree Mason, Media Entrepreneur, Loving Husband, Gentleman". In 1932, Autry married Ina Mae Spivey, the niece of Jimmy Long. During this marriage he had a sustained affair with Gail Davis ,

14706-472: Was certainly vice. These recordings are generally not heard today, but are available on European import labels, such as JSP Records . His first hit was in 1932 with " That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine ", a duet with fellow railroad man Jimmy Long that Autry and Long co-wrote. As Autry's movie career flourished, so did his record sales. His unofficial theme song became the Ray Whitley composition " Back in

14835-578: Was changed to Gene Autry and Champion , and ran an additional 20 issues from 1955 to 1959, making it the longest-running (by number of issues) cowboy actor comic book. Meanwhile, Autry was the subject of an "Air-Western-Adventure Strip" comic strip syndicated by General Features from 1952 to 1955. The strip was produced in association with Whitman Publishing . The Mexican publisher Editorial Novaro released 423 issues of Gene Autry comics from 1954 to 1984. In 1937, Kenton Hardware Company of Kenton, Ohio , began producing Gene Autry cast-iron cap guns as

14964-579: Was described as a "wireless college". Other colleges also added radio broadcasting courses to their curricula; some, like the University of Iowa in 1925, provided an early version of distance-learning credits. In 1932 Curry College in Massachusetts introduced one of the nation's first broadcasting majors, with the college teaming up with WLOE in Boston for student-produced programs. Although it

15093-642: Was determined to become a military pilot and earned his Service Pilot rating in June 1944, serving as a C-109 transport pilot with the rank of flight officer . Assigned to a unit of the Air Transport Command , he flew as part of the dangerous airlift operation over the Himalayas between India and China, nicknamed the Hump . In 1941, at the height of his screen popularity, Autry had a string of rodeo stock based north of Ardmore, Oklahoma . It

15222-598: Was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969 and to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. After retiring, he invested widely in real estate, radio, and television. He also invested in ownership of the KOOL-TV CBS-affiliate (now Fox affiliate KSAZ-TV ) in Phoenix, Arizona , which created local shows such as the weekly bilingual children's show Niños Contentos . Republic Pictures, its finances failing, had shut down production in 1957. By

15351-491: Was encouraged to sing professionally by a customer, humorist Will Rogers , who had heard him singing. As soon as he could save money to travel, he went to New York. In the autumn of 1928, he auditioned for the Victor Talking Machine Company , shortly before purchase by David Sarnoff 's Radio Corporation of America (RCA). According to Nathaniel Shilkret , director of Light Music for Victor at

15480-599: Was found that every week, approximately 92% of all American adults listen to radio. As of 2021, an estimated 12% of listenership to FCC-licensed AM and FM radio stations comes from means other than the actual AM or FM signal itself, usually an Internet radio stream. In an exceptional example, a radio station that had abandoned terrestrial broadcasting in 2022 ( KRTY in the San Francisco Bay Area) retained half of its listening audience after selling its license and going exclusively to Internet streaming, while

15609-492: Was handicapped by having to use inferior telegraph lines to link the stations, due to AT&T's general refusal to supply telephone lines. By the fall of 1926 the WJZ chain had only four core stations, all located in the mid-Atlantic, while WEAF's network reached seventeen cities, stretching from Portland, Maine to Kansas City, Kansas. At this point AT&T abruptly decided to exit the broadcasting field, and in July 1926 signed an agreement to sell its entire network operations to

15738-599: Was known as the Flying A Ranch and encompassed 1200 acres. It served as headquarters for his traveling rodeo. The nearby town of Berwyn, then honored Autry by naming the town after him. Thirty Five thousand people attended the ceremony on November 16, 1941. A year later, he became a partner in the World Championship Rodeo Company, which furnished livestock for many of the country's major rodeos. In 1954, he acquired Montana's top bucking string from

15867-647: Was named in his honor, as was the Gene Autry precinct in Mesa, Arizona . Autry was born September 29, 1907, near Tioga in Grayson County, Texas , the grandson of a Methodist preacher. His parents, Delbert Autry and Elnora Ozment, moved in the 1920s to Ravia in Johnston County in southern Oklahoma. Gene Autry worked on his father's ranch while growing up and going to school. In 1925, Autry left

15996-422: Was passed by Congress on August 13, 1912 and signed by President William Howard Taft, going into effect December 13, 1912. The law only anticipated point-to-point communication, and did not address using radio to broadcast news and entertainment to the general public. The shortcomings of this law would be brought to light more than a decade later. The initial broadcasting experimentation came to an abrupt halt with

16125-434: Was recognized early in radio's development that, in addition to point-to-point communication, transmissions could be used for broadcasting to a widespread audience, the question immediately arose of how to finance such a service. As early as 1898 The Electrician noted that Oliver Lodge had broached the idea that "it might be advantageous to 'shout' the message, spreading it broadcast to receivers in all directions". However,

16254-455: Was renovated in 2013 and has been organized into three theme areas: Religion and Ritual, Land and Landscape, Migration and Movement. The main location also contains two mini galleries with revolving exhibits. The Gamble Firearms Gallery also was renovated in 2013. It now shows more of the context and place of firearms in the Old West; curators grouped firearms by themes: "hunting and trapping,

16383-464: Was retired by the Angels in Autry's honor. The chosen number reflected that baseball's rosters (at the time) had 25 men, so Autry's unflagging support for his team made him the "26th man" (see also the 12th man , a similar concept in football). When the Angels finally won their first (and to date, only) World Series championship in 2002 , star outfielder Tim Salmon held Autry's cowboy hat aloft during

16512-448: Was titled Back in the Saddle Again after his 1939 hit and signature tune . He is also featured year after year, on radio and " shopping mall music" at the holiday season, by his recording of " Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer ". "Rudolph" became the first No. 1 hit of the 1950s. In 2003, he was ranked No. 38 in CMT 's list of the 40 Greatest Men of Country Music . In 1977, Autry

16641-453: Was ultimately relicensed as WWJ, and while observing its 25th anniversary in 1945 the News claimed for it the titles of "the world's first station" and where "commercial radio broadcasting began". After the war the American Radio and Research Company (AMRAD) in Medford Hillside, Massachusetts reactivated 1XE . Although there is limited documentation for this station, it reportedly began making

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