Shortwave broadcasting in the United States allows private ownership of commercial and non-commercial shortwave stations that are not relays of existing AM/MW or FM radio stations, as are common in Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania except Australia and Latin America. In addition to private broadcasters, the United States also has government broadcasters and relay stations for international public broadcasters. Most privately owned shortwave stations have been religious broadcasters, either wholly owned and programmed by Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant charities or offering brokered programming consisting primarily of religious broadcasters. To better reach other continents of the world, several stations are located in far-flung US territories. Shortwave stations in the US are not permitted to operate exclusively for a domestic audience; they are subject to antenna and power requirements to reach an international audience.
KYW is a commercial AM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest continuously operating radio stations in the United States, originating in Chicago before moving to Philadelphia in 1934. KYW's unusual history includes its call sign of only three letters, beginning with a K, rare for a station in the Eastern United States. It broadcasts an all-news radio format and is branded as "KYW Newsradio". KYW serves as the flagship station of Audacy, Inc. KYW's studios are co-located within Audacy's corporate headquarters in Center City Philadelphia and its transmitter and two-tower directional antenna array are located in Lafayette Hill.
WWJ is a commercial AM radio station licensed to serve Detroit, Michigan, featuring an all-news radio format known as "Newsradio 950 WWJ". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services Metro Detroit, is the market affiliate for CBS News Radio, and the flagship station for the Michigan Sports Network. Operating on a regional broadcast frequency, its studios are in the Panasonic Building in Southfield.
KXLY is a commercial AM radio station in Spokane, Washington. It broadcasts a news/talk radio format with the branding "920 News Now". The station is owned by QueenB Radio, with its license held by Morgan Murphy Media.
KDKA is a Class A, clear channel, AM radio station, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. and licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Its radio studios are located at the combined Audacy Pittsburgh facility in the Foster Plaza on Holiday Drive in Green Tree, and its transmitter site is at Allison Park. The station's programming is also carried over 93.7 KDKA-FM's HD2 digital subchannel, and is simulcast on FM translator W261AX at 100.1 MHz.
WEJL is a radio station broadcasting in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The station, known on-air as "Northeast PA's ESPN Radio", carries sports radio programming from ESPN Radio. WEJL is owned by Times-Shamrock Communications, publishers of Scranton's daily newspaper, The Times-Tribune.
1921 in radio details the internationally significant events in radio broadcasting for the year 1921.
CKMX was a radio station broadcasting at 1060 AM in Calgary, Alberta, and owned by Bell Media. Its comedy format was branded on-air as Funny 1060. CKMX's studios were located in the CTV Calgary Studios on Patina Rise SW in the Prominence Point neighborhood of Calgary, and its transmitter site near Southeast Calgary. At night, CKMX could be heard as far west as Battle Ground and Snohomish, Washington. It could also be heard on shortwave on 6.03 MHz via its repeater CFVP, reaching western North America.
WGI was an early radio broadcasting station, licensed to the American Radio and Research Corporation (AMRAD) of Medford Hillside, Massachusetts. WGI received its initial broadcasting license on February 7, 1922. However, the station had previously made regular broadcasts under an experimental license as 1XE, which were the first organized broadcasts in the Boston area.
WDY was an AM radio station located in Roselle Park, New Jersey, that was licensed to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) from September 19, 1921, to February 20, 1923, although its broadcasting career only spanned the period from December 15, 1921, through February 17, 1922. Despite being short-lived, WDY was the first broadcasting station licensed in the state of New Jersey, and one of the first in the United States. It also marked RCA's entrance into the broadcasting field, which the company would dominate in the U.S. for the next half century.
WGM was an Atlanta, Georgia AM radio broadcasting station, operated by the Atlanta Constitution newspaper from March 17, 1922 to July 29, 1923. Although the station gained national prominence, it was shut down by its owner after just over a year of operation. The station equipment was then donated to Georgia Tech, where it was used in early 1924 to help set up radio station WBBF.
KFC was a Seattle, Washington AM radio station that was licensed from December 8, 1921 to January 23, 1923. The station was owned by the Northern Radio & Electric Company, however both its studio and transmitter were located at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer building, and the newspaper was responsible for most of its operations.
WMH was an AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was licensed to the Precision Equipment Company from December 30, 1921, to December 11, 1923, although it ceased broadcasting in early January 1923. It was one of the first formally authorized broadcasting stations in the United States, and also the first licensed in the state of Ohio.
WDW was a very short-lived AM broadcasting station, licensed to the Radio Construction & Electric Co. in Washington, D.C., which was issued an initial license in December 1921, and deleted a few months later.
WJH was a Washington, D.C. AM radio station, which was first authorized in December 1921, and went silent in mid-1924. It was originally licensed to the White & Boyer Company, which later became the William P. Boyer Company. WJH was the first radio station licensed in Washington, D.C. following the Department of Commerce's December 1, 1921 establishment of formal qualifications for broadcasting stations.
KOG was a short-lived AM broadcasting station, licensed to the Western Radio Electric Company in Los Angeles, California. It was issued its first license, as KZC, in December 1921, changed its call letters to KOG a few weeks later, and was deleted less than a year and one half after its start.
KDN was a short-lived San Francisco radio station, licensed to the Leo J. Meyberg Company and located at the Fairmont Hotel. It was issued its first license in December 1921 and deleted a year and one half later.
WOO was an AM band radio station, which was operated by the Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from early 1922 until mid-1928.
KFKX was an AM radio station, first licensed in 1923 to the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company for operation in Hastings, Nebraska. It was initially used to test the practicality of linking together a national radio network using shortwave transmissions. This approach proved to be inferior to networking using specially prepared telephone lines, and the shortwave project was terminated in late 1926.
WDAL was an AM radio station in Jacksonville, Florida, licensed to the Florida Times-Union beginning May 19, 1922, which was deleted on December 22, 1923, and temporarily reactivated in October 1925.
