This is a list of when the first radio broadcasts to the public occurred in the mentioned countries and territories. Non-public field tests and closed circuit demonstrations are not referred to; neither are license dates or dates of the official opening.
Basis for each entry is the time of introduction. Listed are independent countries, dependent territories and territories within a country only if they became independent later or if it is a large country and there is a vast time difference with the introduction in different parts.
Each entry comprises: the flag linked to the country or territory, the name of the country or territory and, in parentheses, the designation of the radio station (either by call sign or by name, linked to a main article), its city and some additional information.
Year | Countries and territories |
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1916 | ![]() |
1919 | ![]() |
1920 | ![]() ![]() |
1921 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1922 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1923 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1924 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1925 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1926 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1927 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1928 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1929 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Year | Countries and territories |
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1930 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1931 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1932 | ![]() |
1933 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1934 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1935 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1936 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1937 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1938 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1939 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Year | Countries and territories |
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1940 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1941 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1942 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1943 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1944 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1945 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1946 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1947 | ![]() ![]() |
1948 | ![]() ![]() |
1949 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Year | Countries and territories |
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1950 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1951 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1953 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1954 | ![]() ![]() |
1955 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1956 | ![]() |
1957 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1958 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1959 | ![]() ![]() |
Year | Countries and territories |
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1960 | ![]() ![]() |
1961 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1962 | ![]() ![]() |
1963 | ![]() |
1964 | ![]() ![]() |
1965 | ![]() ![]() |
1968 | ![]() |
1969 | ![]() |
Year | Countries and territories |
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1970 | ![]() |
1973 | ![]() |
1993 | ![]() |
Communications in Indonesia has a complex history due to the need to reach an extended archipelago of over 17,500 islands. The once important non-electronic communication methods of the past have given way to a considerable telecommunications infrastructure in contemporary Indonesia.
The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages to many parts of the world on analogue and digital shortwave platforms, internet streaming, podcasting, satellite, DAB, FM and MW relays. In 2015, the World Service reached an average of 210 million people a week. In November 2016, the BBC announced that it would start broadcasting in additional languages including Amharic and Igbo, in its biggest expansion since the 1940s.
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz ; above the medium frequency band (MF), to the bottom of the VHF band.
International broadcasting, in a limited extent, began during World War I, when German and British stations broadcast press communiqués using Morse code. With the severing of Germany's undersea cables, the wireless telegraph station in Nauen was the country's sole means of long-distance communication.
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio station, while in satellite radio the radio waves are broadcast by a satellite in Earth orbit. To receive the content the listener must have a broadcast radio receiver (radio). Stations are often affiliated with a radio network that provides content in a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast, or both. Radio stations broadcast with several different types of modulation: AM radio stations transmit in AM, FM radio stations transmit in FM, which are older analog audio standards, while newer digital radio stations transmit in several digital audio standards: DAB, HD radio, DRM. Television broadcasting is a separate service that also uses radio frequencies to broadcast television (video) signals.
The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, also referred to as the Canadian Radio Commission (CRC), was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Deutsche Welle, commonly shortened to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service consists of channels in English, German, Spanish, Persian and Arabic. The work of DW is regulated by the Deutsche Welle Act, meaning that content is intended to be independent of government influence. DW is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Radio Netherlands was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012.
Akashvani formerly known as All India Radio (AIR), officially known since 1957 as Akashvani, is the national public radio broadcaster of India and is a division of Prasar Bharati. It was established in 1936.
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is a state-owned media conglomerate in Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the holding company of the Government of Singapore—it owns television, radio, and digital media properties in the country.
Radio Moscow, also known as Radio Moscow World Service, was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until 1993, when it was reorganized into Voice of Russia, which was subsequently reorganized and renamed into Radio Sputnik in 2014. At its peak, Radio Moscow broadcast in over 70 languages using transmitters in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Cuba.
Shortwave listening, or SWLing, is the hobby of listening to shortwave radio broadcasts located on frequencies between 1700 kHz and 30 MHz. Listeners range from casual users seeking international news and entertainment programming, to hobbyists immersed in the technical aspects of radio reception and collecting official confirmations that document their reception of distant broadcasts (DXing). In some developing countries, shortwave listening enables remote communities to obtain regional programming traditionally provided by local medium wave AM broadcasters. In 2002, the number of households that were capable of shortwave listening was estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.
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 USA are not permitted to operate exclusively for a domestic audience; they are subject to antenna and power requirements to reach an international audience.
ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in Tok Pisin.
The Woofferton transmitting station is owned and operated by Encompass Digital Media, as one of the BBC's assets which were handed over as part of the privatization of World Service distribution and transmission in 1997. It is the last remaining UK shortwave broadcasting site, located at Woofferton, south of Ludlow, Shropshire, England. The large site spreads across into neighbouring Herefordshire.
Israel Radio International or Reka is the radio service of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) for immigrants and listeners abroad.
The Grigoriopol transmitter, officially the Transnistrian Radio and Television Center, is a very large broadcasting facility situated near Maiac, an urban settlement 11 km northeast of Grigoriopol, Transnistria (Moldova).
The Établissement de la Radio Tunisienne is Tunisia's state-owned public radio broadcaster. It was formed in August 2007, when the former national state broadcaster ERTT was split into separate radio and television companies. Tunisian Radio operates ten stations, four nationwide and six regionally. It is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).