HISTORY OF RADIO IN COLOMBIA - HISTORY - 2024

The history of radio in Colombia dates back to 1923, the year from which it has had public radio frequencies. Radio is the main source of information for 85% of the Colombian population. Due to its accessibility, economy, portability and adaptation, it is the communication medium that leads daily consumption.

Since the first radio signals sent by Guillermo Marconi in 1894, the radio has not stopped its insertion in the daily life of almost every corner of the world. Reginald Fessenden in 1906 boosted the radio signal through a generator, further expanding its range.

Later the Bell Company added transistors, which made radio an ever-expanding mass-range medium. Latin America was part of this expansive process from the beginning and, in a short time, radio spread across the continent.

History of radio

A dynamic theory of the electromagnetic field, written by Maxwell, is the first paper that theoretically described the propagation of waves. This essay was the starting point for Heinrich Hertz to demonstrate in 1888 how to artificially create such fields in order to detect and measure them.

This discovery showed that electromagnetic waves are similar to light waves, being able to deflect voluntarily. Thus was born the propagation of electromagnetic waves (Hertzian waves in his honor) and also the scientific foundation of radio.

In 1894 Guillermo Marconi invented the first device capable of transmitting wireless telegraphy through the air. Initially, this was applied in military uses and in maritime missions.

At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1906, Reginald Fessenden achieved the first audio transmission. He sent the sound of his violin and the reading of a passage from the Bible from Massachusetts out to sea. In 1907 Fessenden incorporated the valve into his apparatus, which allowed a long-range amplification that prompted its use throughout the world.

Radio in Latin America

The first regular broadcasts that were oriented to the transmission of artistic content and leisure or entertainment, took place in Argentina. On August 27, 1920, Parfisal, Wagner's opera, was broadcast from the roof of the Coliseo Theater in Buenos Aires.

It is considered that Sociedad Radio Argentina, in charge of this transmission, is therefore the first radio broadcasting station in the world. Two years later it is Santiago de Chile, from the newspaper El Mercurio, the first radio broadcast of the University of Chile took place.

During the 1920s, radio reached almost every country on the continent. From Argentina to Mexico, numerous regular amateur radio broadcasts emerged and the first stations began to appear.

History of radio in Colombia

As in the rest of Latin America, radio arrived in Colombia in the early 20's. In 1923, the necessary infrastructure for the transmission and reception of radio signals throughout the country began to be installed.

The only company in charge of this task was the corporation founded by Guillermo Marconi: Marconi Wireless Co. However, those in charge of the diffusion were the radio amateurs of the time; it was up to them to create content and pressure to invest in equipment.

In 1924 the first long-range radio equipment was requested to begin establishing stations, but bureaucratic obstacles did not allow their access until 1929. It is considered that radio in Colombia was born that year.

First stations

The first radio station in Colombia was inaugurated by President Miguel Abadía Méndez. In 1929 Méndez created HJN, which would later be named Radiodifusora Nacional.

At the end of the same 1929 the first private radio station appeared, founded as HKD and later renamed La Voz de Barranquilla.

Starting in 1930, a string of commercial radio station foundations began within a framework without legal regulation. The null regulations and legal conditions were still a problem in world radio. Between 1931 and 1934, in Colombia certain legal issues began to be defined that organized the commercial panorama of the medium.

In a short time radio stations stopped being amateurs and became professionals. They recruited staff in charge of specific tasks and secured funding through listeners. Advertising soon emerged as the main means of financing.

In 1934, the fight for the news between the radio and the press arose in Colombia. Through Decree 627, the newspaper El Tiempo succeeded in banning radio stations from broadcasting a news item before 12 noon after it appeared in the newspaper.

Radiojournalism

The birth of radiojournalism in Colombia is attributed to the coverage of the fall of the plane carrying the Argentine singer Carlos Gardel in 1935, who died in the accident. Broadcasters throughout the country sent reporters to Medellín to report the tragic event by telephone.

Between 1935 and 1940, radio in Colombia obtained a massive reach and consolidates its relationship with all aspects of the country's social life. Historical events, social relations, political events and the economic context began to develop with the presence of radio broadcasting.

State regulation

In 1936 the Colombian government promoted Law 198, through which it was awarded control of telecommunications.

According to the law, "all transmission or reception of signs, signals, writings, images and sounds of all kinds, by conductive wires, radio and other electrical or visual signal systems or procedures" became state control.

In addition to this, the government prohibited the transmission of political news, penalizing broadcasters that did not meet this condition with fines.

These regulations demonstrated the importance that radio was acquiring as a medium in social life. The social impact with the explosion of the Second World War and the massive use of the radio has ended up being evidenced.

In Colombia, the assassination of Eliécer Gaitán in 1948 caused the government to increase its control over radio information.

Caracol and RCN

In 1948, the owners of La Voz de Antioquia station acquired half of the rights of Emisoras Nuevo Mundo. On September 2, 1949, they began what is known to this day as Cadena Radial Colombiana SA, or Radio Caracol. The first transmission of the chain took place in Bogotá, from the Capitol Theater.

That same year, the stations Nueva Granada, from Bogotá, and Radio Pacífico, from Cali, jointly broadcast the International Eucharistic Congress. The broadcast was a great success, so the owners decided to join together to form Radio Cadena Nacional (RCN).

School radios and community radios

Since 1970, community radio stations began to appear, mainly oriented to the dissemination of information of interest to particular communities.

Among the most recurrent themes are broadcasts with dissemination of events, school support, promotion of artistic and professional projects in the region, and cultural and folklore programming.

School radios emerged in Colombia in the 90s and began to be formed mainly in schools in Bogotá. They are generally administered by students, sometimes coordinated by a teacher.

These radios work during recess hours and usually dedicate their space to playing music, promoting school events or disseminating information of interest to the school.

Themes of interest

History of radio in Mexico.

References

1. Company, MW (sf). Year book of wireless telegraphy and telephony. London: The Marconi Press Agency Ltd., by the St. Catherine Press / Wireless Press.
2. Credencial, R. (January 16, 2012). Telegram for G. Marconi at the inauguration of the wireless system in Colombia. Retrieved on November 3, 2012, from Credencial Magazine.
3. Gaviria, JF-Y. (December 27, 2009). Radio stories: Radio in Colombia. Retrieved on November 3, 2012
4. Masini, G. (1975). Guglielmo Marconi. Turin: Turinese typographical-publishing union.
5. McNicol, D. (1917). The Early Days of Radio in America. The Electrical Experimenter.