Jacobs Media Honors Frank Conrad As 'Most Innovative'

Honors Frank Conrad

Each week, JACOBS MEDIA honors an "innovative" member of our business. This week, they've chosen WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC engineer FRANK CONRAD.

JACOBS writes, "it was on this day 95 years ago when WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC engineer FRANK CONRAD sent music into the ether in PITTSBURGH.  Eventually, that company would start KDKA, and the rest,  as they say, is history.  And it was very innovative.

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI could not have known that his invention would spawn CASEY KASEM, HOWARD STERN, RUSH LIMBAUGH, Rock of the ‘80s, and All-CHRISTMAS Music.  Radio became America’s companion, reinventing itself several times over the ensuing decades.

"CONRAD is an interesting character.  He started playing his record collection on the air and began to receive letters from listeners (no, there was no 'request line').  Eventually, he burned through his music library (no, there was no callout), and started working with a local record store to expand his on-air repertoire.  In exchange, CONRAD agreed to mention that the music he was featuring was on sale at this store.  Yes, commercial radio was born (no, there was no 'value added')."

Read the full blog here.

« see more Net News