Today is World Radio Day (13 February 2025). I did get a bit nostalgic and thought it worth a post as the radio was a strong connector to the communities I grew up in.
Growing up in the 1970s in Scone, a rural town in Australia, in a time before the Internet, Youtube, podcasts, streaming services, or even 24-hour television, we all listened to the radio. 2NM, the local station was our source of news, music, and entertainment. Along with our two television stations, it was our window to the world outside.
I was a bit of a night owl as a teenager. After the two TV stations closed down (about midnight) I would listen to 2NM into the night. As a country station their music was fairly mainstream pop but I do remember listening to the Rolling Stones late one night and thinking how terrific it was (I was a long way from London).
Our local radio 2NM
2NM was launched on 14 January 1954, from a “radio shack” on McCully’s Gap Road just outside Muswellbrook. It was for a time operated by the Catholic Church.
According to Wikipedia, the callsign 2NM was created by station manager Ken Robinson. He had served in the Australian Army and his identification number included the letters NX. There twin Newcastle station was given the 2NX name and 2NM’s callsign was created to match 2NX. 2NM represented 2 Newcastle Muswellbrook but we used to think it meant North Muswellbrook.
Nowadays, living in Sydney I listen to ABC 702 while I have breakfast and sometimes in the evening. Sometimes I have even rung in.
Marconi
The development of radio involved many scientists, but the Italian, Guglielmo Marconi is credited as its father. Building on the discoveries of others, Marconi developed the first practical wireless telegraph system in the 1890s. By 1901 he had successfully transmitted a signal across the Atlantic Ocean. His work earned him the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Incidentally when we migrated to Australia in the 1960s we came here on an Italian migrant boat called the Marconi, named in his honour.
The word history of radio
The word “radio” comes from the Latin “radius” meaning spoke of a wheel or ray of light. This concept of something radiating outward shaped the scientific term radiotelegraphy in the late 19th century, which described messages sent through electromagnetic waves rather than wires. By the early 20th century, this was shortened to radio.
Before “radio”, “wireless telegraphy” was the common name for the technology which became shortened to “wireless”. Even as late as July 1921, The New York Times was still referring to radio as wireless telephony. While “wireless” remained widespread in English-speaking countries until World War II, when the military preference for radio established it as the standard term. Although “wireless” is used as an affectionate term when talking about old-fashioned listening habits.
An early verb meaning to send a message by wireless was “marconi” (1908), derived from Guglielmo Marconi, its inventor. People would say they had “marconied” a message, very much like how we now say we “google” something.
Radio in the modern world
Despite rumours, radio is still an important medium in Australia. A report in 2024 showed that more than 8 out of 10 Australians are listening, with high numbers across all demographics. In-car listening is dominated by radio, with 88% using it as an audio source in cars. The study found that the number of 25-54 year-olds listening to radio online had more than doubled from three years previously.
So radio is not dead and today we celebrate World Radio Day.