From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The year 1939 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.

Events

• 15 July - One of the oldest radio stations in the Philippines, DZRH was established.
• 7 August – Official test transmissions begin from Radio Andorra. The station is ceremonially inaugurated two days later by the French Minister of Public Works, Anatole de Monzie.
• 3 September – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, announces on the BBC at 11.15 local time (10.15 GMT) that "this country is at war with Germany".
• 3 September – Fireside chat: On the European War.
• 25 December – Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is read for the first time on American radio (CBS).

Debuts

• January 14 – Honolulu Bound debuts on CBS.
• January 16 – I Love a Mystery debuts on west coast NBC stations.
• February 13 – Virginia Payne takes over the role of Mrs. Carter in The Carters of Elm Street.
• 19 February – Norman Corwin's radio series Words Without Music is premiered on the CBS Radio Network.
• April 3 – Mr. District Attorney (1939-1952) debuts on NBC.
• 1 September – At 21.00 local time the BBC's Home Service begins transmission: this will be the Corporation's only domestic radio channel for the first four months of World War II.

Closings

• 1 September – At 18.55 local time BBC engineers receive the order to close down all transmitters in preparation for wartime broadcasting: this marks the end of the National and Regional Programmes of the BBC.

Births

• March 3 – Larry Burkett (d. 2003), American evangelical Christian author and radio personality.
• December 18 – Alex Bennett, talk show host

Deaths