WILL-AM celebrates 100 years on the air
Months before the BBC’s debut and decades before NPR, on the night of April 6, 1922, engineers at the University of Illinois bring a new radio station to life. The inaugural broadcast is less than an hour-long, but it was the first moment in what is now Illinois Public Media and WILL-AM, the station that produces The 21st.
The 21st was joined by one of the station's reporters who has been digging through the archives to learn about the station's history.
GUEST:
Jim Meadows
Illinois Public Media reporter
One hundred years ago, on the evening of April 6, 1922, the @UofIllinois @UofILSystem
— Illinois Newsroom (@ILNewsroom) April 6, 2022
radio station went on the air for its first broadcast! @WILLJimMeadows takes us back to the first decades of WILL-AM. @ILPublicMedia https://t.co/iBHThlMXYL #will100
In April, WILL-AM turns 100-years-old. Today, we focused on a call-in show that ran for decades.https://t.co/Tc2ccnglj0
— Illinois Newsroom (@ILNewsroom) March 8, 2022
A journey of 100 years begins with a single application... On this day one century ago, the University of Illinois applied for a radio license, laying the foundation for what would become Illinois Public Media. Here's to the next 100 years and beyond! pic.twitter.com/8y2lRjJoMV
— Illinois Public Media (@ILPublicMedia) March 3, 2022
WILL at 100: Looking back at poet Langston Hughes' 1957 U of I appearance, recorded by WILL Radio. https://t.co/nWdFiFePhv
— Jim Meadows (@WILLJimMeadows) February 9, 2022
Looking back on 100 years of broadcasting at WILL Radio: https://t.co/93ycP8eJYf
— Jim Meadows (@WILLJimMeadows) January 11, 2022
Prepared for web by Reginald Hardwick
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