Radio 2XG

Radio station 2XG, also known as the "Highbridge station", was an experimental station located in New York City and licensed to the De Forest Radio Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1915-1917 and 1920-1924. In 1916 it became the first radio station employing a vacuum-tube transmitter to make news and entertainment broadcasts on a regular schedule, and, on November 7, 1916, became the first to broadcast U.S. presidential election returns by spoken word instead of Morse code.

Initially all radio stations used spark transmitters, which could only transmit Morse code messages. In 1904, Valdemar Poulsen invented an "arc-transmitter" capable of transmitting full audio, and in late 1906 Lee de Forest founded the Radio Telephone Company and began producing his own "sparkless" arc-transmitters. Between 1907 and 1910 de Forest made a number of demonstration entertainment broadcasts, and even spoke about developing news and entertainment broadcasting stations, but did not establish a regular service at this time.

In 1914, de Forest established a laboratory at 1391 Sedgewick Avenue in the Highbridge section of the Bronx in New York City. Vacuum-tube transmitters had recently been developed, which were found to be superior to arc-transmitters for audio transmissions, and the company now concentrated on developing vacuum-tube equipment, including "Oscillion" transmitter tubes. In the summer of 1915, the company received a license for an Experimental station, with the call sign 2XG, located at the Highbridge laboratory.

De Forest had suspended broadcasting demonstrations in 1910, however, he decided to showcase the capabilities of the new vacuum-tube transmitters by introducing a "wireless newspaper" making regular broadcasts of concerts and news bulletins. There were no formal government regulations restricting broadcasting at this time, so the company was free to transmit these programs over 2XG. Arrangements were made with the Columbia Gramophone record company to broadcast phonograph records from their offices at 102 West 38th Street in New York City—the phonograph company supplied records in exchange for "announcing the title and 'Columbia Gramophone Company' with each playing". The debut program was aired on October 26, 1916, and it was announced that nightly transmissions of news interspersed with Columbia recordings would be sent from the Highbridge laboratory beginning November 1.

2XG's original audience was mostly amateur radio operators. An early report stated that 2XG was broadcasting on "a wave length of approximately 800 meters" (375 kilohertz).Carl Dreher would later recall: "The quality was quite good, and I used to listen to the station for hours at a time". De Forest initially used these broadcasts to advertise "the products of the De Forest Radio Co., mostly the radio parts, with all the zeal of our catalogue and price list", until comments by Western Electric engineers caused him to eliminate the sales messages.

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