WDY

WDY was an AM radio station located in Roselle Park, New Jersey, that was licensed to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) from September 19, 1921 to February 20, 1923, although its broadcasting career only spanned the period from December 15, 1921 through February 17, 1922. Despite being short-lived, WDY was the first broadcasting station licensed in the state of New Jersey, and one of the first in the United States. It also marked RCA's entrance into the broadcasting field, which the company would dominate in the U.S. for the next half century.

During World War One, civilian radio stations had been banned in the United States. After the end of the war, radio broadcasting, which had previously been done on a limited, mostly experimental basis, began to become better organized, and saw the entrance of major established corporations. In the New York City area, beginning in late 1919 the De Forest Radio Telephone Company transmitted a nightly news and entertainment broadcast over its experimental station, 2XG, located in the Highbridge section of the Bronx, in New York City. However, in early 1920 the local government Radio Inspector shut down 2XG's operation on technical grounds, and Lee de Forest responded by transferring his broadcasting efforts to station 6XC in San Francisco.

In early November 1920, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company began operation of its first broadcasting station, KDKA, in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in order to promote the sale of radio receivers. Following that station's success, Westinghouse made plans to establish additional stations in major population centers.

RCA, spurred by its then-General Manager David Sarnoff, was also keenly interested in the possibilities of radio broadcasting. On July 2, 1921 it operated a temporary station, WJY, located at Hoboken, New Jersey, to broadcast round-by-round the heavyweight prizefight between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier. The company next worked to establish a more permanent presence, and on September 19, 1921 RCA was issued a license for WDY, with studio and transmitter located at General Electric's (GE) Aldene plant in Roselle Park, New Jersey, and transmitting on a wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz). (At this time RCA was a GE subsidiary. The station call letters were randomly assigned and did not stand for anything.)

...
Wikipedia