Before The Invention

BEFORE THE INVENTION of television, millions of fans followed baseball over the airwaves. In 1921, an enterprising engineer discovered radio’s power to bring sports into the life and home of fans.

Less than a year before, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, became America’s first working radio station. The initial broadcast opened with Harold Arlin, a 26-year-old Westinghouse engineer, reading the results of the 1920 presidential election.

The following summer, Arlin decided to test the possibility of remote broadcasting from Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. Setting up a field-level box behind home plate, the engineer constructed a miniature transmitter and described every hit, run, and error into a converted telephone.

The game itself meant little. The first-place Pirates dispatched the last-place Philadelphia Phillies 8–5 by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth. The highlights reported by Arlin included a two-run home run by Philadelphia’s Cy Williams in the third and an injury to Pittsburgh first baseman Charlie Grimm’s shoulder after being hit with a pitch in the sixth.

Sometimes the arrangement worked well, but occasionally the equipment failed. Crowd noise created problems. But despite the difficulties, people listened and demanded more. As a result, sales of radios boomed and radio stations popped up all over the country.

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POINT Radio helped expand sports, and sports helped expand radio. Today, both sports and media extend to the ends of the earth. More than 80 years after its first broadcast, KDKA still airs Pirates baseball.

Radio and television not only enable fans to keep up with favorite teams, but satellites beam up-to-date news and programs around the globe. The airwaves also send God’s Good News into countries where missionaries cannot visit. Christ’s message reaches television sets and radios in homes that have never heard the name of Jesus. Jesus’ story touches the heart of people who have never seen a Bible or can’t read.

Like Harold Arlin, who discovered radio’s power to bring sports into the homes of fans, Christians discovered the media’s ability to bring the Lord into the life of those who need Jesus’ saving grace.

GOAL! Look at your newspaper’s TV guide. What kind of Christian programming do you find? Praise God for dedicated broadcasters who use this medium to share Christ.