Editing Reginald Fessenden (section)

==Radio work==
In the late 1890s, reports began to appear about the success [[Guglielmo Marconi]] was having in developing a practical system of transmitting and receiving radio signals, then commonly known as "[[wireless telegraphy]]". Fessenden began limited radio experimentation, and soon came to the conclusion that he could develop a far more efficient system than the [[spark-gap transmitter]] and [[coherer]]-[[Receiver (radio)|receiver]] combination which had been created by [[Oliver Lodge]] and Marconi. By 1899 he was able to send radiotelegraph messages between Pittsburgh and [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania|Allegheny City]] (now an area of Pittsburgh), using a receiver of his own design.<ref>''The Continuous Wave'' by Hugh G. J. Aitken, 1985, p. 50.</ref>

===Weather Bureau contract===
[[File:Cobb island md aerial.jpg|thumb|[[Cobb Island, Maryland|Cobb Island]] on the [[Potomac River]], scene of the first successful radio transmission of speech in the fall of 1900.]]
In 1900 Fessenden left Pittsburgh to work for the [[United States Weather Bureau]], with the objective of demonstrating the practicality of using coastal stations to transmit weather information, thereby avoiding the expense of the existing telegraph lines. The contract called for him to be paid $3,000 per year and provided with work space, assistance, and housing.<ref name="Karwatka, D. 2004">Karwatka, D. (2004). "Reginald Fessenden and Radio Transmission". ''Tech Directions'', March 2004, 63(8), 12.</ref> Fessenden would retain ownership of any inventions, but the agreement also gave the Weather Bureau royalty-free use of any discoveries made during the term of the contract. Fessenden quickly made major advances, especially in receiver design, as he worked to develop audio reception of signals. His initial success came from the invention of a [[barretter detector]]. This was followed by an [[electrolytic detector]], consisting of a fine wire dipped in nitric acid, which for the next few years set the standard for sensitivity in radio reception.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t4pk08c44&view=1up&seq=142 "Electrolytic Detectors"], ''Wireless Telegraph Construction For Amateurs'' by Alfred Powell Morgan, 1914, p. 118.</ref>

As his work progressed, Fessenden also developed the [[heterodyne principle]], which used two closely spaced radio signals to produce an audible tone that made [[Morse code]] transmissions much easier to hear. However, heterodyne reception would not become practical for a decade after it was invented, because it required a method for producing a stable local signal, which would not become available until the development of the oscillating [[vacuum-tube]].<ref>Aitken (1985) pp. 58–60.</ref>

Fessenden's initial Weather Bureau work took place at [[Cobb Island (Maryland)|Cobb Island]], Maryland, located in the [[Potomac River]] about {{convert|80|km|mi|sp=us}} downstream from Washington, D.C. As the experimentation expanded, additional stations were built along the Atlantic Coast in North Carolina and Virginia. However, in the midst of promising advances, Fessenden became embroiled in disputes with his sponsor. In particular, he charged that Bureau Chief Willis Moore had attempted to gain a half-share of the patents. Fessenden refused to sign over the rights, and his work for the Weather Bureau ended in August 1902.<ref>This incident recalled [[Francis Ormand Jonathan Smith|F. O. J. Smith]], a member of the House of Representatives from Maine, who had used his influence to gain a one-quarter interest in [[Samuel Morse]]'s telegraph.</ref>

===National Electric Signaling Company===
[[File:National Electric Signalling Company (1904 advertisement).gif|thumb|right|325px|April 1904 company advertisement<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433090837729&view=1up&seq=600 National Electric Signalling Company] (advertisement), ''The Electrician'', April 22, 1904, p. xxi.</ref>]]
{{Other uses|NESCO (disambiguation){{!}}NESCO}}
In November 1902, two wealthy [[Pittsburgh]] businessmen, Hay Walker Jr. and Thomas H. Given, financed the formation of the National Electric Signaling Company (NESCO) to support Fessenden's research. Initially the new company was based in Washington, D.C., where a station was constructed for experimental and demonstration purposes. Two additional demonstration stations were constructed at Collingswood, New Jersey (near Philadelphia) and Jersey City, New Jersey (near New York City).<ref>Aitken (1985), p. 70.</ref> In 1904 an attempt was made to link the General Electric plants in Schenectady, New York, and Lynn, Massachusetts, a distance of {{convert|185|mile|km}}, however the effort was unsuccessful.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112008072784&view=1up&seq=781 "Some Interesting Radio History"], ''Radio World'', September 8, 1923, p. 21.</ref>

Efforts to sell equipment to the U.S. and other governments, as well as private companies, met with little success. An ongoing area of conflict, especially with the U.S. Navy, were the high prices Fessenden tried to charge. The Navy in particular felt Fessenden's quotes were too far above the device's manufacturing costs to be considered reasonable, and contracted with other companies to build equipment that used Fessenden designs. This led to bad feelings and a series of patent infringement lawsuits. An alternate plan to sell the company as a whole was unsuccessful in finding a buyer. Eventually a radical change in company orientation took place. In 1904 it was decided to compete with the existing ocean cables, by setting up a transatlantic radiotelegraph link. The headquarters for company operations was moved to [[Brant Rock, Massachusetts|Brant Rock]], [[Massachusetts]], which was to be the western terminal for the proposed new service.<ref>Fessenden, Helen (1940) [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4540711&view=1up&seq=138 pp. 124–126].</ref>

=== Rotary-spark transmitter and the first two-way transatlantic transmission ===

The plan was to conduct the transatlantic service using Fessenden-designed [[Spark-gap transmitter|rotary spark-gap transmitters]]. A 420-foot (128 meter) guyed antenna was constructed at Brant Rock, with a similar tower erected at [[Machrihanish]] in western Scotland. In January 1906, these stations made the first successful two-way transmission across the Atlantic, exchanging Morse code messages. (Marconi had only achieved one-way transmissions at this time.) However, the system was unable to reliably bridge this distance when the sun was up, or during the summer months when interference levels were higher, so work was suspended until later in the year. Then, on December 6, 1906, the Machrihanish radio tower collapsed in a gale,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951000919131k&view=1up&seq=217 "Fall of a Wireless Telegraphy Tower in a Gale"] by W. A. S. Douglas, ''Symons's Meteorological Magazine'', December 1906, pp. 201–205.</ref> abruptly ending the transatlantic project before it could begin commercial service. (A detailed review in ''Engineering'' magazine blamed the collapse on sub-standard construction, due to "the way in which the joints were made by the man employed for the purpose by the sub-contractors to whom the work was entrusted by the Brown Hoisting Machinery Company" and "The only wonder is that the tower did not fall before.")<ref>"Trans-Atlantic Wireless Telegraphy", ''Engineering'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=2vEwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA89 Part I]: January 18, 1907, p. 89; [https://books.google.com/books?id=2vEwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA108 Part II]: January 25, 1907, pp. 108–111.</ref>

In a letter published in the January 19, 1907, issue of ''Scientific American'', Fessenden discounted the effect of the tower collapse, stating that "The working up to the date of the accident was, however, so successful that the directors of the National Electric Signaling Company have decided that it is unnecessary to carry on the experimental developments any further, and specifications are being drawn up for the erection of five stations for doing transatlantic and other cable work, and a commercial permit is being applied for in England."<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000062999960&view=1up&seq=78 "The Wireless Telegraph Situation"] (correspondence from Reginald Fessenden), ''Scientific American'', January 19, 1907, p. 70.</ref> However, the tower collapse did in fact mark the end of NESCO's transatlantic efforts.<ref>Aitken (1985) p. 72.</ref>

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===Audio transmissions===
Fessenden had a very early interest in the possibility of making audio radio transmissions, in contrast to the early spark-gap transmissions that could only transmit Morse code messages. As early as 1891, he had investigated sending alternating currents of varying frequencies along telegraph lines, in order to create a multiplex telegraph system.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101048865586&view=1up&seq=280 "Sine Form Curves of Alternating E.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;F."] (letter from Reginald Fessenden), ''The Electrical World'', September 15, 1894, p. 264.</ref> He would later apply the knowledge gained about tuning and resonance from his alternating current electrical work to the higher frequency currents used in radio, in order to develop the concept of [[continuous wave|continuous-wave]] radio signals.<ref>Fessenden, Helen (1940), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4540711&view=1up&seq=74 pp. 60–61, 76].</ref>

Fessenden's basic approach was disclosed in U.S. Patent 706,737, which he applied for on May 29, 1901, and was issued the next year. It called for the use of a high-speed alternator (referred to as "an alternating-current dynamo") that generated "pure sine waves" and produced "a continuous train of radiant waves of substantially uniform strength", or, in modern terminology, a continuous-wave (CW) transmitter.<ref>{{patent|US|706737|patent: "Wireless Telegraphy"}}, submitted May 29, 1901, and issued August 12, 1902, to Reginald Fessenden.</ref> The idea of using continuous-wave radio signals was in direct conflict with the current orthodoxy that the abrupt "whiplash" effect produced by large electrical sparks was needed in order to create adequately strong signals. [[John Ambrose Fleming]], a Marconi associate, was particularly dismissive in his book ''The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy'', a detailed review of the state of the art as he saw it that was published in 1906. Reviewing Fessenden's patent, he wrote that "The creation of an electric wave seems to involve a certain suddenness in the beginning of the oscillations, and an alternator giving a simple sine-curve would not be likely to produce the required effect..."<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89059298398&view=1up&seq=557 ''The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy''] by J. A. Fleming, 1906 edition, p. 511.</ref> (In view of Fessenden's ultimate success, this statement disappeared from the book's 1916 edition.) Fessenden's next step, taken from standard wire-telephone practice, was to insert a simple [[carbon microphone]] into the transmission line, which was used to modulate the [[carrier wave]] signal for audio transmissions, or, again using modern terms, used to produce [[amplitude modulation|amplitude modulated]] (AM) radio signals.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015057240221&view=1up&seq=149 "Figure 9"], "Experiments and Results in Wireless Telephony" (part II) by John Grant, ''The American Telephone Journal'', February 2, 1907, p. 70.</ref>

Fessenden began his research on audio transmissions while still on Cobb Island. Because he did not yet have a continuous-wave transmitter, initially he worked with an experimental "high-frequency spark" transmitter, taking advantage of the fact that the higher the spark rate, the closer a spark-gap transmission comes to producing continuous waves. He later reported that, on December 23, 1900, he successfully transmitted speech over a distance of about 1.6 kilometers (one mile), saying; “One, two, three, four. Is It snowing where you are, Mr. Thiessen? If so, telegraph back and let me know”, which appears to have been the first successful audio transmission using radio signals.<ref name="experiments">"Experiments and Results in Wireless Telephony" by John Grant, ''The American Telephone Journal''. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015057240221&view=1up&seq=111 Part I]: January 26, 1907, pp. 49–51; [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015057240221&view=1up&seq=147 Part II]: February 2, 1907, pp. 68–70, 79–80.</ref><ref>[https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/12/23/the-canadian-father-of-radio-broadcasting.html The Canadian Father of Radio Broadcasting – Toronto Star]</ref> However, at this time the sound was far too distorted to be commercially practical, although as a test this did show that with further refinements it would become possible to effectively transmit sounds by radio.<ref>Aitken (1985), p. 61.</ref> 

For a time Fessenden continued working with more sophisticated high-frequency spark transmitters, including versions that used compressed air, which began to take on some of the characteristics of [[arc converter|arc-transmitters]] patented by [[Valdemar Poulsen]].<ref>Aitken (1985), p. 62.</ref> Fessenden unsuccessfully attempted to sell this form of radiotelephone, later noting: "In 1904, with a 20,000 frequency spark and compressed nitrogen gap, such good results were obtained that a demonstration was given to a number of electrical engineers, who signed affidavits that they considered the articulation as commercially good over twenty-five miles, and the sets were advertised for sale..."<ref name=FESS>{{cite web|url=https://ewh.ieee.org/reg/7/millennium/radio/radio_wireless.html |author=Fessenden, Reginald A. |title=Inventing the Wireless Telephone and the Future |publisher=[[IEEE]] |access-date=2014-02-09}}</ref> (In a 1908 review, he conceded that with this approach "The transmission was, however, still not absolutely perfect.")<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068171985&view=1up&seq=585 "Wireless Telephony"] by Reginald A. Fessenden, ''Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers'', Vol. XXVII (1908), Part 1, pp. 553–629.</ref>

===Alternator-transmitter===
Fessenden's ultimate plan for an audio-capable transmitter was to take a basic electrical [[alternator]], which normally rotated at speeds that produced alternating current of at most a few hundred cycles-per-second ([[hertz|Hz]]), and greatly increase its rotational speed, in order to create electrical currents of tens-of-thousands of cycles-per-second (kHz), thus producing a steady continuous-wave transmission when connected to an aerial. However, it would take many years of expensive development before even a prototype alternator-transmitter would be ready, and a few years beyond that for high-power versions to become available. One concern was whether at these high speeds the alternator might disintegrate due to the high rotation speed tearing it apart. Because of this, as a precaution, while the alternator was being initially developed it was "placed in a pit surrounded by sandbags".<ref>Aitken (1985), p. 69.</ref>

Fessenden contracted with [[General Electric]] (GE) to help design and produce a series of high-frequency alternator-transmitters. In 1903, [[Charles Proteus Steinmetz]] of GE delivered a 10&nbsp;kHz version which proved of limited use and could not be directly used as a radio transmitter. Fessenden's request for a faster, more powerful unit was assigned to [[Ernst Alexanderson|Ernst F. W. Alexanderson]], who in August 1906 delivered an improved model which operated at a transmitting frequency of approximately 50&nbsp;kHz, although with far less power than Fessenden's rotary-spark transmitters.<ref>The Brant Rock rotary-spark transmitter was rated at 100,000 watts ([https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112008072784&view=1up&seq=787 "Some Interesting Radio History"], ''Radio World'', September 8, 1923, p. 21), while the alternator transmitter had an estimated output of 12 watts (Aitken (1985) p. 74).</ref>

The alternator-transmitter achieved the goal of transmitting quality audio signals, but the lack of any way to amplify the signals meant they were somewhat weak. On December 21, 1906, Fessenden made an extensive demonstration of the new alternator-transmitter at Brant Rock, showing its utility for point-to-point wireless telephony, including interconnecting his stations to the wire telephone network. As part of the demonstration, speech was transmitted 18 kilometers (11 miles) to a listening site at Plymouth, Massachusetts. A detailed review of this demonstration appeared in ''The American Telephone Journal''<ref name="experiments" /> and a summary by Fessenden appeared in ''Scientific American''.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000062999960&view=1up&seq=76 "Recent Progress in Wireless Telephony"] by Reginald A. Fessenden, ''Scientific American'', January 19, 1907, pp. 68–69.</ref> A portion of a report produced by [[Greenleaf Whittier Pickard|Greenleaf W. Pickard]] of the Telephone Company's Boston office, which includes additional information on some still existing defects, appeared in [[Ernst Ruhmer]]'s ''Wireless Telephony in Theory and Practice''.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b33006&view=1up&seq=229 "Wireless Telephone Tests at Brant Rock and Plymouth, Mass."] by Greenleaf W. Pickard, included as an appendix in ''Wireless Telephony in Theory and Practice'' by Ernst Ruhmer (translated from the German by James Erskine-Murray), 1908, pp. 205–214.</ref>

Although primarily designed for transmissions spanning a few kilometers, on a couple of occasions the test Brant Rock audio transmissions were apparently overheard by NESCO employee James C. Armor across the Atlantic at the [[Machrihanish]] site.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?q1=transatlantic;id=pst.000063000184&view=1up&seq=187" The First Transatlantic Telephonic Transmission"] (correspondence from Reginald Fessenden), ''Scientific American'', September 7, 1918, p. 189.</ref>

===First entertainment radio broadcast===
Until the early 1930s, it was generally accepted that [[Lee de Forest]], who conducted a series of test broadcasts beginning in 1907, and who was widely quoted promoting the potential of organized radio broadcasting, was the first person to transmit music and entertainment by radio. De Forest's first entertainment broadcast occurred in February 1907, when he transmitted electronic [[telharmonium]] music from his laboratory station in New York City.<ref>''Father of Radio'' by Lee de Forest, 1950, p. 225.</ref> This was followed by tests that included, in the fall, [[Eugenia Farrar]] singing "I Love You Truly".<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020686641&view=1up&seq=60 ''I Looked and I Listened''] by Ben Gross, 1954, p. 48.</ref> (Beginning in 1904, the U.S. Navy had broadcast daily time signals and weather reports, but these employed spark transmitters, transmitting in Morse code).

In 1928, as part of a lecture reviewing "The Early History of Radio in the United States", H. P. Davis, commenting on entertainment offerings, asserted that "Reginald Fessenden, probably the first to attempt this, broadcast a program Christmas Eve 1906",<ref>[https://archive.org/details/radioindustrysto00harvrich/page/190/mode/1up "The Early History of Radio in the United States"] by H. P. Davis, in ''The Radio Industry: The Story of its Development'', 1928, p. 190.</ref> but did not provide any additional details, and his comment was little noticed at the time.<ref>[https://www.antiquewireless.org/wp-content/uploads/Vol.-19-.pdf#page=128 "Fessenden's Christmas Eve Broadcast: Reconsidering An Historic Event"], by Donna L. Halper and Christopher H. Sterling, ''The AWA Review'', August 2006, p. 121.</ref>

The first widely publicized information about Fessenden's early broadcasts did not appear until 1932, when an article prepared by former Fessenden associate Samuel M. Kintner, "Pittsburgh's Contributions to Radio", appeared in the December 1932 issue of ''The Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers''.<ref>"Pittsburgh's Contributions to Radio" by S. M. Kintner, ''Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers'', December 1932, pp. 1849–1862.</ref> This reviewed information included in a January 29, 1932, letter sent by Fessenden to Kintner. (Fessenden subsequently died five months before Kintner's article appeared). In this account, Fessenden reported that on the evening of December 24, 1906 ([[Christmas Eve]]), he had made the first of two radio broadcasts of music and entertainment to a general audience, using the alternator-transmitter at Brant Rock. Fessenden remembered producing a short program that included a phonograph record of [[Ombra mai fu]] (Largo) by [[George Frideric Handel]], followed by Fessenden playing [[Adolphe Adam]]'s carol ''[[O Holy Night]]'' on the violin and singing ''Adore and be Still'' by [[Gounod]], and closing with a biblical passage: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will" ([[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 2:14). He also stated that a second short program was broadcast on December 31 ([[New Year's Eve]]). The intended audience for both of these transmissions was primarily shipboard radio operators along the Atlantic seaboard. Fessenden claimed that the two programs had been widely publicized in advance, and the Christmas Eve broadcast had been heard "as far down" as [[Norfolk, Virginia]], while the New Year Eve's broadcast had reached listeners in the [[West Indies]].<ref>Fessenden, Helen (1940), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4540711&view=1up&seq=167 pp. 153–154].</ref>

Anticipation of the 2006 centennial anniversary of Fessenden's reported broadcasts brought renewed interest, as well as additional questions. A key issue was why, despite Fessenden's assertion that the two programs had been widely heard, there did not appear to be any independent corroborating evidence for his account. (Even the Helen Fessenden biography relies exclusively on details contained in the January 29, 1932, letter used by the Kintner article.) There was general consensus in the centennial discussions that Fessenden had the technical means to make broadcasts, given the widespread reports about the success of the December 21 alternator-transmitter demonstrations. However, because of the station's very low power, even if the broadcasts had taken place it was questionable if the range could have matched Fessenden's claim of being heard hundreds of kilometers away.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

In the period leading up to the centennial, James E. O'Neal conducted extensive research, but did not find any ships' radio log accounts, or any contemporary literature, to confirm the reported holiday broadcasts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.radioworld.com/headlines/0045/fessenden-worlds-first-broadcaster/311783 |title=Fessenden: World's First Broadcaster? |date=25 October 2006 |access-date=2017-01-17 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118052530/http://www.radioworld.com/headlines/0045/fessenden-worlds-first-broadcaster/311783 |archive-date=January 18, 2017 }} by James E. O'Neal, ''Radio World'', October 25, 2006. (radioworld.com)</ref> A follow-up article two years later further reported that a similar attempt to verify the details of the broadcasts had taken place in 1956, which had also failed to uncover any confirmation of Fessenden's statements. One alternate possibility proposed by O'Neal was that perhaps something similar to what Fessenden remembered could have taken place during a series of tests conducted in 1909.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.radioworld.com/article/fessenden-%E2%80%94-the-next-chapter/273 |title=Fessenden – The Next Chapter |access-date=2018-03-13 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703180123/http://www.radioworld.com/article/fessenden-%E2%80%94-the-next-chapter/273 |archive-date=July 3, 2015 }} by James E. O'Neal, ''Radio World'', December 23, 2008. (radioworld.com)</ref> A review by Donna L. Halper and Christopher H. Sterling suggested that debating the existence of the holiday broadcasts was ignoring the fact that, in their opinion, the December 21 demonstration, which included the playing of a phonograph record, in itself qualified to be considered an entertainment broadcast.<ref>Halper and Sterling (2006), [https://www.antiquewireless.org/wp-content/uploads/Vol.-19-.pdf#page=136 page 129.]</ref> Jack Belrose flatly argued that there was no reason to doubt Fessenden's account, in part because it had not been challenged in the years immediately following publication of the Kintner article.<ref>[https://www.radiocom.net/Fessenden/BelroseXmas.htm "Fessenden's Christmas Eve Broadcast – Revisited"] by John S. (Jack) Belrose, 2007(?). (radiocom.net) Includes the full text of Fessenden's January 29, 1932, letter to Kintner.</ref> Although Fessenden's claim for the first radio broadcast in 1906 is recognized as an [[List of IEEE milestones|IEEE Milestone]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ethw.org/Milestones:First_Wireless_Radio_Broadcast_by_Reginald_A._Fessenden,_1906 |title=Milestones: First Wireless Radio Broadcast by Reginald A. Fessenden, 1906 |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref> in view of the contrasting opinions among radio historians, Mike Adams summarized the situation as "More than 100 years after its possible occurrence, the Fessenden 'first broadcaster' controversy continues."<ref>''Lee de Forest: King of Radio, Television, and Film'' by Mike Adams, 2012, p. 101.</ref>

The ''American Telephone Journal'' account of the December 21 alternator-transmitter demonstration included the statement that "It is admirably adapted to the transmission of news, music, etc. as, owing to the fact that no wires are needed, simultaneous transmission to many subscribers can be effected as easily as to a few",<ref name="experiments"/> echoing the words of a handout distributed to the demonstration witnesses, which stated "[Radio] Telephony is admirably adapted for transmitting news, stock quotations, music, race reports, etc. simultaneously over a city, on account of the fact that no wires are needed and a single apparatus can distribute to ten thousand subscribers as easily as to a few. It is proposed to erect stations for this purpose in the large cities here and abroad."<ref>{{cite web |date=22 December 2016 |title=Dec. 21, 1906: A Very Significant Date in Radio |url=https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/0004/dec-21-1906-a-very-significant-date-in-radio/338869 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118053127/http://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/0004/dec-21-1906-a-very-significant-date-in-radio/338869 |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |access-date=2017-01-17}} by James E. O'Neal, December 22, 2016. (radioworld.com)</ref> However, other than the two reported holiday transmissions, Fessenden does not appear to have conducted any other radio broadcasts, or to have even given additional thought about the potential of a regular broadcast service. In a 1908 comprehensive review of "Wireless Telephony", he included a section titled "possibilities" that listed promising radio telephone uses. Neither the main article, nor this list, makes any reference to broadcasting, instead only noting conventional applications of point-to-point communication, enumerated as "local exchanges", "long-distance lines", "transmarine transmission", "wireless telephony from ship to ship", and "wireless telephone from ship to local exchange".<ref>Fessenden, Reginald (1908), "Wireless Telephony", [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068171985&view=1up&seq=638 pp. 606–608].</ref>

===Continuing work and dismissal from NESCO===
The technical achievements made by Fessenden were not matched by financial success. Walker and Given continued to hope to sell NESCO to a larger company such as the [[American Telephone & Telegraph Company]] (AT&T). After the December 21, 1906, demonstrations, AT&T was said to be planning to acquire NESCO, but financial setbacks caused the telephone company to reconsider, and NESCO was unable to find another buyer. There were growing strains between Fessenden and the company owners, and Fessenden's formation of the Fessenden Wireless Company of Canada in [[Montreal]] in 1906 may have led to suspicion that he was trying to freeze Walker and Given out of a potentially lucrative competing transatlantic service. The final break occurred in January 1911, when Fessenden was formally dismissed from NESCO. This resulted in his bringing suit against NESCO, for breach of contract. Fessenden won the initial court trial and was awarded damages; however, NESCO prevailed on appeal. To conserve assets, NESCO went into receivership in 1912, and Samuel Kintner was appointed general manager of the company. The legal stalemate would continue for over 15 years. In 1917, NESCO finally emerged from receivership, and was soon renamed the International Radio Telegraph Company. The company limped along for a few years, until it was sold to the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company in 1920, and the next year its assets, including numerous important Fessenden patents, were sold to the [[RCA|Radio Corporation of America]] (RCA), which also inherited the longstanding Fessenden legal proceedings. Finally, on March 31, 1928, Fessenden settled his outstanding lawsuits with RCA, receiving a significant cash settlement.<ref>Fessenden, Helen (1940), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4540711&view=1up&seq=343 pp. 327–334].</ref>