Editing Reginald Fessenden (section)

===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>