The first broadcasting of a radio transmission consisted of Morse code (or wireless telegraphy) was made from a temporary station set up by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895.
This followed on from pioneering work in the field by Alessandro Volta, André-Marie Ampère, Georg Ohm, James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz.
# Early broadcasting
The history of early broadcasting is contested. The broadcasting of music and talk via radio started experimentally around 1905-1906, and commercially around 1920 to 1923.
VHF (very high frequency) stations started 30 to 35 years later - wikipedia 
Donald Manson working as an employee of the Marconi_Company, England, 1906
- wikimedia.org
In the early days, radio stations broadcast on the long wave, medium wave and short wave bands, and later on VHF (very high frequency) and UHF (ultra high frequency).
However, in the United Kingdom, Hungary, France and some other places, from as early as 1890 there was already a system whereby news, music, live theatre, music hall, fiction readings, religious broadcasts, etc., were available in private homes [and other places] via the conventional telephone line, with subscribers being supplied with a number of special, personalised headsets.
In Britain this system was known as Electrophone, and was available as early as 1895 or 1899 [sources vary] and up until 1926. In Hungary, it was called Telefon Hírmondó [1893-1920s], and in France, Théâtrophone [1890-1932]).
The Wikipedia Telefon Hírmondó page includes a 1907 program guide which looks remarkably similar to the types of schedules used by many broadcasting stations some 20 or 30 years later.
Lee de Forest broadcasting Columbia phonograph records, from page 52 of the November 4, 1916 The Music Trade Review
- wikimedia.org
By the 1950s, virtually every country had a broadcasting system, typically one owned and operated by the government. Alternative modes included commercial radio, as in the United States; or a dual system with both state sponsored and commercial stations, introduced in Australia as early as 1924, with Canada following in 1932.
Today, most countries have evolved into a dual system, including the UK. By 1955, practically every family in North America and Western Europe, as well as Japan, had a radio. A dramatic change came in the 1960s with the introduction of small inexpensive portable transistor radio, the greatly expanded ownership and usage. Access became practically universal across the world.
# See also * Early broadcasting * 1950s and 1960s * 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s * The 2000s * See also * References * Further reading