HISTORY OF RADIO IN MEXICO (by JOSSELYN GAMERO BADILLO)

Minimum History Mexican radio Part 1
(1920-1937)

Defined as the mass medium par excellence - its coverage, which reaches 98 percent of the country's population, do not have any other media - Mexican radio already has a history of more than 70 years. Seven decades in which the momentum of the pioneers experimenter became business interest by the generation of broadcasters that made this activity in industry since the thirties. Seven decades in which the act of tuning a frequency - in the twenties a feat achievable only by initiates through small galena receivers - became simple act everyday, almost natural, practiced by millions of persons accompanying the working day with music, lectures or information that radio offers.

The following notes provide a brief overview, but we believe, sufficient, the development of the radio industry in its first 75 years of life. The work of the pioneers who gave the initial impetus to this activity, that of men with great business vision transformed into a highly lucrative industry, those who, from the government, attempted to create a radio in the service of state projects and those who strove to link to this means of communication or cultural expressions literacy needs in rural communities, is briefly recorded here. In addition, technological developments are recorded that radio has experienced over the years, including the use of the FM band from the fifties, the conduct of radio signals from satellites, the use of " Supported multiplex "on FM stations to provide additional services to broadcasting - for example, data transmission - and the emergence of digital radio, considered the radio of the future. As a complement to the information in the form of short single-issue cards offered in this text is included at the end of it, a statistical appendix which records the increase in the number of radio stations between 1921 and 1995.

1920-1922

PIONEERS: Unlike the earlier experiments and television broadcasts, which are concentrated in the capital of the Republic, the work of the pioneers of radio takes place simultaneously in various parts of Mexico, sometimes with government support or response at the express request of any agency of the executive branch and in others by the initiative of individuals interested in researching what in the first half of the twenties is known as telephony or wireless.
So many are scattered at the time the experiments and radio broadcasts which are difficult to give someone the title of "first broadcaster in Mexico." However, there is a record number of events that helped lay the foundations of an activity that would become, over time, an indispensable means of communication to society.

ORGANIZATION OF BROADCASTERS: On 23 February, is in Mexico City the Mexican Association of Broadcasting Stations (AMER), an organization of broadcasters in various parts of the country. On June 11 this fledgling trade organization becomes Mexican Association of Commercial Broadcasters (GARD), comprising 20 stations in the country divided as follows: 10 of the Federal District, 2 of Veracruz, Tamaulipas and 2 for each of the following states: Puebla, Durango, Monterrey, Leon, Guadalajara and San Luis Potosi. Its aim is "to defend the common interests of broadcasters and to stand together in all cases where its activities may be affected." In 1939, to comply with the government since 1936 through the Law of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the sense that all manufacturers must be attached to a business chamber, the House enters GARD Transport and Communications where is the Radio Section.

UNIVERSITY RADIO: On June 14 he began his first radio broadcast university of Mexico: XEUN, Radio UNAM. Its initial operations were limited to a schedule of four hours daily. A year later, on June 28, 1938, airs the radio from the University of San Luis Potosi, also broadcasting four hours a day. Alejandro Gomez Arias is the first director of Radio UNAM.