1926 in radio

Events

• 1 January – 2RN, the first radio broadcasting station in the Irish Free State, goes on air.
• 16 January – A British Broadcasting Company radio play by Ronald Knox about workers' revolution in London causes a panic among those who have not heard the preliminary announcement that it is a satire on broadcasting.
• 18 April – The Polskie Radio company begins regular broadcasts from Warsaw, Poland.
• 4 May – The British Broadcasting Company broadcasts five news bulletins a day as no newspapers are being published due to the 1926 United Kingdom general strike.
• 6 May – First radio broadcast of a complete opera – Attilio Parelli's I dispettosi amanti – by the Milan station of the Unione Radiofonica Italiana.
• 15 May
• *American Telephone & Telegraph establishes the Broadcasting Company of America; containing WCAP in Washington, D.C., WEAF in New York, and the mini-network between both stations.
• *Radio Zagreb, the first radio station in southeastern Europe, begins broadcasting.
• 29 May
• *The Finnish national broadcasting company Yleisradio is founded.
• *VPRO is established in the Netherlands.
• 12 June – Radio Kaunas begins regular broadcasting in Lithuania.
• 1 July – American Telephone & Telegraph exits the station ownership realm, selling off WEAF, WCAP, and their mini-network, to RCA. The latter station is merged into time-share WRC and takes the latter stations' callsign.
• 13 September – Formation of the National Broadcasting Company by RCA is announced in newspaper advertisements around the country.
• 7 October – The British Broadcasting Company begins broadcasting a weekly service of Choral Evensong, with the first recorded service being held in Westminster Abbey. As of 2018, Choral Evensong has been running for 92 years, making it the longest-running regular outside broadcast.
• 10 November – Unión Radio takes over station EAJ-1 Radio Barcelona, laying the foundation for the creation of Spain's first national radio network.
• 14 November – The first Geneva Frequency Plan comes into force, halving the number of medium wave frequencies available to countries in Europe.
• 18 December – Regular radio broadcasting begins in Estonia.
• 24 December – The first singing jingle commercial is heard on WCCO, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

  Debuts

• 12 January – Sam 'n' Henry debuts on WGN in Chicago, Illinois. Two years later, the creators of the show, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, leave and start the similar show Amos 'n' Andy.
• 26 February – 1150 AM returns to the air, this time as WJBO in New Orleans.
• 1 November – Radio Belgique broadcasts the first edition of Le Journal Parlé: "All the world's and all the day's news in thirty minutes".
• 26 November – The National Broadcasting Company commences operations on what will later become the NBC Red Network, composed of AT&T's WEAF-WCAP mini-network.
• 13 December – WWVA at Wheeling, West Virginia signs on at 2A.M. from owner John Stroebel's residence.

  Births

• 9 March – Joe Franklin, American broadcast media personality
• 19 May – David Jacobs, British broadcast presenter
• 23 May – Desmond Carrington, English disc jockey and actor
• 22 June – Ray Szmanda, American radio and television announcer
• 27 August – Pat Coombs, English comic stooge
• 30 September – Dave Hunt, American Christian apologist and radio commentator
• 31 October – Jimmy Savile, English disc jockey, television presenter, philanthropist and serial sex offender
• 14 November – Tom Hatten, American broadcast media personality