Telephone newspapers, introduced in the 1890s, transmitted news and entertainment to subscribers over telephone lines. They were the first example of electronic broadcasting, although only a few were established, most commonly in European cities. These systems predated the development, in the 1920s, of radio broadcasting. They were eventually supplanted by radio stations, because radio signals could more easily cover much wider areas with higher quality audio, without incurring the costs of a telephone line infrastructure.
History
The introduction of the telephone in the mid-1870s included numerous demonstrations of its use for transmitting musical concerts over various distances. In one particularly advanced example, Clément Ader prepared a listening room at the 1881 Paris Electrical Exhibition, where attendees could listen to performances, in stereo, from the Paris Grand Opera."The Telephone at the Paris Opera", Scientific American, December 31, 1881, pages 422-423. The concept also appeared in Edward Bellamy's influential 1888 utopian novel, Looking Backward: 2000-1887, which foresaw audio entertainment sent over telephone lines to private homes.
The initial scattered demonstrations were followed by the development of more organized services transmitting news and entertainment, which were collectively called "telephone newspapers". (The term "pleasure telephone" was also sometimes used in reference to the more entertainment-oriented operations.) However, the technical capabilities of the time — vacuum tube amplification would not become practical until the 1920s — meant that there were limited means for amplifying and relaying telephone signals to multiple sites over long distances, so service areas were generally limited to a single jurisdiction, and in most cases listeners needed to use headphones to hear the programs.
During this era telephones were often costly, near-luxury items, so subscribers tended to be among the well-to-do. Financing for the systems was normally done by charging fees, including monthly subscriptions for home users, and, in locations such as hotel lobbies, through the use of coin-operated receivers, which provided short periods of listening for a set payment. Some systems also accepted paid advertising.
While some of the systems, including the Telefon Hírmondó, built their own one-way transmission lines, others, including the Electrophone, used the existing commercial telephone lines, which allowed subscribers to talk to operators in order to select programs. Programming often originated from the system's own studios, although outside sources were also used, including local theaters and church services, where special telephone lines carried the transmissions to the distributing equipment. In two cases, the Telefon Hírmondó and the Araldo Telefonico, the systems were later merged with radio station operations, becoming relays for the radio programs.
Individual systems
Below is a chronological overview of some of the systems that were developed.
Théâtrophone (Paris, France)
The first organized telephone-based entertainment service appears to be the Théâtrophone, which went into operation in Paris, France in 1890. This system evolved from Clément Ader's demonstration at the 1881 Paris Electrical Exhibition by Compagnie du Théâtrophone of MM. Marinovitch and Szarvady. Although the service received most of its programming from lines run to local theaters, it also included regular five-minute news summaries."Wanted, A Theatrophone", Electrical Review, July 5, 1890, page 4. Home listeners could connect to the service, with an 1893 report stating that the system had grown to over 1,300 subscribers. The company also established coin-operated receivers, in locations such as hotels, charging 50 centimes for five minutes of listening, and one franc for twice as long."The Theatrophone", The (London) Times, May 29, 1891, page 5.
By 1925, the system had adopted vacuum tube amplification, which allowed listeners to hear over loudspeakers instead of headphones."How the Parisian Enjoys Opera at Home", Scientific American, September 1925, page 174. The service continued in operation until 1932, when it was found it could no longer compete with radio broadcasting.
Telefon Hírmondó (Budapest, Hungary)
The Telefon Hírmondó — the name was generally translated into English as the "Telephone Herald" or "Telephone News-teller" — was created by inventor and telephone engineer Tivadar Puskás.
Puskás had participated in Clément Ader's demonstration at the 1881 Paris Electrical Exhibition.Telephonic News Dispenser by Luca Gábor and Magda Gíró-Szász, 1993, page 67. He had also been an important early developer of the telephone switchboard, and he later developed the basic technology for transmitting a single audio source to multiple telephones. On February 15, 1893 the Telefon Hírmondó, which would become the most prominent and longest-lived of all the Telephone Newspaper systems, began operating in the Pest section of Budapest. The system eventually offered a wide assortment of news, stock quotations, concerts and linguistic lessons.
Tivadar Puskás died just one month after the system went into operation,Gábor and Gíró-Szász (1993), page 86. after which his brother assumed responsibility for the system. The Telefon Hírmondó was classified and regulated by the Hungarian government as a newspaper, with a designated editor-in-chief legally responsible for content. Both the Italian Araldo Telefonico and the United States Telephone Herald Company later licensed the Telefon Hírmondó technology for use in their respective countries.
The limited means for signal amplification required that the Telefon Hírmondó employ strong-voiced "stentors" to speak loudly into double-cased telephones, so that they could be heard throughout the system by listeners that used headphones. A loud buzzer, which could be heard throughout a room even when the service was not being actively monitored, was used to draw attention to important transmissions. Service was supplied to private homes as well as commercial establishments, including hotels and doctor's offices. At its peak, the service had thousands of subscribers, and many contemporary reviews mentioned that the subscription price was quite reasonable.
Initially the Telefon Hírmondó provided a short hourly news program using subscriber's regular phone lines. This was soon expanded into a continuous service, now using the company's own dedicated lines. Its schedule in 1907 was as follows: A. M. 9:00 — . . Exact astronomical time. 9:30 — 10:00 . . Reading of programme of Vienna and foreign news and of chief contents of the official press. 10:00 — 10:30 . . Local exchange quotations. 10:30 — 11:00 . . Chief contents of local daily press. 11:00 — 11:15 . . General news and finance. 11:15 — 11:30 . . Local, theatrical, and sporting news. 11:30 — 11:45 . . Vienna exchange news. 11:45 — 12:00 . . Parliamentary, provincial, and foreign news. 12:00 noon . . Exact astronomical time. P. M. 12:00 — 12:30 . . Latest general news, news, parliamentary, court, political, and military. 12:30 — 1:00 . . Midday exchange quotations. 1:00 — 2:00 . . Repetition of the half-day's most interesting news. 2:00 — 2:30 . . Foreign telegrams and latest general news. 2:30 — 3:00 . . Parliamentary and local news. 3:00 — 3:15 . . Latest exchange reports. 3:15 — 4:00 . . Weather, parliamentary, legal, theatrical, fashion and sporting news. 4:00 — 4:30 . . Latest exchange reports and general news. 4:30 — 6:30 . . Regimental bands. 7:00 — 8:15 . . Opera. 8:15 (or after the first act of the opera). . Exchange news from New York, Frankfurt, Paris, Berlin, London, and other business centers. 8:30 — 9:30 . . Opera."A Telephone Newspaper" by W. G. Fitz-Gerald, Scientific American, June 22, 1907, page 507.
Radio broadcasting was introduced in Hungary in 1925 with the establishment of Radio Hirmondó, which shared the Telefon Hírmondó studios. With this transition the Telefon Hírmondó became an audio relay system, available for persons who wanted to listen to the radio station without the trouble and expense of purchasing a radio receiver. During World War II the wire network of the company was destroyed, leading to the cessation of the telephone-based service in 1944.
Electrophone (London, U.K.)
The Electrophone, established in London in 1895, was similar in operation to the Paris Théâtrophone. The company worked closely with the National Telephone Company, and later with the British Post Office, which took over the national telephone system in 1912. The service's main focus was live theatre and music hall shows, plus, on Sundays, church services. On a few special occasions, it also shared programs with the Théâtrophone, employing a telephone line that crossed the English Channel. Listeners ranged from hospital patients"Modern Nuisances" by A. P. Herbert, The Living Age, August 7, 1920, pages 346-348. to Queen Victoria."The Queen and the Electrophone", The (London) Electrician, May 26, 1899, page 144.
For locations such as restaurants, coin-operated receivers were installed that provided a few minutes of live entertainment for a sixpenny."The Electrophone" by J. Wright, The Electrical Engineer, September 10, 1897, pages 343-344. Home subscribers accessed Electrophone programming through their regular telephone lines, by calling an operator for a connection to one of a multiple of program offering. Because this tied-up the subscriber's line, incoming calls could not be received while listening to the Electrophone, although operators were instructed to break-in in case of emergency. The rare home that had two telephone lines could use one to receive the Electrophone service, and the other to call the operators to change their selection."Theatre-going by Telephone", London Times, May 9, 1957, page 3.
The Electrophone ceased operations in 1925, unable to compete with radio. During its thirty years, the service generally had a few hundred subscribers, although by 1923 the number had risen to 2,000.
Tellevent (Detroit, Michigan, U.S.)
The Tellevent (also spelled Televent) was the first organized attempt to develop a subscription telephone newspaper service in the United States. The name was a contraction of the phrase: "It tells the event to mind's eye." The main promoter was the Michigan State Telephone Company's general manager, James F. Land, who had been influenced by the Telefon Hírmondó, although his company did not license that system's technology.
Test transmissions throughout the state of Michigan began in 1906, initially "between the theatres, the churches, the Light Guard Armory, the new Penobscot Inn and the residences of several officials of the company"."Theatrophone", Michigan State Gazette, January 1906, page 3. Additional test transmissions continued through 1908. In March 1907, the American Tellevent Company was incorporated in Michigan,"The 'Tellevent'", Electrical Review, March 23, 1907, page 483. and Land resigned from the Michigan State Telephone Company, where he had worked for nearly 30 years, in order to work full-time with the recently founded Michigan Tellevent Company."Michigan State Telephone Company to Have New General Manager", Michigan State Gazette, July 1907, page 1.