On this day, June 1, 1961, FCC-authorized stereo FM broadcasting began.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

My parents had a Stromberg-Carlson console that had the dual AM and FM tuning.

Hat tip, a poster at DCRTV.com, noting that there will be a webinar about this later today.

How FM Stereo Came to Life

FCC did not settle for the industry’s ad hoc standardization

BY CHARLES "BUC" FITCH ?
PUBLISHED: JANUARY 27, 2016 ? UPDATED: MAY 28, 2021

This article was originally published in the Jan. 20, 2016 issue of Radio World Engineering Extra.

“Milestones” is a series of reminiscences about notable radio technological developments.

Some of us remember when the Federal Communications Commission would choose standards based on consensus and technical performance evaluations rather than marketplace choices. FM stereo was among the products of this period.

The quest for a workable broadcast system to deliver high-fidelity stereo began in the late 1940s and received impetus when serious audiophiles began buying stereo reel-to-reel tapes of live recordings in a big way around 1955. Tape listeners enjoyed the aural presence and spatial relationship of performances in a variety of formats: classical, jazz and big band music. If the playback device reproduced without color and could generate comparable audio levels, you almost felt that you were there.

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Several receiver manufacturers sold units capable of receiving the AM-FM stereo system. Consoles were the most popular version; the selector switch inside had settings for AM or FM and AM-FM stereo.

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True Hi-Fi Spatial Sound

The solution was to encode both channels in a single FM signal using multiplex techniques.

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The FCC authorized regular stereo FM to start June 1, 1961. WGFM (now WRVE, Schenectady, N.Y.) was the first station to go stereo at midnight Eastern time. WEFM Chicago, had to wait an hour later until midnight in the Windy City, as the implementation order specified local time, making them second to go on-air.

WGFM was owned by General Electric and not far from its broadcast equipment division labs in Syracuse; it was a co-proponent of the multiplex standard, so it was hardware-ready to go to stereo.

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Could I have chosen any other tune?

FM • Theme Song/FM (No Static At All) • Steely Dan
18,749 views•Dec 7, 2019

HD Film Tributes
1.49M subscribers

Soundtrack/theme music from the 1978 John A. Alonzo film "FM," with Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull, Alex Karras, Cassie Yates, Cleavon Little, Jimmy Buffett, Linda Ronstadt & Tom Petty.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. More on some of the first stations

WRVE

City: Schenectady, New York
Broadcast area: Albany–Schenectady–Troy

History
First air date: February 1, 1939; 82 years ago (as W2XOY)
Former call signs: W2XOY (1939–1941)
W57A (1941–1942)
W87A (1942–1943)
WGFM (1943–1988)
WGY-FM (1988–1994)

Website: https://995theriver.iheart.com/
https://wildcountry999.iheart.com/ (HD2)

WRVE (99.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Schenectady and serving the Capital District and Upper Hudson Valley of New York. It broadcasts a Hot Adult Contemporary radio format and calls itself "99.5 The River," referring to the Hudson River. The station is owned by iHeartMedia as one of seven radio stations owned by the company in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy radio market. Studios and offices are at Riverhill Center on Troy-Schenectady Road (NY Route 7) in Latham, New York. The transmitter is located off Pinnacle Road in New Scotland, New York.

WRVE is among the nation's oldest FM radio stations, and was the first to broadcast full-time in stereo.

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Stereo sound

On June 1, 1961, at 12:01 AM (EDT), WGFM became the first FM station in the United States to broadcast full-time in stereo.[14] With the switch to higher quality stereo sound, the station no longer duplicated the programming of WGY. At first it aired a classical music format and later it changed to beautiful music.

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14. Fitch, Charles S. (January 27, 2016). "How FM Stereo Came to Life". Radio World. Vol. 40 no. 2. Retrieved February 4, 2017.

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WHFS (historic)

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WHFS was the call sign for three different FM stations in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore, Maryland markets on various frequencies for nearly 50 years. The first and longest run was a progressive rock station and was usually, and affectionately, referred to as 'HFS. For many local residents, it was the first place to hear such bands as R.E.M., The Specials, Pixies, The Smiths, The Monochrome Set, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, Stereolab, New Order, 311, Sublime and more.

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1960s

WHFS began broadcasting on November 11, 1961, on 102.3 FM in Bethesda, Maryland. It was the first station in the Washington, DC, area to broadcast in FM stereo, thus its call sign stood for Washington High Fidelity Stereo. It was originally located in a 20 × 20-foot space in the basement of the Bethesda Medical Building on Wisconsin Avenue with antenna on the roof. Its original format was classical, with jazz after 10 p.m. The first employee was Marlin R. Taylor who left within a few months. (Jesse) Alvin Jeweler was hired as his replacement. Using the on-air name Jay Allen, he remained with the station as the General Manager, Program Director and Audio Engineer, finally forming a group that eventually purchased the station. He left in 1976 and Jake Einstein was tapped as G.M. The original owners were considerably underfunded, and the station was sold in 1963. The station was initially moved to Norfolk Ave. in Bethesda and later to Woodmont Ave. All these locations are within a three-block area. When Jacob Einstein became general manager and part-owner in 1967, the station had a broadcast signal of 2,300 watts.

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[jaysunb]

2. WCUY 92.3 Cleveland, Ohio