When did radio first come to Santa Barbara?

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Radio was still in its infancy when the first commercial broadcast in Santa Barbara took place late in 1922. KDKA, generally considered to be the first commercial station, had been launched in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1920. By the end of 1921, there were still fewer than 10 regularly operating stations in the entire country.

The radio industry grew exponentially in the following years. By the end of 1922, almost 600 stations had applied for operation licenses and the sale of radio sets for private homes had exploded. It was estimated that almost half of these fledgling stations were associated with concerns selling radio and electrical equipment; such was the case here in Santa Barbara.

Howard Fallon owned Fallon and Company at 23 West Figueroa Street. His business dealt in “Electrical Supplies, Pumps, Motors and Radio Apparatus.” What better way to increase radio sales than to give buyers a local station to listen to? And the public was indeed buying radios, with prices as low as $15.

Fallon, the founder of Santa Barbara’s first radio station, was born in Massachusetts in 1881, and initially, it appeared he would make his career as a seaman. He was the proud owner of a small dory at age 10, went off to sea as a teenager, and was serving aboard a merchantman as a third mate by age 18. He landed in San Francisco in 1900 and took up the machinist’s trade. He first visited Santa Barbara in 1906 and came to stay in 1918. He never lost his love of the sea and was very active in the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.

Even though he had not received a license, Fallon began to prepare to broadcast in mid December, 1922. He and his technicians ran test programs of musical numbers on the 17th and 18th using a 100-watt transmitter and an 80-foot antenna. After a few more days of tinkering and fine tuning, they were ready to broadcast on Christmas Day.

At 2:30 that afternoon, after 30 minutes of audio “test patterns” to allow listeners to adjust their receiving sets, the show commenced with a selection of Christmas numbers and some light jazz performed by area musicians.

S.B. Historical Museum

T.M. Storke

Cosponsoring the venture were the Santa Barbara Daily News and the California Theater. The owner of the Daily News was Thomas Storke, destined to become one of Santa Barbara’s most influential citizens. Storke had bought the nearly moribund newspaper in 1913 and was battling the rival Morning Press for journalistic supremacy in the city. The California Theater, at 20 W. Canon Perdido Street, had opened in 1919, showing a mix of films and live shows.

Regular programming began in January, as Fallon obtained a broadcasting license. The station, officially designated KFHJ, was on the air in the evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 and from 9:20 until 10. The Daily News supplied the station with breaking news stories and equipment was set up in the California Theater so performances by the house orchestra in this era of silent films could be aired. Fallon enlisted Santa Barbara State College to provide educational programming. It was estimated that the station’s audience was soon up to around 1,000 listeners, some tuning in from hundreds of miles away.

The station did not last all that long, however. Fallon apparently lost interest in radio; his store soon dealt almost exclusively in marine supplies. Other stations, with longer broadcasting hours, would soon come along. KDB, still with us today, was founded by Charles Richardson in 1926—while other stations came and went. Thomas Storke would again get involved in the broadcasting business with the founding of KTMS (the initials of Thomas More Storke) in 1937. It had all started, however, in 1922 when KFHJ became the first Santa Barbara station listeners could find on their radio dial.

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