Before Podcasts
Long before streaming and smart speakers, San Jose tuned in to KQW — one of California’s earliest radio stations and a pioneering voice in West Coast broadcasting.
Founded in 1909 by Dr. Charles Herrold, a San Jose inventor often credited as one of the fathers of radio, KQW began as experimental station San Jose Calling, broadcasting music, news, and lectures from a humble studio in the Garden City Bank Building. Herrold and his team (including his wife Sybil True) were among the first in the world to broadcast voice and music over the airwaves — right here in the heart of San Jose.
In the 1940s, KQW moved to San Francisco and eventually became KCBS, but San Jose’s mark on media history remained. The original KQW laid the groundwork for modern broadcasting, proving that even in the early 20th century, the South Bay had something to say.
Today, few know that the roots of modern radio and the Golden Age of Airwaves trace back to a small transmitter and a big dream in downtown San Jose. See a real early transmitter at History San Jose.