WJY (Hoboken, New Jersey)
In January 1920, Lieutenant Herbert E. Metcalf, in conjunction with the Sacramento Radio Club, used U.S. Army Signal Corps equipment to announce from ringside a series of boxing matches taking place at Mather Field.
[5] Julius Hopp, manager of Madison Square Garden concerts, who helped coordinate the charity match, was on the lookout for additional opportunities.
[6] Broadcasting radiophone reports in this manner for the first time in history, [makes] possible the successful accomplishment of the following objects: Promotion of amity between the nations represented in the greatest international sporting event on record.
Hopp's overall plan was to raise funds for the American Committee for Devastated France, by recruiting listening locations at selected theaters and halls, which would charge an admission fee that would be donated to the charity.
Commander D. C. Patterson, District Communication Officer, approved this use of 1600 meters and helped insure that government stations would not interfere at the time of the scheduled broadcast.
He arranged for White to meet with the former assistant Secretary of the Navy (and future president) Franklin D. Roosevelt, to get permission to use this transmitter for the proposed broadcast.
Roosevelt was the president of The Navy Club, and one of the conditions for approval was that his organization share, along with the American Committee for Devastated France, in the charitable receipts.
In addition to being acting president of NAWA, J. Andrew White was the editor of RCA's Wireless Age magazine, and the preparations, which included installing aerials and receivers capable of loudspeaker operation, were publicized in its pages.
Julius Hopp, representing the American Committee for Devastated France and the Navy Club, reported that eleven halls, theaters and auditoriums had been secured within greater New York, in addition to forty-seven cities spanning from Massachusetts to Maryland, and westward to Pennsylvania, for a total of fifty-eight admission sites.
The initial proposal was to set up a radio transmitter and construct an antenna at ringside, but this proved to be impractical due to cost and logistical considerations.
Hundreds of reception reports received from amateur radio operators monitoring WJY's performance provided reassurance that the signals were readily audible, and reaching the intended coverage area radius of 200 miles (320 kilometers).
[17] The solution was to have a "Mr. Sheehey of the Broad street office" type White's telephoned descriptions as they were received at the transmitter site, with the transcripts then given to J. O. Smith for reading over the air.
[9] To increase verisimilitude, a spare gong was placed near the transmitter, which was sounded in order to mimic the one at the ring that signalled the opening and closing of each round.
The programming opened with a series of preliminary bouts, which were conducted at half-hour intervals, and concluded with the Dempsey-Carpentier fight, which ended when the champion, Dempsey, knocked out Carpentier in the fourth round.
[9] Overall the broadcast was considered a major success, with the transmission achieving its goal of a high-quality signal that in some cases exceeded the anticipated 200 mile range.
J. Andrew White reported receiving hundreds of congratulatory letters at his Wireless Press office, which included "approximately $550" in contributions, in addition to an unknown total of admission fees collected by the charities at the participating theaters and auditoriums.
[22] Seeing an opportunity for future growth, in his July 1921 report J. Andrew White suggested that "the Radio Corporation interests can dominate the amateur field".
In a cover letter for the distribution of the White report, he noted that "It indicates the possibilities of radio devices for receiving broadcasted news and falls under the Music Box dream."
In the fall of 1922, he filed a lawsuit against RCA, J. Andrew White, Tex Rickard and Frank Coultry, claiming he had been "defrauded out of the results of his work".
