With the long anticipated debut of the five part TV series on the history of Australian Radio, Thanks for Listening, coming up next Sunday on Foxtel’s History channel, radioinfo’s gotten hold of some of the facts that will make viewers more knowledgeable about radio than Barry Jones on Pick a Box.

DID YOU KNOW?

The all-time, highest rating performer on Australia radio (and TV) was Jack Davey who regularly broadcast to more than 5 million people, roughly half the population of Australia at the time.

Australia’s first radio station was an amateur operation called 3ME which later became Radio Australia.

Australia’s oldest commercial radio station, 2UE, was originally called 2EU.

The first radio performer in Britain was Australian opera star Dame Nellie Melba.

Station 3UZ Melbourne was opened in 1925 by electrical engineer Oliver John Nilsen, who later became Lord Mayor of Melbourne.

The first networked radio broadcast in Australia was coverage of the 1930 test cricket series between England and Australia, in which Don Bradman was the star performer;

In the ABC’s first year more than 17, 000 musicians contributed to its radio broadcasts.

The first paid commercial on Australian radio was for a butcher’s shop

World War 2 created a boom in radio variety productions, because newsprint was rationed, advertisers turned to radio.

WW2 blocked imported radio drama, which created a new local radio drama industry and work for hundreds of actors, writers and producers

Emma Linda Palmer Littlejohn was broadcasting on feminist issues back in the 1930’s.

Australia’s first rock and roll “disc jockey” was Stan Rofe in Melbourne.

The first female sports announcer on the ABC was Betty Higgins-North.

Martha Gardner was on air for more than 30 years in Melbourne giving advice on everyday household problems.