1939 in radio

The year 1939 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.__TOC__

Events

*7 August – Official test transmissions begin from Radio Andorra. The station is ceremonially inaugurated two days later by the French Minister of Public Works, Anatole de Monzie.
*3 September – Neville Chamberlain, prime minister of the United Kingdom, announces on the BBC at 11.15 local time (10.15 GMT) that "this country is at war with Germany".
*3 September – Fireside chat: "On the European War".
*25 December – Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" is read for the first time on American radio (CBS).

Debuts

*January 14 – "Honolulu Bound" debuts on CBS.
*January 16 – "I Love a Mystery" debuts on west coast NBC stations.
*February 13 – Virginia Payne takes over the role of Mrs. Carter in The Carters of Elm Street.
*19 February – Norman Corwin's radio series "Words Without Music" is premiered on the CBS Radio Network.
*April 3 – "Mr. District Attorney" (1939-1952) debuts on NBC.
*1 September – At 21.00 local time the BBC's Home Service begins transmission: this will be the Corporation's only domestic radio channel for the first four months of World War II.

Closings

*1 September – At 18.55 local time BBC engineers receive the order to close down all transmitters in preparation for wartime broadcasting: this marks the end of the National and Regional Programmes of the BBC.

Births

*March 3 – Larry Burkett (d. 2003), American evangelical Christian author and radio personality.
*December 18 – Alex Bennett, talk show host

Deaths