Telefon Hírmondó
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Telefon Hírmondó (also Telefonhírmondó, generally translated as "Telephone Herald")[1][2] was a "telephone newspaper" located in Budapest, Hungary, which, beginning in 1893, provided news and entertainment to subscribers over telephone lines. It was both the first and the longest surviving telephone newspaper system,[3] although from 1 December 1925 until its termination in 1944 it was primarily used to retransmit programmes broadcast by Magyar Rádió.[4]
Type | Daily newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Telephone newspaper |
Owner(s) | Telefonhírmondó Joint stock company |
Staff writers | Approximately 200 (Winter, 1907) |
Founded | 15 February 1893 |
Ceased publication | Original programming until 1 December 1925, relayed radio station programming until 1944 |
Headquarters | Budapest |
Country | Hungary |
Circulation | 15,000 (1907) |
Three decades before the development of radio broadcasting, the Telefon Hírmondó was the first service to electronically deliver a wide range of spoken and musical programming to a diverse audience. Although its inventor envisioned that the technology could be eventually expanded to serve a national or international audience, the technical limitations of the time ultimately limited its service area to just the city of Budapest.