Radio broadcasts were a popular entertainment from the 1910s until television became widespread. The medium was unique in that it only used sound.

Radio programmes included the famous Hollywood talent of the day, and so there has been a resurgence of interest in what is now called old-time radio or the "Golden Age of Radio," with surviving shows being traded and collected in reel-to-reel, cassette and MP3 format. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the advent of television gradually eroded the popularity of most radio shows, and by the late 1950s radio broadcasting took on much the form it has today.

Radio broadcasting is still very popular, with many stations devoted to news, talk, sports and especially popular music. In western Europe offshore radio, such as Radio Caroline broadcast from ships at anchor or abandoned forts, helped to stimulate a demand for the latter type of station during the post 1964 period.

  • Internet radio, which keeps the form of audio-only broadcasting, although the signals are transmitted using the Internet rather than by radio broadcast - a sort of "radio-less radio".
  • Digital audio broadcasting, which is a way of broadcasting radio digitally, which gives less noise in the transmission.

Notable old-time radio programs include: Notable modern radio programs include: Notable American radio programs include:

Notable Canadian radio programs include:

Notable British radio programs include:

See also: