75 Years of Classical Music Radio
On March 26, 1929, engineering visionary John Vincent Lawless Hogan began experimental video and facsimile transmissions on a frequency designated W2XR. (The “W” signified that the station was East of the Mississippi; the “2” designated that the station was educational; and “XR” stood for “experimental radio.”)

As an accompaniment to these experimental transmissions, Hogan added classical music recordings. Over the years the music took precedence over the experiments. In 1936 Hogan entered into partnership with Elliott Sanger to create a classical music radio station, ultimately licensed by the FCC in December of that year. Because the FCC mandated that stations be identified by letters, the “2” in the original name was changed to “Q” – which approximated both the sound of the number and, in script, its look.

WQXR will dedicate its March 26 programming to the memory of John Hogan, who died in 1960. It will also feature a section about him and his achievements on the station's Web page (www.wqxr.com).

60 years of New York Times Ownership
On July 18, 1944, Hogan and Sanger sold WQXR (by then both AM and FM) to The New York Times Company, led by Arthur Hays Sulzberger, the grandfather of the current chairman. Both companies recognized the value of the association; in addition, the radio stations provided an outlet for Times-branded news and information programming.

In fact, the corporate relationship had begun several years earlier, with WQXR's transmission of a facsimile version of The New York Times newspaper using technology with which Hogan had been experimenting in 1929.

65 Years of WQXR FM
Among the engineering pioneers with whom John Hogan collaborated was Edwin Armstrong, whose many achievements include the invention of FM radio. Indeed, Armstrong's first FM experiments utilized the WQXR AM programming; and on November 8, 1939, New York's first FM station began broadcasting a regular series of programs.

CONTACT: Jennifer Wada, 718-855-7101, jennifer.wada@verizon.net