Broadcast and short wave. CreatorAirzone, Sydney, AustraliaProvenance and SignifcanceRadio was huge before television. The technology took a while to get off the ground, largely due to the licence fees charged to listeners. From 1923-1924, only 1400 people were licenced to listen to the radio in Australia, and during the Great Depression, many could not afford it.
Changes to licencing fees in later years, meant a radio took pride of place in most Australian homes. The wireless offered a new source of education and entertainment to families.
One of the most famous long running Australian radio dramas was Dad and Dave from Snake Gully. The series, based on Steele Rudd’s book, On Our Selection, aired from the mid 1930s to the early 1950s, to a national audience. Each episode ran for 11 minutes, and featured the lives of a fictional country family from Snake Gully. The characters in the radio show became Australian cultural icons, and audiences of all ages tuned in to hear the latest shenanigans.