Background In 1930,
Edgar J. Anzola, who was employed in an electronics business named
Almacén Americano, brought to his employer,
William Henry Phelps, his idea to mount a radio station in Caracas. Phelps already possessed the
RCA Victor receptors, discs and equipment players,
Underwood typewriters,
Frigidaire refrigerators,
Delco power plants, and
Ford cars and trucks. Enthusiastic about Anzola's idea, Phelps installed a transmitter exclusively for commercial purposes. Ricardo Espina and technical manager Alberto López joined Phelps and Anzola in establishing a radio station.
Inauguration and early history After hard work, everything was ready for Broadcasting Caracas, as the station was originally called, to go on the air. Careful tests were performed to make sure that all the equipment operated fully. Two of these tests had unique importance. The inauguration of Broadcasting Caracas made it the first permanent and first commercial radio station to begin operations in Venezuela (the first radio station to operate in Venezuela was
AYRE, a government-owned station which began operations on 4 April 1926. AYRE ceased operations in 1928 due to political problems). On 17 December 1930, from the
state of Carabobo, Broadcasting Caracas made its second remote transmission during the inauguration of the monument commemorating the
Battle of Carabobo. The following year,
El Misterio de los Ojos Escarlatas marked the beginning of the suspenseful radionovelas. In 1935, following the death of General
Juan Vicente Gómez on 17 December, Broadcasting Caracas changed its name to Radio Caracas. The following year,
Alfredo Sadel debuted on Radio Caracas, in which he recorded his first song,
Desesperanza in 1946. Unfortunately,
Desesperanza never went on the air, but Sadel would go on to host popular radio shows such as
Caravana Camel, an evening radio program where he made his claim to fame. The best narrators in the nation have come from Radio Caracas, a reason why some people called it the university of radio in Venezuela. Rising stars such as
Edgar J. Anzola, Ricardo Espina, Francisco Fossa Andersen, Mario García Arocha, Esteban Ballesté, Oscar Eduardo Rickel, Justo Piñero Rojas, Luis Brito Arocha,
Billo Frómeta, Rafael Guillermo Zamora,
Renny Ottolina, Angel Edmundo Brice, Alberto Oyarzábal, Alcides Toro, Enrique Vera Fortique, Antonio Castes, Víctor Saume, Amable Espina, León Bravo, José Matías Rojas, Enrique Ascanio Buróz, Domingo Hurtado, Juan Francisco Rodríguez, Félix Cardona Moreno, Ulises Acosta, Leandro Azuaje, Francisco Amado Pernía, Héctor Mayerston, Jesús Maella, Ernesto D' Escrivan, Alberto Blanco Uribe, and Eduardo Martínez Plaza, among others came from here. In the 1940s, the program
Anuncios Féminas, hosted by María Teresa Castillo and Anita Massanett, was created, and was considered the first feminist program on Venezuelan radio. It was a program dedicated to the orientation and general education of ladies which later moved to Radio Continente. On 28 June 2005,
Expediente, conducted by Francisco Olivares, won the 2005 Monseñor Pellín Award for best national radio program. After Radio Caracas Televisiόn was taken off the air at 11:59 pm on 27 May 2007, due to the government of
Hugo Chávez's decision not to renew its
broadcast license, Radio Caracas Radio began transmitting
El Observador, the newscast of Radio Caracas Televisiόn. It is the flagship radio newscast of RCR today. As of July 2019, the RCR 750 transmitter is currently off air. ==See also==