|
|
| WRTH Cover - first edition - 1947 |
The World Radio TV Handbook,
known also with the acronym WRTH,
is a directory of virtually every radio and TV station on Earth,
published yearly. It began publication in 1947 as the World Radio Handbook (WRH). The word "TV" was added to the title
in 1965, when it began including data for television broadcasting.
The
first edition that bears an edition number is the 4th edition, published in 1949. The three previous editions appear to have
been:
- the 1st edition, marked "Winter Ed. 1947" on the cover
and completed in November 1947
- the 2nd edition, marked "1948 (May-November)" on the
cover and completed in May 1948
- the 3rd edition, marked "1948-49" on the cover and completed
in November 1948.
Summer Supplements appear to have been issued from 1959 through
1971. From 1959 through 1966 they were called the Summer Supplement. From 1967 through 1971 they were called the Summer Edition.
Through the 1969 edition, the WRH indicated the date on which
the manuscript was completed.
Issues with covers in Danish
are known to have been available for the years 1948 May-November (2d ed.), 1950-51 (5th ed.; cover and 1st page in Danish,
rest in English, most ads in Danish), 1952 (6th ed.; cover and 1st
page in Danish, rest in English, most ads in Danish), and probably others. The 1952 English ed., which is completely in English,
has an extra page with world times and agents, and ads in English which are sometimes different from the ads in the Danish
edition. Also, the 1953 ed. mentions the availability of a German edition.
O. Lund Johansen published, in conjunction with
Liberia Hispanomerikcana of Barcelona, Spain, a softbound Spanish language
version of the 1960 WRTH. The book was printed in Spain and called Guia Mundial de Radio y Television, and carried
the WRTH logo at the time as well as all the editorial references contained in the English-language version.
Hardbound editions are known to have been available for the
years 1963 through 1966, 1968, 1969, and 1975-1978, and probably others.
In 1950 I bought my first copy of the WRTH, and I obtained all succeeding
editions until the present time.
Unfortunately, the 1967 edition in my library is the earliest I have kept. Pre-1967 editions
prior to that were unfortunately discarded in a house clean-up operation back in 1966!
The WRTH has been my primary print reference in radio monitoring for over 60 years.
In recent years, WRTH introduced free on-line access to updatring information throughout the year, and this feature is
a useful addition to the printed publication.
In past years, WRTH was published twice a year, usually in January and July, with
the mid-year "Summer" edition being a much thinner volume with updating material.
In 1965, the company published its "How to Listen to the World" companion reference,
which continued in various forms into the 1970s, when it ceased, to be replacerd by "The World DX Guide", which didn't survive.
I have been a contributing writer to the WRTH and How to Listen to the World continuously since
1969.
Below are two of my pix which were used in the 1960 and 1971 editions of How to Listen to the World, which accompanied technical articles I produced, which exanined
long-distance medium-wave reception in Victoria.
|
