WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22: EARLY PRESIDENTIAL RADIO

Profile America — Friday, February 22nd.  The history of radio and the presidency seems to center entirely on Franklin Roosevelt's famous "fireside chats' beginning in 1933 in the depths of the Depression.  But the first president to address the nation from the White House over the infant broadcast medium was, ironically, "Silent Cal."  President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a coast to coast audience on the occasion of George Washington's birthday in 1924, and his words were carried over just 42 stations.  That year, there were 530 radio stations in the country, broadcasting to just 1.25 million households.  Today, there are over 6,300 radio broadcasting firms, and 114 million or 99 percent of U.S. households have radios.  You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources:  Library of Congress, America's Story
Historical Statistics of the United States:  Colonial Times to 1970, p. 796 
2007 Economic Census, NAICS 515112

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau