August 2, 1924: Czechoslovak Radio attempts first live sports broadcast
On August 2, 1924, Czechoslovak Radio (then broadcasting under the name Radiojournal) attempted its first live sports report of a highly anticipated boxing match between Harry Knight (Rocky) representing the US and František Růžička (Frank Rose) of Czechoslovakia.
The commentator watching the match on Letná Plain used a nearby telephone booth from which he reported what was going on to someone in the broadcasting tent in Kbely, where his words were written down and read by a radio announcer. After a while, however, the announcer realised that it would be better to interpret the commentator’s words directly to listeners and so he held the phone to his ear and repeated what he heard.
“And now we see Rose leaping lightly into the ring over the ropes and heading straight for Rocky. The crowd has gone silent as the gong announcing the first round sounds…. "
At that time, Radiojournal already had several hundred listeners. So that day there were more listeners in the audience than visitors to the boxing match. It was a boxing fight that went down in Czechoslovak Radio history.
