A winners´ podium (1926)
A lot has changed since then. Czechoslovak Radio resides under a more traditional roof, and dogs are, for the most part, no longer allowed on air.
However what has remained true is that Czechoslovak Radio holds the position of one of the best radio houses in the world, and its employees still resolve issues without unnecessary formality. Radio stations from across the globe had always tried to cover the most enticing of sporting events. Their lack of success could always be attributed to technical difficulties. Sportsmen could not be brought into the studio as opposed to actors or singers and stadiums and pitches could not be broadcast from.
Radiojournal, today known as Czech Radio, aired the first sports broadcast on August 2, 1924. It was a boxing match. In one corner, we had the Czechoslovak champion František Růžička, also known as Frank Rose, and in the opposite corner we had British heavyweight champion Harry Rock Knight. The radio audience heard about the development of the thrilling match with considerable delay. The commentator spoke into a telephone, on the other side a reporter wrote everything down on paper, which was then brought into the studio, where the moderator read it into the broadcast.
The first real sports report broadcast directly from the venue took place on October 3, 1926. It still holds up as the first ever continental sports broadcast. The football match between SK Slavia Praha and Magyar TK Budapest took place on the Letná plane, and was commented by legendary commentator Josef Laufer. The Czechoslovaks won 2:1, and although it may not have been apparent then, it was then and there that the phenomenon of virtual reality was establised.