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The World Radio Handbook has been
published since November 1947. The first 19 editions were known
as the World Radio Handbook. Editions after No. 19 were known
as the World Radio TV Handbook.
The first edition that bears an edition number is the 4th edition, published in 1949. The three previous editions appear to have been: (1) the 1st edition, marked "Winter Ed. 1947" on the cover and completed in November 1947; (2) the 2nd edition, marked "1948 (May-November)" on the cover and completed in May 1948; and (3) 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.
For those who wanted the most current information, a newsletter, the World Radio Handbook Bulletin (later called the World Radio Bulletin), was published every two weeks from 1952 to 1976. In 1976 it became the thrice-yearly WRTH Newsletter. It was renamed WRTH Downlink in 1988 and published several times a year until the final issue was distributed in 1991. Sample copies of the newsletter can be found here.
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. Henrik Klemetz reports that the 1953, 1954 and 1955 editions were available in German as the "Rundfunk Fernseh Jahrbuch."
O. Lund-Johansen published, in conjunction with Libreria Hispanoamericana 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. As far as I know there was only this one Spanish edition, partly owing to disappointing sales figures and partly also due to the overzealousness of the Spanish translators who translated everything translatable into Spanish, e.g. R. Splendid (Argentina) into "R. Esplendido," R. Sport (Nicaragua) into "R. Deporte," etc. (Henrik Klemetz-Sweden)
Hardbound editions are known to have been available for the years 1963 through 1966, 1968, 1969, and 1975-1978, and probably others.
| "World Radio Handbook" | ||
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| 1st ed. | Winter Ed. 1947. | November 1947 |
| (Also says "Summer Edition 1948 to be published in May" on cover). Cover scan courtesy of Michael Schmitz, Germany, and Henrik Klemetz, Sweden | ||
| 2nd ed. | 1948 (May-Nov) | May 1948 |
| (Also says "May-November Ed. 1948" and "November-May Ed. 1948/49 to be published in November 1948" on p. 1) | ||
| 3rd ed. | 1948-49 | November 1948 |
| (Also says "November-May Ed.1948/1949" and "May-November Ed. 1949 to be published in May 1949" on p. 1) | ||
| 4th ed. | 1949-1950 | October 1949 |
| (There are two "different" versions of the 4th ed. One shows a "1949-1950" cover date and inside date, and manuscript completion date of October 1949. But there is also another 4th edition with the same data on the inside as the listed "1949-1950" edition except that it says "1949 Edition" on the inside and "1949" on the cover. The contents of the two volumes are the same.) | ||
| 5th ed. | 1950-1951 | November 1950 |
| 6th ed. | 1952 | November 1951 |
| 7th ed. | 1953 | November 1952 |
| 8th ed. | 1954 | November 1953 |
| 9th ed. | 1955 | November 1954 |
| 10th ed. | 1956 | November 1955 |
| 11th ed. | 1957 | November 1956 |
| 12th ed. | 1958 | November 1957 |
| 13th ed. | 1959 | November 1958 |
| A multi-page pamphlet advertising the 1959 WRTH. | ||
| 14th ed. | 1960 | November 1959 |
| 15th ed. | 1961 | November 1960 |
| 16th ed. | 1962 | November 1961 |
| 17th ed. | 1963 | November 1962 |
| 18th ed. | 1964 | November 1963 |
| A multi-page pamphlet advertising the 1964 issue WRTH. | ||
| 19th ed. | 1965 | November 1964 |
 Click
on the link for the edition shown to see the cover for that year. |
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| "World Radio TV Handbook" | ||
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| 20th ed. | 1966 | November 1965 |
| 21st ed. | 1967 | November 1966 |
| 22nd ed. | 1968 | November 1967 |
| 23rd ed. | 1969 | November 1968 |
| 24th ed. | 1970 | None indicated |
| 25th ed. | 1971 | None indicated |
| 26th ed. | 1972 | None indicated |
| 27th ed. | 1973 | None indicated |
| Click on
the link for the edition shown to see the cover for that year. |
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| The WRTH has continued to be published annually through the present time. The 1999 edition was the 53rd. | ||
| Summer Supplements |
| Summer Supplement to 1959 ed. |
| Summer Supplement to 1960 ed. |
| Summer Supplement to 1961 ed. |
| Summer Supplement to 1962 ed. |
| Summer Supplement to 1963 ed. |
| Summer Supplement to 1964 ed. |
| Summer Supplement to 1965 ed. |
| Summer Supplement to 1966 ed. |
| Summer Edition to 1967 ed. |
| Summer Edition to 1968 ed. |
| Summer Edition to 1969 ed. |
| Summer Edition to 1970 ed. |
| Summer Edition to 1971 ed. |
| Click on
the link for the edition shown to see the cover for that year. |
Please let us know if you have any interesting historical information about the WRTH.
