now an important use is to broadcast music, news and entertainers including "talk radio". radio shows were used before there were tv programs. in the 1930s the us president started sending a message about the country every week to the american people. companies that make and send radio programming are called radio stations. these are sometimes run by governments, and sometimes by private companies, who make money by sending advertisements. other radio stations are supported by local communities. these are called community radio stations. in the early days manufacturing companies would pay to broadcast complete stories on the radio. these were often plays or dramas. because companies who made soap often paid for them, these were called "soap operas".