An early listening serviceSourced
Opera by telephone in 1890
Paris’s théâtrophone became a service in 1890, sending theatre and opera performances over telephone connections. Home subscribers could listen, while hotels and cafés had coin-operated receivers. Short news programmes were included at intervals.
Listening to a distant stage at home preceded the internet by a long time.
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Théâtrophone · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-10