Subscription Radio Ahead Of Its Time

Here is another example of an idea that was ahead of its time.  As noted by Paleofuture, someone proposed subscription radio with no commercials in the 1940's, well before the days of Sirius and XM.  The idea was similar to premium channels on early cable TV, when the signal to premium (i.e. pay) channels was scrambled unless you paid the requisite fee.  In the 1940's radio proposal, a listener who tuned in without paying the fee would hear a series of whistles and cat calls.  If you paid the fee, either through a subscription or even with a coin operated mechanism, you could choose between classical music, popular music or news.