"Egyptian Radio before State Broadcasting: Transitioning from Media-Capitalism to Media-Etatism, 1926-1934." This paper historically traces some of Egypt’s early private radio stations, which operated from the late-1920s until May 1934 when they were all forcefully shutdown by the government. Shedding more light on this important and relatively unknown period in Egyptian radio history partially fills-in an important void in the history of early Egyptian media. More importantly, the paper analyzes the early forced transition to government-controlled radio, and assesses the impact this sudden shift had on the owners, producers and listeners of these stations, as well as the broader implications on Egypt’s media landscape. Little is known about the dozen or so private radio stations operating in Egypt from the late-1920s until the end of May 1934, when they were forcefully shutdown and replaced with one government controlled Egyptian State Radio (ESR). The general historical storyline concerning the pre-ESR origins of Egyptian radio is vague and largely dictated by an official Egyptian government narrative depicting these early stations as morally and culturally inferior, which in the scope of this dominant narrative, justifies their elimination and replacement by an ostensibly more “altruistic and cultured” state radio. In other words, highlighting the supposed rampant and vulgar commercialism of these private stations, was primarily used vividly contrast them with an uncritically positive depiction of state-controlled radio as a national tool of educational and civilizational uplift. Accordingly, this paper will historically trace some of these early private radio stations until their unexpected demise in May of 1934. Who were the owners and operators of these stations? What sort of programing did they offer? Where they as “commercially vulgar” as they are represented in the Egyptian historical imagination? Shedding more light on this important early period in Egyptian media history and highlighting the role of some of these unacknowledged early radio pioneers, will partially fill-in an important void in the history of early Egyptian media. Lastly, I will analyze the early transition to government-controlled radio, and the impact this sudden shift must have had on the owners, producers and listeners of these stations, as well as the broader implications on Egypt’s media landscape. This important early transition from media-capitalism to what I call media-etatism, would by the early 1960s exemplify the role of media in Egypt for decades to come.