The orchestra began broadcasting in 1922 on clear channel station WDAF, which could be received throughout the United States. They were broadcast in performance at the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City. They took the name Nighthawks because they broadcast late at night (11:30pm to 1:00am). By 1924, their fan club had 37,000 members. Fans were encouraged to send in requests for songs by letter, telephone, or telegram. That move became so popular that Western Union set up a ticker tape between Sanders's piano and Coon's drums so the telegrams could be acknowledged during the broadcasts. Their song "Nighthawk Blues" includes the lines: "Tune right in on the radio/Grab a telegram and say 'Hello'." In 1925, they recorded the Paul Whiteman and Fred Rose composition "Flamin' Mamie".