The year 1917 in radio involved some significant events.

• 6 April – The United States enters World War I and by presidential order all the country's radio stations are taken over for naval use.^[1]
• Edwin Howard Armstrong, working as a captain in the Signal Corps (United States Army) in Paris, perfects the eight-tube superheterodyne circuit.^[2]
• Radio San Paolo, the Regia Marina (Italian Navy) Radiotelegraphic Station, is established in Rome.^{[citation needed]}

• 20 March – Vera Lynn, English singer (d. 2020)
• 15 June – Charles Chilton, English radio presenter and producer (d. 2013)
• 6 September – Richard Durham, author and producer of Destination Freedom (d. 1984)