RADIO AND ITS PROMISES

Objectives

•What technological achievements were needed for radio to mature?

•How did radio programming develop?

•What was radio’s economic impact?

•What brought about radio regulation?

•What has radio’s impact?

Radio and Its Promise

•Technological Achievements

•Commercial Interests in Radio

•Development of the Networks

•Advertising and Rise of Commercial Broadcasting  

•Government Concerns about Radio

Technological Achievements

•Electricity

•Telegraphy

•Telephony

•Wireless Telegraphy  

Technological Achievements

•Electricity:  Thomas A. Edison

Technological Achievements

•Telegraphy: Samuel B. Morse

Technological Achievements

•Telephony:

   Alexander Graham Bell

Technological Achievements

•Wireless Telegraphy

   Samuel B. Morse

Technological Achievements

Lee De Forest

•Father of radio

•Invented the audion tube

•Allowed modulation and amplification of electrical currents that made human voice possible

•Made small, reliable receivers possible

Edwin Armstrong

•Interested in how De Forest’s audion tube worked

•Wanted to increase power to amplify

•Perfected regeneration

•Invented Frequency  Modulation (FM) to eliminate static

David Sarnoff

•Idea of a “radio music box”

•Invented mass broadcasting in America

Commercial Interests in Radio

•Alexander Graham Bell (1877)

•AT&T

•Thomas A. Edison (1878)

•General Electric Company

•George Westinghouse  (1869)

•Westinghouse Company

•Guglielmo Marconi (1896)

•American Marconi

Commercial Interests in Radio

•American Telephone & Telegraph

•Westinghouse

•General Electric

•British Marconi

•Radio Corporation of America

Radio Corporation of America

•AT&T sold WEAF chain to RCA in 1926

•WEAF chain became the Red Network

•WJZ chain became the Blue Network

•Court forced GE and Westinghouse to dispose of holdings in RCA

Early Network Years: NBC

•National Broadcasting System became subsidiary of RCA

•David Sarnoff to lead NBC

•NBC created to develop programming for RCA

Early Network Years: CBS

•George Coats and Arthur Judson seek investors

•Columbia Phonograph Company contributes funds

•William Paley eventually buys CBS

•Paley purchases Paramount Pictures as a partner

Early Network Years: ABC

•Created after FCC forced NBC to sell its Blue Network

•Edward J. Noble purchased the Blue Network in 1943

•Renamed American Broadcasting Company in 1945

•Leonard Goldensen to lead ABC

Radio Programming

•Performers with national reputation

•Politicians

•Broadcast journalism

•Comedy

•Audience participation craze

•Dramatic, artistic ventures

Advertising and the Rise of Commercial Broadcasting

•A department store selling crystal sets

•A company wishing to make radios

•A newspaper expanding its domain

 

Advertising and the Rise of Commercial Broadcasting

•Wealthy individuals should endow stations

•Cities and states should operate stations out of tax revenues

•A common fund should be established to receive contributions

•Receivers or tubes should be taxed or licensed

Advertising and the Rise of Commercial Broadcasting

•AT&T

•Toll broadcasting

Advertising and the Rise of Commercial Broadcasting

•Ad agencies served sponsors as middle men

•Ad agencies develop audio star system

•Audience rating services develop to assist ad agencies

•Result: Power of ad agencies over the networks

Political Broadcasting

Radio News Broadcasting

Government Concerns about Radio

•Radio Law of 1912

•Radio Act of 1927

•Communications Act of 1934

Radio Act of 1912

•Assigned to the Department of Commerce the task of licensing experimental radio stations

Radio Act of 1927

•Established a five-member Federal Radio Commission

•FRC to regulate radio communications

•Federal government maintained control over all channels

•FRC granted licenses for the use of specific channels for a 3-year period

•Licenses were to be granted “in the public interest, convenience, or necessity” to provide :fair, efficient, and equitable service”

Communications Act of 1934

•Established a 7-member Federal Communications Commission

•Jurisdiction to regulate all telecommunications

•Spelled out responsibility of license holders

•Power to refuse renewal of license

•Forbade censorship

Mid-century

•90% had at least one receiving set.

•Radio listening was second to sleeping.

•The poorer one was, the more he/she listened to radio.

Today

•Reaches 224 million or 94% of all aged 12 or older.

•Most spend 19 hours per week listening to radio.

•Rise of Talk

•Radio Today

Radio Impacts

•Vehicle of news.

•Powerful and influential political tool.

•Influences political discourse.

•Helped unify the nation

Promises of Radio

•Advance world peace

•Advance education

•Advance religion

•Advance democracy

Conclusion

•Radio became a vehicle:

•of big business;

•for information and entertainment;

•for reform; and

•for free expression.

•Radio became a powerful and influential tool that shaped political and social discourse and helped unify the nation.