early radio history

Company

LOGO Radio Broadcasting

The early years

Mass Media Market

Newspapers

Magazines/Books

Phonograph1877

Movies1904

Radio

1905 Mass Media Market

Broadcasting Debuts

1. Technological advances made toward developing radio late in 19th C

2. Heinrich Hertz transmitted energy without wires

3. Guglielmo Marconi saw this as way to 3. Guglielmo Marconi saw this as way to replace telegraph lines

4. British Government interested in technology

5. It had colonial empire, with ships at sea and large navy.

Guglielmo Marconi 1874 - 1937

Marconi Wireless & Signal co.

1. Secured British patent in 1897

2. Formed Marconi Wireless & Signal Co. to communicate with lighthouses & ships

3. Focused on increasing distance signals traveled

4. 1901 – Sent a transmission across the Atlantic Ocean

5. U.S. Navy adopted wireless fully by WW-I

6. Specialty companies like United Fruit Company

7. Hobbyist

1st Known Radio Program

1. Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian Scientist

2. Became first to transmit voice over the air

3. From experimental station in Brant Rock, 3. From experimental station in Brant Rock, Mass

4. December 24, 1906

5. Ships of United Fruit Co were listening first came static then Morris Code

6. First came static, then Morris Code, Followed by voice & music

Radio – A New Technology

1. Airwaves became crowded (shipping interests, navy, amateurs, universities, experimental)

2. President Taft enacted 1st radio license law in 1912

3. Commerce Dept put in charge of allocating frequencies to ships, government agencies and amateurs

4. Reserved a few for universities & experimental stations

5. 1917 – 8,562 licenses issued in U.S.

David Sarnoff

1. Most saw lack of privacy as a disadvantage

2. David Sarnoff was manager of American

3. Marconi’s Wanamaker’s Dept Store station in NY in 1912

4. Received important radio signals on April 15, 1912

50.14 W MGY CQD SOS SOSCQD CQD DE MGY WE ARE SINKING FAST PASSENGERS ARE BEING PUT (The signal then fades to unreadable.)

1891 - 1971

The Sarnoff Memo - 1916

1. Marconi should make radio receivers that tune to frequencies

2. Provide radio concerns, recitals, lectures

3. Called it – Radio Music Box

4. Programming paid for out of sales of radio sets

5. But World War I Intervened

6. All Frequencies taken over by Government

First Commercial Broadcasters

1. Begin as means of promoting other enterprises (dept stores; radios, churches, colleges.

2. Dr. Frank Conrad operates station out of his garage after WW-I

3. Local Dept. Store advertised sets to 3. Local Dept. Store advertised sets to hear his program

4. Westinghouse decided to set up station to help sell sets

5. KDKA went on air on 11/2/20 with broadcast of Harding-Cox Presidential election returns

1874 - 1941

First Stations

1. Business model had been established

2. Sets moved quickly

3. Didn’t accept advertising

4. 8 stations opened by 1921

Making a Profit

1. Two possible sources of income – sales of radios; advertising

2. 8 Stations Licensed by end of 1921

3. Sales of radio sets began to boom

4. By Nov. 1, 1922 – 564 broadcasters licensed

5. 1922 used long distance phone lines to connect NYC with Chicago to broadcast football game.

6. 1926 – NBC purchased WEAF in NY

Government Regulation

1. Chaotic, unplanned system

2. Business practices threatened a possibly monopoly

3. Congress passed Radio Act of 1927

4. Agency is now called FCC

5. Allocated frequencies

Mass Media Market

Newspapers

Magazines/Books

Phonograph1877

Movies1904

Radio

1930s Mass Media Market

Radio Station Growth

Major Source for Entertainment

• 1934 – 593 broadcast stations in U.S.

• 1935 – 67% of homes had radio sets; grows to 81% by 1940

• Networks provided 24 hours programming• Networks provided 24 hours programming

• Daytime – soaps, children’s Shows, music

• Primetime – dramas, comedies, quiz shows, specials & music

Radio Stations - 1922

•

AM Radio Stations - 1946

FM Radio Station - 1958

Radio Stations - 2006

The Nation Enters the ‘30s

Entering the 1930s

• 2,000 daily newspapers reached about 40-million readers

• 10,000 weekly

Approaching the 1940s

• Radio spreading hard news

• Newsreels provided visuals• 10,000 weekly

newspapers

• Advertising revenue approached $900-million

• Seen as a necessity

visuals

• 1934 -- advertising revenue ½ of 1929 high

• 1939 a number of dailies & weeklies disappeared

Music

• Programming targeted to national audience

• Similar to today’s TV blocks.• Similar to today’s TV blocks.

• Did not want recorded programs

Power of Broadcasting

1. Presidential Election – 1932

2. Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping – 1932

3. Hindenburg – 1937

4. Orson Welles' Broadcast of War of the Worlds – 1938

5. Trouble in Europe

Radio News

• Only 4 network newscasts 1933

• 1930s crisis in Europe created market for newsfor news

•CBS received enormous praise for broadcasts from war torn Europe

Power of Broadcasting

Herb Morrison at Lake Hurst NJ for WLS May 6, 1937

Competitive Environment

Newspapers Face Competition

� We fight the growing encroachment of our field by radio, only to have the news organizations to which we belong turn around and help the radio thumb its nose at our honest radio thumb its nose at our honest effort. Every bulletin we printed in our extra was second hand. The radio with the assistance of the Associated Press scooped us miserably. – Editor & Publisher 1928

We cannot keep on selling news if we encourage others to give it away.

Newspaper Radio War

� American Newspapers Publisher Association Convention - 1933

� Stopped providing newspapers with bulletins and printing schedules.and printing schedules.

� Biltmore Agreement� Two 5-minute newscasts

daily� No spot news

� Press described it as a complete defeat for broadcasters

The War Years

The War Years

Edward R. Murrow

Golden Age of Radio Fades

�In 1950s, more turning to TV for entertainment

�The “leftovers”

�Tried various strategies to off TV’s impact

�In Dec. 1955, Nielsen ratings did not list one evening radio program in top ten

�How could radio survive�Portability�Innovative programming�Recorded music�Top 40 format

Mass Media Market - 1950

Competing for Consumer Attention

TV TheatresRadio Newspapers Magazines& Books