Popular Radio and the Origins of Broadcasting

Chapter 4

“If you don’t have access and ownership and control of a media system, you really don’t exist. You don’t

matter in terms of being citizens in a democracy who are entitled to the ability to tell, and have a

conversation about, your own stories.”

— Loris Taylor, executive director of Native Public Media

Minority Access to Radio

Early Technology and the Development of Radio

• Telegraph (1840s) and telephone (1870s)

Early Technology and the Development of Radio

• Nikola Tesla• His work preceded Marconi’s, but was overshadowed by Italian

inventor.• Died in 1943, months before U.S. Supreme Court deemed him

inventor of radio

Figure 4.1The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Marconi and the Inventors of Wireless Telegraphy

• Received first patent on wireless telegraphy (1894)—used code, not voice• Built upon the work of Hertz• Established British Marconi (1897) and American Marconi

(1899)

Wireless Telephony: De Forest and Fessenden

• De Forest wrote the first Ph.D. thesis on wireless technology in 1899.

• De Forest’s biggest breakthrough was the development of the Audion, or triode, vacuum tube.

• Fessenden is credited with first voice broadcast.

Wireless Telephony:

• Narrowcasting – point to point or person-to-person (like telegraph and telephone)

• Broadcasting – transmission of radio waves (and later, TV signals) to a broad public audience

The Titantic

Regulating a New Medium

• Radio Act of 1912• Limits amateur radio operators• Standardizes radio procedures in crisis

• WWI: Congress gives radio to navy• Navy drafts/hires young technicians• Consolidates patents• Controls frequencies• U.S. domination

• Formation of RCA monopoly

The Evolution of RadioFirst Radio Station 1920 Conrad – KDKA Pittsuburgh

The Evolution of Radio

• 5 stations in 1921, 600 in 1923• 5.5 million radio sets by 1925• 1922: AT&T starts first station, WEAF, that sells ads. • 1923: AT&T creates first network— WEAF and WNAC (Boston).• By 1924, AT&T has 22 stations linked and denies rival RCA phone rights.

Sarnoff and NBC: Building the “Blue”and “Red” Networks

• 1921: David Sarnoff becomes RCA’s general manager.• Independent stations affiliate with NBC networks for

programming.• Network radio:

• Radio goes from point-to-point to mass medium.• Centralizes costs and programming• Makes news national, not local• Larger budget buys better talent

CBS and Paley: Challenging NBC

• First attempt at CBS fails

• William S. Paley buys controlling share in company, launches new concepts and strategies:• Option time lures affiliates• Hires PR guru Bernays

• By the 1930s, CBS competitive with NBC

Bringing Order to Chaos with the Radio Act of 1927

• Radio Act of 1927 defines broadcast regulations.

• Too many stations and poor reception

• Act created the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) to monitor airwaves for “public interest, convenience, or necessity.”

Bringing Order to Chaos with the Radio Act of 1927(cont.)

• Communications Act of 1934

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) monitors radio, telephone, and telegraph.

• Today FCC covers television, cable, and the Internet.

The Golden Age of Radio• Shapes television’s programming future

• Sitcoms• Anthology dramas• Quiz shows• Soaps

• Radio pioneers single-sponsor programming.

• Amos ‘n’ Andy was the most popular radio series in history.

The Authority of Radio• War of the Worlds, Orson Welles’s radio broadcast

(1938)• Shows power of radio to compel

• Created mass panic along the Northeast coast• New Jersey citizens shot up a water tower

thinking it a Martian weapon.

• Welles forced to recant before Congress

Radio Reinvents Itself

• AM vs. FM

• Format radio• Top 40 format• The idea of rotation• Expansion of FM allowed for experimenting with other formats.

• Portability improved with transistor radios.

Figure 4.2

AM and FM Waves

Figure 4.3Radio Program Log for an Adult

Contemporary (AC) Station

The Sounds of Commercial Radio

• Most programming locally produced• Heavily dependent on music industry• Some national personalities

• Specialized stations with particular formats• E.g. news/talk/information, adult contemporary, country

• Heaviest listening occurs during drive time.

Figure 4.4The Most Popular Radio Formats in the United States among Persons Age Twelve and Older

Nonprofit Radio and NPR

• Established by Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in 1960s

• Nonprofit, heavily government subsidized• NPR: distinctive niche in radio news• PBS: educational and children’s programming

New Radio Technologies Offer More Stations

• Satellite radio• XM and Sirius merged to become Sirius XM Radio in 2008.• Financial problems continue.

• HD Radio• Broadcasters can multicast additional digital signals within their

traditional analog frequency.

Radio and Convergence

• Internet radio• Broadcast radio stations now have an online presence.• Online-only radio stations like Pandora growing in popularity

• Podcasting• Popular way to listen to programs, music on computer or portable

music device

Local and National Advertising• 8% of media advertising goes to radio.

• Industry revenue has dropped, but number of stations keeps growing.

• Only 20% of budget goes toward programming costs because content from recording industry is free.

Manipulating Playlists with Payola

• Payola rampant in 1950s

• In 2007, four of the largest broadcasting companies agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle a payola investigation by the FCC.

Radio Ownership: From Diversity to Consolidation

• Telecommunications Act of 1996 eliminated most ownership restrictions in radio.

• As a result, two large conglomerates, Clear Channel and CBS Radio, now control the majority of radio stations.

What Clear Channel OwnsRadio Broadcasting (U.S.)• 894 radio stations• Premiere Radio Network(syndicates 90 radioprograms, including TheGlenn Beck Program, KeepHope Alive with ReverendJesse Jackson, On Air withRyan Seacrest, and FoxSports Radio)• iheartradio.com

International Radio• Clear Channel InternationalRadio (Joint Partnerships)–Australian Radio Network–The Radio Network (NewZealand)

Advertising• Clear Channel OutdoorAdvertising (billboards,airports, malls, taxis)– North American Division– International Division

Media Representation• Katz Media Group

Satellite Communications• Clear Channel Satellite

Information Services• Clear Channel Total Traffic Network

• Clear ChannelCommunications NewsNetworks

Marketing/Video Production• Twelve Creative

Broadcast Software• RCS Sound Software

Radio Research andConsultation• Broadcast Architecture

Trade Industry Publications• InsideRadio.com• TheRadioJournal.com• The Radio Book

Alternative Voices• In the 1990s, activists set up “pirate” stations to protest large

corporations’ control over radio.

• 2000: FCC approved noncommercial low-power FM (LPFM) stations.

• Prometheus Radio Project

Radio and the Democracy of the Airwaves

• Will consolidation of power restrict the number and kinds of voices permitted to speak over public airwaves?