Radio

Pre-Radio Telegraph Invented in 1840’s by Samuel Morse Sent electrical transmissions via cable to a receiver Morse Code

Pre-Radio Guglielmo Marconi Father of Radio Invented wireless telegraphy 1901 relayed first wireless message across the Atlantic Used mostly for ships

Lee De Forest Invented the audion tube Saw radio as a means to broadcast

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the transmission of Radio or TV signals to a wide audience Agricultural term Narrowcasting is the transmission of signals person-to-person The telephone

Wireless Ship Act of 1910 Required all major US seagoing ships with more than 50 passengers to have wireless equipment Titanic sank in 1912 1500 died but 700 were rescued due to the wireless equipment

Radio Act of 1912 Enacted due to the Titanic Mandated that all radio stations in the US be licensed by the Federal Government Also mandated that ships continuously monitor distress frequencies

History 1920 - first commercial radio station KDKA Pittsburg 1921 - US Commerce Department officially licensed 5 radio stations 1923 - more than 600 in operation 1925 - 5.5 million radio sets were in operation and radio had become a true mass medium

Network Radio 1923 AT&T created the first Network Interconnected 2 radio stations via telephone wire to share programming By 1924 AT&T had connected 22 stations known as the Broadcasting Corporation of America(BCA)

Breakup 1925 the government redefined some patents Gave AT&T a monopoly on the wires Forced to sell BCA to RCA At&T group would become NBC red RCA Group would become NBC blue

Radio Act 1927 Stated that radio stations do not own signals and instead licensed them from the government As long as they served a public interest Created the FRC which would later become the FCC

Golden Age of Radio Early 1920’s to 1950’s Radio wasn’t portable Characterized by the dominance of radio shows Birth of the soap opera Called soap operas because sponsored by soap companies

Radio show example

War of the Worlds Most famous single broadcast 1938 Halloween Eve Orson Welles produced, acted, and hosted For those that missed the initial disclaimer, many thought is was a real news broadcast Created a panic

Edwin Armstrong Invented FM radio in the early 30’s FM was a better and clearer signal David Sarnoff hindered FM due to the dominance of RCA’s AM networks Armstrong tried to establish FM on his own Between 1946 and 1949 there went from 48 to 700 FM Stations FCC moved the FM band making many FM radios obsolete FM would not become the dominant format until 1979

Format Radio Before format radio, DJs controlled the content In format radio, management controls the playlists Rotation means playing the top songs many times per day Top 40 format gets its name from the number of discs a jukebox held Came to mean top 40 hits

Payola The practice of DJs taking money from record companies to play certain songs Rampant during the 50s Format radio helped stop this

Pay for Play Current way to get around Payola Record companies pay stations to play songs Station has to run a disclaimer Like an infomercial

Today Many large markets have 40+ stations Most programming is locally produced and feature music Radio has become a background medium Over 13200 stations in the US 94% of American’s will listen to the radio in an average week

Drive time Highest number of people listening 6-9 AM and 4-7 PM When people are commuting

Formats News/Talk Adult contemporary Country Urban Contemporary hits Hispanic Oldies

Radio Ownership 1996 Telecommunications act FCC eliminated most ownership restrictions 1996 2100 stations switched ownership Between 1996 and 2000, more than half of radio stations changed ownership

Before 1996 Owner could not own more than 7 AM, 7 FM, and 7 Television stations nationally Also not more than one radio station per market 1996 Telecommunications act said you can now own unlimited stations Large markets (45+) you can own up to 8 stations

Clear Channel Communications Formed in San Antonio with 1 station 1996 – 36 radio and 10 TV stations 2002 – 1225 radio stations and 37 TV Stations Grew too fast and had to sell off about 400 stations

Radio Convergence Internet Radio Satellite radio