The Evolution of Radio How radio came to be and has influenced society

Important Dates Engineer Frank Conrad in 1916 became the first unofficial radio disc jockey 1921, the U.S. Commerce Department officially licensed five radio station for operation – Some stations were owned by AT&T, GE, and Westinghouse By 1925, 5.5 million radio sets were in the use across America Radio was officially a mass medium Many programs on television were initially formulated for radio. – The first weather forecast and farm reports began in the 1920s

Major Acts in the history of U.S. Radio ActProvisionsEffect Wireless Ship Act of 1910Required U.S. seagoing ships carrying more than 50 passengers and traveling more than two hundred miles off the coast to be equipped with wireless equipment with one-hundred-mile range. Saved lived at sea, including more than seven hundred rescued by ships responding to the Titanic’s distress signals two years later Radio Act of 1912Required radio operators to obtain license, gave the Commerce Department the power to deny a license, and began a uniform system of assigning call letters to identify stations The federal government began to assert control over radio. Penalties were established for stations that interfere with other stations’ signals Radio Act of 1927Established the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) as a temporary agency to oversee licenses and negotiate channel assignments First expressed the now-fundamental principal that licensees did not own their channels but could only license them as long as they operated to serve the “public interest, convenience, or necessity.” Communication Act 1934Established the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to replace the FRC. The FCC regulated radio, the telephone, the telegraph and later television, cable and the internet. Congress tacitly agreed to a system of advertising-supported commercial broadcasting despite concerns of the public. Telecommunication Act of 1996Eliminated most radio and television station ownership rules, some dating back more than 50 years Enormous national and regional station groups formed, dramatically changing the sound and localism of radio in the U.S.

Radio Programming as Culture The 1920s and situational comedies – Amos ‘n’ Andy started in radio in 1920s. It was based on the conventions of the 19 th century show and featured black character stereotypes as stupid. It was created on stage using black face by two white comedian, Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden. Criticized for being racist. – This show however did launch the serial show: a program that featured continuing story lines from one day to the next The most famous single radio broadcasting of all time: H. G. Wells War of the Worlds – Radio series on Mercury Theater of the Air. Orsen Wells produced, hosted, and acted in this popular series which adapted this book for radio – Many listeners thought this was a real happening in 1938 Live and record music had long been radio’s biggest staple, accounting for 48% of all programming in 1938 – Early disc jockeys (DJs) made significant contributions and were a part of how music was presented – Think of popular DJs of today: Ryan Seacrest, Rush Limbaugh, Tavis Smiley, etc. In contrast to the few stations per market in the 1930s, most large markets today include more than 40 stations that vie for listener loyalty. – However listeners today are unlike radios first audience. Instead radio has become secondary, or background, medium that follows the rhythms of daily life.

Important inventions Transistors: Small electrical devices that could receive and amplify radio signals FM Radio: (frequency modulation) Edwin Armstrong discovered and developed in the 1920s and is often considered the most prolific and influential inventor in radio history – Made radio waves more ideal for music AM Radio: (amplitude modulation) first form of radio waves that stressed the volume, or height of radio waves – Known to be statically because of how the waves were transmitted

Formats and Rotations Format Radio: A formula driven system that management rather than DJs controlled programming each hour. This gave way to rotation, playing the top songs many times during the day. The Top 40 format: Refers to the number of records in a jukebox and then referred to the 40 most popular songs during that time; Appealed to teenagers and young adults to 25 Talk format: Considered to be the more informative and news driven stations; Appealed to adults over 35 Adult Contemporary (AC) format: Mostly geared toward 40 or older adults; A mix of eclectic mix of news, talks, oldies and soft rock; Think easy listening Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR): Encompassing everything, from top 40 to rock and then some; still appealed to teens and young adults – This format died out a bit due to MTV Country format: Claims most stations and dedicated to country music or “old roots” music Urban format: Targets African American or black listeners; primarily in large cities.

Types of Radio Nonprofit radio has maintain a voice for the public. Nearly 3,000 stations still operate for example NPR. Satellite Radio is a service you can pay for that come from satellites launched around the united states HD Radio became available 2004 and is a digital technology that enables AM & FM radio broadcasters to multicast additional compressed digital signals. Example: a station can have substations that play specialized music like KNOW 91.1 in Minneapolis has 3. Because radio has become a mass medium it is now moving to the internet like many other mediums. By 1990 Internet Radio and comes in two types. The first is existing AM, FM, satellite, or HD station that is “streaming” at the same time. The second kind is actual stations based online such as Pandora, Yahoo! Radio, AOL Radio, etc.

Podcasting In 2004 this type of broadcasting (named after iPod & broadcasting) became available by audio files available on the internet to listeners can listen at their leisure. This type can be downloaded on to your portable MP3 player or phone. Podcast are also generally very specialized