Mr. A’s:
TOP 10
EARLY RADIO
HISTORICAL FACTS
06
1. What German inventor discovered wireless radio in the late 1800’s, when he proved energy (and thus sound) could be sent
point-to-point without using wires?
ANSWER: HEINRICH HERTZ
2. What Italian inventor and businessman does “Mr. A” consider the “Father of Radio” because he turned the Hertz discovery
into a product (wireless radio), got a patent for it and started his own company for it?
ANSWER: GUGLIELMO MARCONI
3. Who suggested the concept of “broad” casting (broadcasting) when he worked for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company
of America? His suggestion was that the company should use wireless radio to send music into people’s homes.
ANSWER: DAVID SARNOFF
Bonus facts: Sarnoff was working on the night the Titanic hit the iceberg; he decoded wireless
messages from the Titanic. Later, Sarnoff was also a major inventor in the development of TV.
4. Who does “Mr. A” consider the first “unofficial Disc Jockey” because he played music from the top of the Eiffel Tower?
ANSWER: LEE DEFOREST
Bonus facts: Deforest actually was a major inventor in the development of radio
and later in the development of television.
5. Who does “Mr. A” consider the “Father of American Radio” because in the Radio Act of 1912, he was the first person given
the task to clean up the airwaves by assigning radio licenses and developing radio rules & laws?
ANSWER: HERBERT HOOVER
Bonus facts: Hoover later became president of the United States; the Radio Act of 1912
did NOT work because there was no power to enforce rules, laws and licenses.
6. What was the first licensed commercial radio station in the United States?
ANSWER: KDKA in Pittsburgh
Bonus facts: KDKA was started by Frank Conrad and was owned by Westinghouse, which made
radio kits and sold them for 10 dollars at Horne’s Department Store. Conrad advertised the
radio kits on his show on KDKA, which was the first form of radio advertising, but they were
NOT true commercials (like spots that we have today).
7. What station played the first TRUE COMMERCIALS (similar to what we have today) in the United States?
ANSWER: WEAF in New York City (owned by AT & T)
8. What was the first official news report played on a licensed radio station in the United States? (On what station was it played?
ANSWER: the Harding vs. Cox presidential election results reported on KDKA
9. What was the only important rule established in The Radio Act of 1927?
ANSWER: “The air waves belong to THE PEOPLE.”
Bonus fact: The Radio Act of 1927 also failed because there was no enforcement for rules.
10. What U.S. governmental broadcasting act finally worked because it set up the Federal Communications Commission and
because it included penalties (fines, jail sentences, license suspensions, etc.) to enforce the rules and laws?
ANSWER: The Communications Act of 1934
Bonus fact: The members of the FCC are appointed by the president.
The Communications Act of 1934 declared, “no censorship.”
Mr. A’s:
TOP 10
EARLY BROADCASTING
HISTORICAL FACTS
05
1. What do historians usually call the time period in radio from the late 1920’s to the late 1940’s when radio experienced its
greatest popularity and when it was the dominant medium in the United States ?
ANSWER: The Golden Age of Radio
Bonus facts: During this time, radio had block programming (similar to TV today) in which
programs were broadcast in blocks of time, usually 15 minutes, 30 minutes or one hour. Shows
included sitcoms, soap operas, action shows, detective shows, dramas, news shows, variety shows,
etc……Examples of shows: Dick Tracy, Amos and Andy (most popular ever), The Shadow, Ozzie
and Harriet, Jack Benny Show, The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, etc.
2. During the Golden Age of radio, corporations formed to create programming that would be played on many stations. The
stations were either owned by the corporations or were affiliated with the corporations. What were these corporations called ?
ANSWER: Networks
Bonus facts: The first network was NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation). Originally, NBC
was actually 2 networks, the Red Network and the Blue Network. When the FCC ruled that a
corporation could only own one network, NBC sold its smaller one, the Blue Network, which the
new owner then turned into ABC (American Broadcasting Company)………A third network
was popular during the Golden Age of Radio, called CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System).
3. Who was the chairman of the board for CBS for 50 years, and thus one of the most important names in broadcast history ?
ANSWER: William Paley
4. During the Golden Age of Radio, what type of program (drama) was named after its type of sponsors ?
ANSWER: Soap Operas (its sponsors were soap companies)
5. What was the name of the famous program about invading aliens that fictitiously took place locally at Grover’s Mill, and
which scared many people into a state of panic?
ANSWER: “The War of the Worlds” (produced and performed by Orson Welles)
6. During World War II, what became the dominant medium for news about the war (what did people turn to first) ?
ANSWER: Radio
7. Who was the first and most famous network war correspondent from World War II ?
ANSWER: Edward R. Murrow
Bonus fact: Murrow worked for CBS and is consider by many to be the greatest and most
influential journalist in broadcasting history.
8. What 2 technologies developed during World War II that changed broadcasting history?
ANSWER: FM Radio and Television
9. Who is considered by “Mr. A” to be the father of FM radio ?
ANSWER: Major Edwin H. Armstrong
Bonus facts: Early FM radio station owners often also owned AM stations, and merely played the
same programs at the same time on their AM and FM stations, which is called simulcasting.
10. When TV became popular, it took away top radio shows and stars, and used block programming. How did this change radio?
ANSWER: Radio had to change from block programming to format
programming (the same type of consistent programming all day.)
Examples of current music formats: country, rock, rap, classic rock, urban,
contemporary hits, adult contemporary, top 40, soft rock, album-oriented rock, etc.
Examples of other current types of formats: all news, all sports, all talk, etc.
Bonus fact: When format radio became popular, some record companies secretly gave DJ’s
money to play certain records on the air a lot, thus increasing the popularity of some songs.
This ILLEGAL action was called PAYOLA.