EARLY INVENTIONS
THE INVENTORS
 Maxwell
predicted the theory of electromagnetism
 Hertz
experimented with Maxwell’s theory and proved existence
of radio waves
U.S named ‘cycles’ in honor of his work
 Marconi
Known as the ‘father of radio’
Took concept of experiments to England
Founded British Marconi Wireless Company
 Fleming
 Fessenden
 DeForest
Developed the audion tube which allows for transmission
of radio waves
Spent considerable time fighting with Armstrong and RCA
 Armstrong
A true electronic genius for helping radio become
developed as a mass medium
Contributed significantly to AM
Solely invented FM
Spent considerable time at odds with Sarnoff and RCA
TRUE BEGINNING OF RADIO’S IMPORTANCE
 Sinking of Titantic helped establish radio as a important
information vehicle
 Sarnoff responsible for relaying survivors names via dots and
dashes
 Sarnoff rose to General Manager of British Marconi’s office in
New York
PATENT POOLING
MAJOR CORPORATIONS INVOLVED IN RADIO
 AT & T
 General Electric
 Westinghouse
At first, all three worked independently to promote radio
Eventually, they ‘pooled their patents’ (worked together) to help
escalate the rise of radio as a mass medium
FOUNDING OF RCA
A cooperate effort between the three giant corporations
Marconi was not allowed to own any broadcasting properties in the
U.S.
British Marconi in U.S. became RCA
EXPERIMENTING WITH RADIO
 Initially a hobbyist’s venue for fun
 Westinghouse allowed one of their engineers, Frank Conrad
to set up a station in his home.
 This eventually became KDKA, first commercially licensed
radio station in America
 Owned by Westinghouse throughout the years until
Westinghouse merged with CBS in 1990’s.
EARLY PROGRAMMING
 All types of programming existed in the early days
 People were excited about the ‘wireless’ technology
 Broadcasts took place from newly designed studios to
basements and homes
 A lot of early material was terrible and not produced well
 Most were still experimenting with the technology which
made programming secondary in importance
 Licensed stations began to air live orchestras and bands
(became known as ‘potted palm music’ since it originated
from hotels lined with palm trees.)
 Drama began to unfold on radio with numerous shows and
characters being originated for airing
 Comedy also took off and became popular particularly during
the Depression.
FORMATION OF NETWORKS
SARNOFF’s VISION
 Saw potential of one entity broadcasting to many stations
 AT & T more interested in collecting toll and line fees than
owing stations
 AT & T sold WEAF in New York to RCA
 Station became flagship station for the new NBC Network WNBC
 GE and Westinghouse withdraw from RCA
PALEY
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A dynamic salesperson who formed CBS
From wealthy parents
Brilliant strategist in getting new stars
Active with CBS into the late 80’s.
NBC and the ‘Blue’ and ‘Red’ networks
 Forced to divest itself of the ‘blue’ network
 The ‘blue’ network became ABC
 Always in third place
Other developments
 Mutual attempts to continue as a network
 Chaos on the airwaves
1. only one frequency initially
2. people and businesses all broadcasting at the same time
3. Government realized the need for regulation
 Radio Act of 1927
1. About 200 stations on air at this time
2. Congress proclaimed the airwaves belong to the public
3. Stations had to be licensed and broadcasting in the
public convenience, interest, or necessity.
COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934
 Revoked the 1927 Act and established the Federal
Communications Commission (F.C.C.)
 Licenses were temporary while which frequencies were
determined best suited and viable for radio
 F.C.C. was given power over all wireless communications
including telephones and other electronic wired technology
GOLDEN ERA OF RADIO
 Development of speakers so entire families could listen at the
same time
 new better sounded ribbon microphones were introduced for
more natural sound reproduction
 Advertising started to appear on radio
 Better programming took hold
 Amos ‘n’ Andy became a phenomenon
 Comedy
 Music
 Audience participation (game shows)
 children’s shows
 drama
 public events
 politics (‘fireside chats’)
 The Press-Radio War
1. newspapers became worried over competition
2. set agreement with radio broadcasters over how and
when ‘hard’ news would be aired
3. became known as the “Biltmore Agreement”
 Beginning of serious network news programming
WORLD WAR II
 Radio broadcast journalism came of age during this period
 Citizens yearned to hear about the European and Pacific Rim
battlefronts
 Use of wire recording
 Germany and the advent of magnetic tape
1. German technology
2. Used in radio stations in Europe
3. Recorders returned to U.S. for analysis
4. Became a commercial success in U.S.
POSTWAR RADIO
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Very successful
advertisers waiting in line to spend money
station expansion
beginning of commercial TV
changes in the record business
change from ‘big band’ era to ‘Top 40’ & ‘R&B’
public tastes change during early 50’s
Alan Freed – originator of the phrase “rock n’ roll”
Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Bo Diddly
Gordon McLendon – Todd Storz
Helped to form the Top 40 concept in programming
Beginning of Top 40 in Los Angeles
Chuck Blore – KFWB became known as ‘Color Radio”
Number one station for over five years
payola scandals of 1959
Updated Top 40 format in mid-sixties
Bill Drake – KHJ became “Boss Radio”
Surf music, Motown sound, British Invasion of ‘64
Underground radio starts in 1967
KPPC and the beginning of AOR music
KLOS and KMET begin to play album cuts on FM
FM DEVELOPMENT
 Edwin Armstrong invented the new medium
 Resistance from RCA and Sarnoff due to their commitment
and money invested in AM
 FM delayed because of WWII and TV
 Loss of AM audience
 Decline of AM radio networks
CURRENT RADIO ENVIRONMENT
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Deregulation atmosphere
Telecommunications Act of 1996
Allowed for multiple city ownerships of stations
Frenzy of station ownership changes and consolidation into
conglomerates
AM becomes news, talk, and sports extensively
The advent of multimedia national contests
More consultants and research
Less chance for mistakes
Radio becomes homogenized
Highly fragmented audiences
‘Narrowcasting’ programming concepts
FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
 Satellite radio
1. XM
2. Sirius