Chapter 2
Radio
The ability to communicate
one to many using radio
signaled the beginning of
electronic mass media.
- Kaye & Medoff, p. 39
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Copyright © 2005 Allyn & Bacon
Hear It Then – Radio History
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Electrical Telegraphy - 1835
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Electrical Telephony - 1876
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Distance conquered for first time
Wires and expert operators needed
First direct personal communication
Point-to-Point Electrical Communication
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Good for land messages
Not good for ship to shore messages
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Early Theorists & Experimenters
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James Clerk Maxwell
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Heinrich Hertz
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Theorized radio waves
Demonstrated radio waves
Guglielmo Marconi
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First to transmit signal by wireless
Transmitted Morse code across Atlantic
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Experimenters with Voice
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Reginald Fessenden
 First to transmit voice over the air
 1906 Christmas Eve program
 Heard by telegraph operators
at sea
Lee DeForest
 Developed audion tube
 Clarified and amplified voice
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Radio Becomes a Mass Medium
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The idea of “Broadcasting”
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First regular broadcasts:
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Receiver sales would bring profit
But idea delayed by WWI
1909 Charles “Doc” Herrold - regular
transmissions of music & talk from San Jose
1912 Frank Conrad did the same in Pittsburgh
WWI
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halted commercial development
technology and training advanced
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Radio Becomes a Mass Medium
600
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500
400
Commercial
broadcast began in
1920
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300
200
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100
KDKA, Pittsburgh –
Westinghouse station
556 stations on air in
1923
1925
1924
1923
1922
1921
0
Radio Stations
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Legislation for Radio
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The Radio Act of 1912
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The Radio Act of 1927
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Licenses for commercial radio
Created FRC
License in “public interest,
convenience, and necessity”
Reissued all earlier licenses
The Radio Act of 1934
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Permanently added FCC to 1927 act
Added television to FCC authority
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Early Radio Networks & Programs
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RCA owned NBC (with 2 networks)
United Independent Broadcasters
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
started by Columbia Phonograph
Company
Mutual Broadcasting System
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See It Then – Radio Programs
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Live music dominated the 1920s
1930s - programming variety increased
 Dramas
 Soap Operas
 Episodic Dramas
 Comedy
 Quiz Shows
 Sporting events - baseball & boxing
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Effects of Radio
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Attendance at Vaudeville shows declined
Recorded music sales dropped
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Poor quality
High cost
Announcer speech led to softened
regional dialects
Late 1930s, radio news gained credibility
w/Edward R. Murrow
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Daily newspapers began closing
Radio began newscasts
Biltmore Agreement limited wire service news
Radio brings word of WWII
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Radio in the 1940s
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WWII offered tax breaks
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Advertisers turned to radio
Paper rations limited print ads
FM radio was held up

Government took over radio factories and
bandwidth
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Radio in the late 1940s & 50s
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Late 1940s and
’50s - Back to
music
 TV took over
former radio
programs (game
shows, sitcoms,
dramas,
westerns…)
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Television takes off
after war
Audience moved
to TV
Radio reinvents
itself with music
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Rock ‘n’ Roll
Top-40
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See It Then – Recorded Music
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Began to replace live in 1950s
Transistors made radios portable
Stations adopted formats that
targeted niche audiences
Rock ‘n’ roll
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Gave radio new life
Term coined by D.J. Alan Freed
Led to “Top 40” format radio
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Frequency Modulation (FM) Radio
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Invented by Edwin Armstrong
Superior sound – More bandwidth
Available since the 1940s
Several false starts
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Assigned frequencies change
Early FM receivers made obsolete
Stereo makes FM grow in 1960s
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Surpassed AM in popularity in 1978
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See It Now – Radio Programs
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Music Formats
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News and Information
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Began to dominate in 1966, esp. on FM
Primarily on AM
All-news
News/talk
Sports/talk
Non-Commercial

National Public Radio
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See It Then – Radio Programs
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1970s & 80s
Narrowing & shuffling of formats from country to 3 types of country
National & regional syndication
increased
Localism starting to fade
Talk radio gained momentum
(especially with rescission of Equal
Time requirements)
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Telecommunications Act of 1996
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Virtually Ended Ownership Limits
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Stations sold at rapid pace since ’96
Clear Channel owns over 1200
Effects of Telecom. Act of 96 on
programming
Radio more formulaic across all
markets
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Voice tracking and automation
Single DJ on multiple stations across USA
Radio losing localism
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Competing Technologies,
Challenges
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Radio challenged by transmission new
systems
 Cable & satellite audio channels
 XM/Sirius radio
 Internet radio
 Podcasting
Wireless Internet
2000s - iPod/mp3 players make personal
music collections portable
Low Power FM
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Responses to challenges
Responses
 Digital Radio
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Government supports localism
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In-band-on-channel - dig & analog channels
simulcast, use other channels for $ generation
Multiple choices from one station(3 channels in
one)
May result in satellite with local content
Your ideas?
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Subscribers to Satellite Radio
1,400,000
1,360,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
360,000
400,000
200,000
XM
Serius
262,000
28,000
0
30,000
0
2002
2003
2004
Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon
Chapter 6
Programming
“By today’s standards, the
level of static and generally
poor audio quality that
characterized these programs
would make them
unlistenable, but to
yesterday’s audience, radio
was magic.”
- Medoff & Kaye p. 107
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
• Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
• Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images;
• Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
www.ablongman.com/medoffkaye1e
Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon
See it Now – Programs Scheduled
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Locally Produced
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On-site Program Director decides
playlist
Local “talent” - DJs in the booth, local
news people, talk personalities
Still important, fading element of
stations - controversial
Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon
See it Now – Programs Scheduled
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Network/Syndicated
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Stations pay or trade commercial time
to networks/syndicators
HUGE trend
National/regional production quality
AND celebrity
Cheaper, easier, more dependable than
local DJs & music
Loss of localism
Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon
See it Now – Programs Scheduled
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Using the program clock
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Playlist
Rotation
News or Info
Commercials
Computer driven, automated, VERY
TIGHTLY PROGRAMMED
Often based on research
Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon
Top Radio Station Formats ‘02-’03
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Country
AC
Oldies
News/Talk
Religious
Christian
Sports
News
Talk
Gospel
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
CHR/Top 40
Classic Rock
Rock/AOR
Spanish
Classical
Jazz
Urban Contemporary
Diversified
Educational
MOR
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Wilmington Radio Stations
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89.7 WDVV The Dove - religious
90.5 WWIL gospel
91.3 WHQR NPR .. public/classical/jazz
92.7 WBPL-LP - religious
93.7 WBNE The Bone - .. classic rock
94.1 WKXS Kiss 94.1 - .. urban ac
95.9 W240AS WOTJ-90.7 FBN religious
97.3 WMNX Coast 97.3 urban ac
98.3 WSFM Surf 98.3 .. modern rock
99.9 WKXB B99.9 .. rhythmic oldies
101.3 WWQQ Today's Hottest Country
102.7 WGNI 102.7 GNI .. hot ac
103.7 WBNU The Bone - Shallotte
103.9 WWTB|r.WLTT-106.3 The Big Talker Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon
Wilmington Radio Stations
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104.5 WRQR Rock 104.5 .. active rock
106.3 WLTT The Big Talker - .. talk
106.7 WUIN The Penguin .. adult alternative
107.5 WAZO Z107.5 .. CHR-pop
630 WMFD ESPN .. sports
980
WAAV .. news/talk
1180 WMYT 1340 WLSG .. southern gospel
1410 WVCB .. religious
1470 WVBS|r.WOTJ-90.7 FBN .. religious
1490 WWIL|on FM .. gospel
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Radio Station
Staff Functions Now
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General Management
 Leadership, hiring/firing, station construction &
maintenance for several stations
 Station manager: supervises one station in a group
 Sales persons: sell air time to advertisers
Technical
 Installation, operation & maintenance of broadcast
technology, technical compliance
Programming & Production
 Planning & executing a program schedule aimed to
realize management objectives
 Schedules blend mix and prerecorded programs
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Radio Production
The “sound chain”
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Actual sounds are converted into electrical impulses
by microphones.
The impulses are transmitted by wire to an audio
console (a. k. a., mixing board).
Here, the sound may be modified--for ex., made
louder or an aspect of it, such as its bass, boosted.
Here, different sounds—music & an announcer's
voice—may be mixed.
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The Program
Department Now
Program director: Responsible for all
matter to be aired.
Music director: Screens recordings,
decides which will be aired (rotated).
News director: Responsible for the
scheduling & production of every news
broadcast (newscast)
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The Promotion
Department Now
Refers to all actions that aim to prompt either
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reception to certain programs or
a positive attitude toward the station
Promotions
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can air on the station or be “pitched” to other media
in the station’s market;
are aimed at audience
 acquisition
 maintenance &
 recycling
are also aimed at persuading advertisers to buy
station time; &
strive to boosting employee morale
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The Sales
Department Now
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General sales manager:
Oversees sales dept
Nat’l sales manager:
In charge of non-local ad
accounts
Local sales manager:
In charge of local ad
accounts
Traffic manager:
Schedules commercials
(spots)
General Sales Mgr.
Nat’l Sales Mgr.
Local Sales Mgr.
Traffic Mgr.
Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon
Other Staff
Functions
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Research unit: Interprets
and reports ratings data
for use by sales dept.
Community relations and
marketing: Strives to
construct a positive image
for the station & to market
it to audiences other than
advertisers.
Copyright © 2005 by Allyn & Bacon