Ch' 8Radio

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Ch. 8--Radio
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A Century of Change

• In less than 100 years, radioor wireless as it
  was calledhas gone from being a means to send
  Morse coded messages to being the primary form of
  entertainment in America to being a demassified
  medium composed of special music formats

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The intimate medium

• Media theorist Marshall McLuhan called radio the
  intimate medium. Could this explain listeners
  rabid loyalty to on-air personalities, the
  illusion that the broadcaster is speaking to them
  and not a mass audience?

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Timeline

• 1901Radio grows out of the telegraph. Guglielmo
  Marconi developed the wireless telegraph by
  harnessing the electro-magnetic spectrum.

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Benefits of wireless

• Telegraph signals were no longer dependent on
  wires, which could be destroyed by weather or
  sabotage.
• For the first time, ships at sea were able to
  communicate with ports.

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• 1906Lee DeForest invents the audion tube, making
  it possible to send voice and music to a radio
  receiver.
• Reginald Fessenden makes the first broadcast on
  Christmas Eve, playing Christmas carols on his
  violin. The broadcast is said to have shocked
  wireless operators.

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• 1910DeForest broadcasts an Enrico Caruso
  performance from the Metropolitan Opera House in
  New York.
• 1912Titanic sinks after SOS is not received
  (operator aboard nearby ship, the Californian,
  had gone to bed)

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David Sarnoff

• A telegrapher with American Marconi, Sarnoff
  picks up the distress signals from the Titanic
  and mans his telegraph for 72 hours without
  sleep. President Wilson orders other telegraphs
  on the East Coast shut down in order to prevent
  interference.

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Edwin Howard Armstrong

• Develops the regenerative circuit, greatly
  improving clarity and power of the audion tube.
• Patents FM radio in 1930.
• Locked in long legal battles with Sarnoff and
  DeForest, he kills himself in 1955.

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• 1915David Sarnoff proposes in a memo to his
  superiors at American Marconi wiring homes with
  radio music boxes.
• Sarnoff is first to envision a mass audience for
  radio, or point-to-mass communication.

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• 1919The Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
  evolves out of American Marconi Co.
• 1920Westinghouse licenses first radio station in
  America
• Returns of Harding-Cox election broadcast

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Early Radio Problems

• Frequency overlap
• Too little programming
• Expense of radio receivers

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• 1912In the aftermath of the Titanic disaster,
  Congress passes the 1912 Radio Act, requiring
  around-the-clock watches aboard ships and the
  licensing of radio operators.

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Early Elgin Radio

• Charles Erbstein sets up station WTAS with three
  200-foot transmitters.
• WTAS eventually move to Chicago and becomes WGN.
• Monday nights in Chicago were black out nights
  so listeners could receive stations from outside
  the city.

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• 1923First network link-up created to broadcast
  World Series.
• 1925President Coolidges inaugural address is
  heard coast to coast via a temporary 21-station
  hookup.
• 1926NBC created by RCA.

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• 1927Congress passes Federal Radio Act.
• Sets up Federal Radio Commission
• Sets regulations for operation of stations.
• Assigns radio frequencies to stations.

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• 1927CBS founded by William Paley.
• 1930Amos n Andy becomes first successful radio
  comedy and most successful show of all time.

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• 1933FDR begins fireside chats.
• 1934Federal Communications Act changes FRC to
  FCC. Part of act involves Equal Time Law
• Mutual Broadcasting System founded by independent
  stations.

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• 1938Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast
  panics many listeners.

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Radio at War

• 1939CBS broadcaster, Edward R. Murrow reports
  the bombing of London by the Germans.

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• 1941Radio first on the scene to report the
  Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor.

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• 1943RCA sells its second network, which becomes
  ABC.
• 1945FCC encourages TV development over FM.

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• 1948Radios biggest money year. From here on, TV
  takes increasing amount of ad revenue.
• 1949KOWH in Omaha has first Top 40 format.
• 1951Hundreds of stations switch to DJ formats.

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• 1955Radios rock era begins.
• 1959Payola Scandal surfaces.
• 1960sFM finally takes hold as underground
  stations begin playing album rock.

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• 1972All-news formats go on the air in New York,
  Washington and L.A.
• 1981Reagan administration deregulates FCC.
• 1984MTV plays increasing role in determining FM
  playlists.

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• 198670 of all radio listeners tuned to FM.
• 1988New Age and classic rock formats appeal to
  aging baby boomers.
• FCC issues stricter guidelines in answer to
  shock jocks.

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• 1990Cable TV hookups make satellite radio
  available to homes.
• 1991Rush Limbaugh develops huge audience,
  encouraging other stations to try political talk
  formats.
• News radio stations play audio portion of CNNs
  Gulf War coverage.

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• 1992Democratic Congress attempts to reinstate
  Fairness Doctrine, unsuccessfully.
• 1997Howard Stern is highest paid on-air
  personality at 17 million per year.

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Radio Today

• 11,608 stations in U.S. Number of stations
  increasing.
• 557 million radios in U.S.
• 99 of all homes have at least 5 radios.
• Americans listen 3 hours per day.

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• 60 percent of listening done outside the home.
• ¾ of listeners tune to FM stations.
• 3 billion spent annually on new radios.
• 10 billion a year spent on radio ads.

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Ownership

• FCC permits no more than one station per owner in
  a single community, with grandfathered
  exceptions.
• Networks cannot own more than 30 stations of
  each AM, FM, TV.

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Radio Station Structure
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Affiliates

• Stations that sign up with network.
• Stations receive money for membership.
• Networks benefit from larger audience. Affiliates
  benefit from network programming.

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FCC may revoke licenses for

• Unanswered personal attacks.
• Using station as exclusive forum.
• Airing dirty words.
• Airing sexual details.
• Airing of distateful comments and jokes.

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Ratings

• Radio, like TV, is rated by services.
  Measurements include
• Rating (percentage of total possible listeners)
• Share (percentage of those who are actually
  listening at the time)

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• Cume estimates (number of listeners over a period
  of time)
• Quarter-hour estimates (number of listeners in a
  time slot)

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Future of Radio

• Increased narrowcasting, aiming stations at
  specific audiences.
• Radio Broadcast Data Systems (RBDS), a way of
  transmitting a data stream over a subcarrier
  frequency of the radio station to be picked up by
  special receivers.

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• Digital broadcasting
• Distribution through the Internet