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- Introduction to Media Industries
- Radio
- Electromagnetic Waves
- invisible electronic impulses similar to visible light
- discovered by James Maxwell
- radio waves could be harnessed
- transmission (Tx)
- reception (Rx)
- Heinrich Hertz: first recorded Tx & Rx of radio wave
- Wireless Telegraphy
- Early innovators
- Alexander Popov
- Nikola Tesla
- Guglielmo Marconi
- patented wireless telegraphy (1896)
- Marconi Wireless Telegraphy Company (1897)
- British naval and commercial ships
- American Marconi (1899)
- wireless transmission across English Channel (1899)
- wireless transmission across Atlantic Ocean (1901)
- Wireless Telephony
- Lee deForest
- audion triode vacuum tube (1906)
- based on John Fleming’s diode tube
- detected and amplified radio signals
- Reginald Fesseden
- first voice transmission on Christmas Eve 1906
- broadcasting
- transmission of radio waves to a broad public audience
- Regulation
- Sinking of Titanic April 1912
- wireless distress signals
- David Sarnoff operator at American Marconi
- Radio Act 1912
- operators must obtain licenses
- radio spectrum could not be owned
- US Navy, World War II
- intervened in patent disputes
- standardized technologies
- closed all radio stations down in 1917
- seized control of US based radio operations
- Radio Corporation of America
- patent pool established in 1920
- four companies
- American Marconi
- General Electric
- American Telephone and Telegraph
- Westinghouse
- Headed by David Sarnoff
- Broadcasting
- Frank Conrad, Westinghouse
- first scheduled broadcasts in 1920, Pittsburgh
- radio station KDKA
- helped to sell radio sets
- first radio stations
- retail stores
- newspapers
- schools and churches
- amateurs
- RCA would ultimately make US a commercially driven system of
broadcasting
- Toll Broadcasting
- AT&T owned station WEAF (AM 660)
- based on “toll calling” principle
- sold first advertising in 1922
- Queensboro Real Estate Company
- Fifty dollar advertisement
- advertising became the primary revenue source for radio
- radio would become commercial
- Public Service Broadcasting
- BBC, 1922–23
- studied but spurned advertising supported model
- established a pubic radio monopoly
- supported by user license fees (usage fee)
- Network Broadcasting
- AT&T interconnected radio stations via telephone wires
- WNAC (Washington DC) aired programming originated on WEAF (1923)
- network stations
- owned and operated
- affiliated stations
- economies of scale
- expensive programming produced at a central location
- costs spread across many radio stations
- NBC
- National Broadcasting Company (1926)
- interconnected via AT&T telephone wires
- Dual network of radio stations
- Red: WEAF (AM 660, New York) and former AT&T stations
- Blue: WJZ (AM 770, Newark) and former “radio group” stations
- created a national culture over a local or regional broadcasting
- RCA purchased Victor Talking Machine Company: RCA-Victor (1929)
- CBS
- Arthur Judson & Columbia Phonograph Company
- entered broadcasting
- preempt RCA Victor’s dominance in radio and music
- formed CPBS (1927)
- interconnected programming over Western Union telegraph network
- William Paley
- established a payment system called option time
- lured talent from NBC
- Jack Benny; Frank Sinatra; Burns and Allen
- Federal Communications Commission
- established 1927 by the Federal Radio Act
- revised 1934 changed name from Federal Radio Commission
- licensees did not own their channel
- mandated to serve “public interest, necessity and convenience”
- outlawed option time
- chain broadcasting ruling
- 1941
- forced NBC to sell Blue network
- Edward J. Noble formed ABC network
- Golden Age of Radio
- 1930–1950
- national mass medium, surpassing the local
- variety programs
- studio audience quiz shows
- soap operas
- programs as cultural mirrors
- authoritative voice
- World War II
- advertising revenues doubled
- primary medium for information
- Edward R. Murrow broadcasts on CBS
- Television
- Introduced in 1939
- Post World War II
- Dominant form of broadcasting
- Radio networks redirect resources to television
- Radio Adapts to Television
- transistor radios
- transistors replaced de Forest-type vacuum tubes
- Texas Instruments introduced the transistor radio for $40
- disc jockeys
- program directos
- playlists
- rotation
- local focus
- bluegrass (South)
- blues (Chicago)
- country and western (rural)
- formats
- Contemporary Hit Radio
- Top 40
- like a jukebox
- Todd Storz, 1949
- dominant form from 1950s to 1970s
- Frequency Modulation
- Edwin Armstrong (1930–33)
- Frequency Modulation vs. Amplitude Modulation
- emphasized pitch over volume
- offered static-free reception
- higher fidelity but shorter range than AM
- RCA delayed introduction of FM (1935)
- Allocated frequencies expanded in 1960s
- segmented audience
- longer cuts
- targeted formats
- Top 40
- new wave
- metal
- punk soul
- classical
- jazz
- AOR
- FM would surpass AM radio in the 1970s
- Consolidation
- accelerated after Telecommunications Act 1996
- relaxed national ownership restrictions
- allowed local duopolies
- extended license renewals
- Group owners
- Clear Channel (866 stations)
- Cumulus (572 stations)
- CBS Radio (127 stations)
- Entercom (100 stations)
- Salem Communications (95 stations)
- Cox (86 stations)
- Univision (69 stations)
- Radio One (53 stations)
- Beasley Broadcast Group (44 stations)
- Lotus Communications (27 stations)
- Cross ownership
- radio
- television
- newspaper
- Advertising conglomerates
- Clear channel
- Ennis
- Citadel
- Entercom
- Cumulus
- Commercial Radio
- Specialized Formats
- News/Talk/Sports
- Adult Contemporary
- Contemporary Hit Radio
- Country
- Urban Contemporary
- Format clock (aka “hot clock”)
- Dayparts
- morning drive, 6:00–10:00
- daytime, 10:00 - 3:00
- afternoon drive, 3:00 - 7:00
- evening, 7:00 - 12:00
- overnight, 12:00 - 6:00
- Non commercial radio
- College radio
- Religious radio
- Public broadcasters
- Low power radio (LPFM)
- Digital Radio
- satellite radio
- HD Radio
- podcasting
- Internet radio
- Pandora
- Spotify
- Songza
- Rdio