1 / 40

Chapter 4

Chapter 4. POPULAR RADIO and the Origins of Broadcasting. Some guiding questions. What technological developments led to the birth of broadcasting ? How did commercial radio networks get started? How has radio reinvented itself in the TV age?

erica-king
Download Presentation

Chapter 4

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 4 POPULAR RADIO and the Origins of Broadcasting

  2. Some guiding questions • What technological developments led to the birth of broadcasting? • How did commercial radio networks get started? • How has radio reinvented itself in the TV age? • What are some issues about radio ownership, government regulation, and democracy?

  3. What impact has radio had on 20th-century American culture?

  4. RADIO ESTABLISHED the origin and foundations of today’s broadcast industry(including patterns of ownership and control)

  5. RADIO ORIGINATEDthe genre modelof drama and comedy programming(still used on TV today)

  6. RADIO NEWScreated models for newsgathering and electronic journalism

  7. RADIO PROVIDES an example of how the function and format of a mass medium can change to survive

  8. ORIGINS OF THE BROADCASTING INDUSTRY

  9. Technological Inventions • 1. Telegraph (1840s) and telephone (1870s) • 2. Marconi: invented wireless telegraphy (1894) -- used code, not voice • established British Marconi (1897) and American Marconi (1899)

  10. Technological Inventions • 3. Fessenden: first to broadcast human voice on radio waves (1906) • 4. DeForest: invented vacuum tube (1907 ) • sold patent to AT&T

  11. WHO WAS INTERESTED IN EARLY RADIO TECHNOLOGY? What groups had an interest in either the technology or the potential uses of radio?

  12. Early experimental stations (1910s) • educational, community-oriented • at some colleges and universities

  13. Amateurs: ham operators (1906-WWI) • put together their own receiving sets; attempted to tune in shipping messages and to transmit their own messages • similar to today’s computer hackers and cyberpunk cultures--on cutting edge of new technology

  14. Companies holding patents to broadcasting technology • General Electric (GE) • Westinghouse • AT&T • United Fruit

  15. Shipping Industry • e.g. United Fruit, Inc. had large banana plantations in Central and South America • needed to communicate between ships and main offices onshore

  16. U.S. Navy • needed reliable ship-to-ship/shore communications • in era before WWI, increasing need for defense and other military communications

  17. EARLY REGULATION of the new radio medium by the U.S. Government Why did the government need to regulate it? What steps did it take? How did this help the industry?

  18. ACTS OF U.S. CONGRESS • Wireless Ship Act of 1910 • to protect ship passengers • gave the radio industry a boost in sales • Radio Act of 1912 • Gave U.S. Dept. of Commerce the power to license private broadcastersand set guidelines for frequencies and power

  19. WORLD WAR I was the central force in the formation of broadcasting:How and why?

  20. When America declared war in 1917,the U.S. Navy seized control of radio • shut down all other uses (esp. amateurs) • developed portable radios for field operations

  21. After war, a big struggle for control of radio industry • U.S. Navy seized American Marconi stations to eliminate foreign interests • Amateur Radio League opposed Navy's control • U.S. Government wanted to eliminate disputes between GE, Westinghouse, AT&T, etc.

  22. So -- the U.S. Government placed control of the radio industry in the hands of corporate interests by forming the RCA monopoly. WHY?

  23. Formation of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919:AMERICA’SFIRST BROADCASTING MONOPOLY

  24. What was RCA?a patent pool • AT&T telephone lines • GE & Westinghouse radio transmitters and receivers • United Fruit patents on components

  25. Purpose of forming RCA: to create American supremacy in communications technology • Nationalistic -- no foreign companies allowed • Marconi forced to sell transmitters, stations, and patents to RCA.

  26. RCA marketed all radio equipment produced by subsidiary companies • However, internal disputes between GE, Westinghouse, and AT&T continued.

  27. BIRTH OF COMMERCIAL RADIO UNDER RCA

  28. First commercial stations • 1920: KDKA, Pittsburgh (Frank Conrad, owned by Westinghouse) • 1922: WEAF, New York (owned by AT&T): introduced concept of "toll broadcasting" • by 1922, 400 stations licensed by Dept. of Commerce

  29. FORMATION OF NETWORKS RCA patents pool was legally questionable under antitrust law. In 1923, the FTC formally charged RCA with monopolistic practices

  30. The parties settled out of court. • AT&T agreed to withdraw from broadcasting in 1925 • RCA, GE and Westinghouse formed NBC in 1926 • NBC’s stations would be linked by AT&T's phone lines

  31. NBC went on the air in 1926 with 25 affiliated stations • affiliate: a station connected to the network but not owned by it • legally, no single company could own more than 7 radio stations • NBC was, in fact, becoming another monopoly

  32. NBC grew rapidly • By 1928, NBC had two affiliates in every area of the country • Since they were the only game in town, business was booming and profits were high

  33. So -- in 1928, the NBC network split itself into two networks: • NBC BLUE(carried more high culture programming: dramas, symphony music) • NBC RED(carried more entertainment, popular programming)

  34. What about independent stations? • couldn't provide the high quality programming • didn't have the economic resources of a network • inevitably, other stations attempted to network themselves together -- that's how CBS started (c. 1927)

  35. CBS got off to a shaky start . • William S. Paley bought CBS • New concepts and strategies • By the 1930s, CBS competitive with NBC

  36. GOVERNMENT REGULATION:The Radio Act of 1927 established Federal Regulatory Commission (FRC) to regulate all forms of radio communication

  37. The Radio Act of 1927 • radio was to serve the public interest-- to operate in "the public interest, convenience and necessity" (PICAN Principle), since the public owns the airwaves • Therefore, the FRC licensed stations to use frequencies, not to own them

  38. PURPOSE OF U.S. BROADCASTING:to attract audiences for advertisers “Delivering” consumers to sponsors Programming produced as "bait" for consumer Most radio programs (except news and public affairs) were produced and controlled by sponsors: called single-sponsor system

  39. How Radio influenced TELEVISION • single sponsorship systemof commercial radio • program segmentation and format • liveness: real time, sense of immediacy--tradition of broadcast news and sports • continuing characters-->identification and attachment

  40. HOW DID RADIO RE-INVENT ITSELF in the television age? • Alliance with music recording industry • Rise of FORMAT and Top 40 radio (age of the disk jockey) • National network radio programming • Growth of TALK RADIO

More Related