Popular Radio and the Origins of Broadcasting 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? What are some issues about radio ownership, government regulation, and democracy?

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

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

RADIO ORIGINATED the genre model of drama and comedy programming (still used on TV today)

RADIO NEWS created models for newsgathering and electronic journalism

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

ORIGINS OF THE BROADCASTING INDUSTRY

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)

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

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

Early experimental stations (1910s) Educational, community-oriented At some colleges and universities

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

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

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

U.S. Navy Needed reliable ship-to-ship/shore communications In era before WWI, increasing need for defense and other military communications

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?

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

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

When America declared war in 1917, the U. S When America declared war in 1917, the U.S. Navy seized control of radio Shut down all other uses (especially amateurs) Developed portable radios for field operations

After the war, a big struggle for control of the 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.

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

Formation of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919: AMERICA’S FIRST BROADCASTING MONOPOLY

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

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

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

BIRTH OF COMMERCIAL RADIO UNDER RCA

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 Department of Commerce

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

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.

NBC went on the air in 1926 with twenty-five affiliated stations Affiliate: a station connected to the network but not owned by it. Legally, no single company could own more than seven radio stations. NBC was, in fact, becoming another monopoly.

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.

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

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).

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

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

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.

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.

How Radio influenced TELEVISION Single sponsorship system of commercial radio Program segmentation and format Liveness: real time, sense of immediacy--tradition of broadcast news and sports Continuing characters-- Identification and attachment

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

COMMERCIAL RADIO TODAY Economics based upon advertising National network radio services provide programming Specialized radio formats (Top 40, news/talk, adult contemporary, Spanish language, country, etc.)

NONPROFIT RADIO Public Broadcasting Act and Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1960s: established NPR and PBS Variety of formats, both traditional and experimental NPR: distinctive niche in radio news

Alternative Voices in RADIO 1948: Pacifica radio stations began occupying left-wing, radical niche Low-power stations (10-watt) licensed 1948-1978; revitalized in 2000 with LPFM service Micropower “pirate” radio broadcasting