9/14/20151 Radio History MIT2000

Early Radio: Main Themes 1. Wired/Wireless 2. Bi-directional: one to one 3. Uni-directional 1. Central transmitter to passive receivers 2. “broadcasting” 4. Public interest/commercial interest 5. Culture/Community Formation 9/14/20152

3 Radio/Technology 1. Radio waves 1. electro-magnetic energy, radiating in waves 2. Heinrich Hertz (1888) 1. lab experiments 2. ‘telegraph without wires’ (Hertzian waves)

9/14/20154 Guglielmo Marconi ( ) 1. Land-Ship 2. Trans-Atlantic signal (1901) 3. Marconi Wireless Telegraph & Signal Co 1. trans-Atlantic 2. first commercial service

9/14/20155 Reginald Fessenden ( ) 1. first voice transmission 1. “radiotelephone”(1900) 2. Shore-to-ship “broadcast” 1906

9/14/20156 Early “Radio-Telegraph” 1. Morse Code 2. Shipping/distress calls 3. Titanic (1912) 4. Simultaneity of Experience 5. Worldwide Network

9/14/20157 Amateur Radio 1. Technical expertise 1. home-made radio sets 2. Exploratory listening-distance 3. Middle-class boys/men 4. Unregulated frequencies 5. Bi-directional

9/14/20158 Amateur Radio 1. Pranks 1. “All Titanic Passengers Safe” 2. Obscene/false message 3. Lots of radio traffic 4. Radio Act of 1912 (US)

9/14/20159 World War I ( ) 1. Military control 1. Naval/ Shell-spotting 2. Ban citizen use 2. Post-1918, oppose: 1. amateur uses 2. foreign ownership

9/14/ Early Broadcast Radio 1. One-to-one: 1. DXing, Voice/sound 2. One-to-many: Broadcasting 1. (Telephone “Broadcasters”) 3. Frank Conrad/KDKA, XWA, Montreal, RCA, 1921

9/14/ Early Radio : 2 radio stations : 100s in US/CDA 1. Dept stores; churches newspapers; universities 2. Non-commercial origins 3. Public interest/limited spectrum

9/14/ Network Radio: AT&T (1925) station network 1. long distance lines 2. sell time on transmitters, “air time,” to advertisers 3. purchase blocks/ provide own programming

9/14/ Content/Culture: Commercial Radio NBC (1926-) public service high-brow non-sponsored programming Symphony theatre, etc. CBS (1928-) more advertising ad agencies produce shows soaps; crime dramas “lowest common denominator”

9/14/ Programming 1. Music: classical & dance bands (Tommy Dorsey) 2. Variety Shows: (Bob Hope) 3. Drama 1. daytime serial –”Guiding Light” 2. evening anthology: “Mercury Theater on the Air” 4. Children’s Shows 5. Comedy: “Li'l Abner”; “Amos ‘n’ Andy”

9/14/ Radio as Mass Medium, ca US Private ownership (NBC, CBS) Advertising- supported Popular fare UK BBC: government- run monopoly Taxes, license fees High-brow/cultural uplift

9/14/ Radio in Canada 1. Radio-Telegraph Act, Dept. Marine & Fisheries 3. XWA, first license (1919) 4. $1 licence fee per set

9/14/ CDN Radio : 60 stations 2. low power; intermittent service 3. Roy Thomson, CFCH 4. minimal regulations 5. diverse ownership 6. selling radio sets 1. Edward S. Rogers 7. Entertainment/Commercial

9/14/ Networking: CNR Radio Dept 1. first network, mid- 1920s 2. concerts, operas, plays, health talks, grain price reports 3. 3 hours weekly, 1929

9/14/ US Radio in CDA 1. Radio-wave interference 2. US listening (80%) 1. NBC w/ Montreal affiliate 3. Can CDN radio compete?

9/14/ Road to Public Ownership 1. Royal Commission on Broadcasting, Canadian Radio League, Graham Spry 4. “The State or the United States”

9/14/ Aird Commission Recommendations, state broadcasting organization, modelled on BBC 2. foster national spirit/citizenship 3. nationalize private radio stations, with compensation 4. ‘defensive expansionism’

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, State monopoly on network broadcasting 2. Extend radio coverage 3. Produce/transmit programs 4. Purchase/construct stations/transmitters 5. CRBC stations//private stations 6. Partisanship 9/14/201522

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, More autonomy 2. Assured funding 3. Dual function 9/14/201523

9/14/ CBC: Carrier/Content 1. 8 stations; 16 private affiliates 2. Strong transmitters 3. US/UK shows (entertainment, talk) 4. Canadian content 1. “The Happy Gang”; NHL;

9/14/ “The Barrelman” 1. Joey Smallwood 2. NFLD Folk Tradition 3. ethnic nationalism 4. ‘foreign’ consumerism 5. “imagined community” 6. modernity

9/14/ “Peculiar Hybrid” of CDN Radio Commercial interest  Corporate power  NBC/CBS Low-Brow Culture Entertainment Advertising- supported Public Interest  “The State”  BBC/CBC High-Brow Culture Educational Tax/license fee supported

9/14/ Midterm Exam: 23 Feb, 7-9pm Section 1 (5X5 =25 points)  Identify/Significance of 5 of 8 terms, concepts Section 2  15 multiple choice questions (15 points) 2 hours Closed Book Covers Lectures and Readings

9/14/ Sample Question: “The State or the United States” Graham Spry; chairman Canadian Radio League early 1930s lobby for Aird Commission recommendations re: public broadcasting McChesney article culminate in 1932; est. of Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission

9/14/ “ The State or the United States” State: government as bulwark against US broadcasting which predated broadcasting in Canada high culture/ low culture Canadian sovereignty /US cultural/economic imperialism