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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?
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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?
RADIO ESTABLISHED the origin and foundations of today’s broadcast industry(including patterns of ownership and control)
RADIO ORIGINATEDthe genre modelof drama and comedy programming(still used on TV today)
RADIO NEWScreated models for newsgathering and electronic journalism
RADIO PROVIDES an example of how the function and format of a mass medium can change to survive
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 • 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
WORLD WAR I was the central force in the formation of broadcasting:How and why?
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
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.
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’SFIRST BROADCASTING MONOPOLY
What was RCA?a patent pool • AT&T telephone lines • GE & Westinghouse radio transmitters and receivers • United Fruit 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.
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
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 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
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 programming: 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 systemof 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