9/14/20151 Radio History MIT2000. Early Radio: Main Themes 1. Wired/Wireless 2. Bi-directional: one...
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Transcript of 9/14/20151 Radio History MIT2000. Early Radio: Main Themes 1. Wired/Wireless 2. Bi-directional: one...
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
04/19/23 2
04/19/23 3
Radio/Technology
1. Radio waves 1. electro-magnetic energy,
radiating in waves
2. Heinrich Hertz (1888) 1. lab experiments2. ‘telegraph without wires’
(Hertzian waves)
04/19/23 4
Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937)
1. Land-Ship2. Trans-Atlantic signal
(1901)3. Marconi Wireless
Telegraph & Signal Co1. trans-Atlantic2. first commercial
service
04/19/23 5
Reginald Fessenden (1866-1932)
1. first voice transmission1. “radiotelephone”(1900)
2. Shore-to-ship “broadcast” 1906
04/19/23 6
Early “Radio-Telegraph”
1. Morse Code2. Shipping/distress calls3. Titanic (1912)4. Simultaneity of
Experience5. Worldwide Network
04/19/23 7
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
04/19/23 8
Amateur Radio
1. Pranks1. “All Titanic Passengers
Safe”
2. Obscene/false message
3. Lots of radio traffic
4. Radio Act of 1912 (US)
04/19/23 9
World War I (1914-18)
1. Military control1. Naval/ Shell-spotting
2. Ban citizen use
2. Post-1918, oppose: 1. amateur uses
2. foreign ownership
04/19/23 10
Early Broadcast Radio
1. One-to-one: 1. DXing, 1920-19242. Voice/sound
2. One-to-many: Broadcasting1. (Telephone “Broadcasters”)
3. Frank Conrad/KDKA, 19204. XWA, Montreal, 19205. RCA, 1921
04/19/23 11
Early Radio
1. 1921: 2 radio stations
2. 1925: 100s in US/CDA1. Dept stores; churches
newspapers; universities
2. Non-commercial origins
3. Public interest/limited spectrum
04/19/23 12
Network Radio: AT&T (1925)
1. 25-station network 1. long distance lines
2. sell time on transmitters, “air time,” to advertisers
3. purchase blocks/ provide own programming
04/19/23 13
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”
04/19/23 14
Programming
1. Music: classical & dance bands (Tommy Dorsey)
2. Variety Shows: (Bob Hope)
3. Drama1. daytime serial –”Guiding Light”
2. evening anthology: “Mercury Theater on the Air”
4. Children’s Shows
5. Comedy: “Li'l Abner”; “Amos ‘n’ Andy”
04/19/23 15
Radio as Mass Medium, ca. 1935
US Private ownership
(NBC, CBS) Advertising-
supported Popular fare
UK BBC: government-
run monopoly Taxes, license fees High-brow/cultural
uplift
04/19/23 16
Radio in Canada
1. Radio-Telegraph Act, 1913
2. Dept. Marine & Fisheries
3. XWA, first license (1919)
4. $1 licence fee per set
04/19/23 17
CDN Radio
1. 1928: 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
04/19/23 18
Networking: CNR Radio Dept
1. first network, mid-1920s
2. concerts, operas, plays, health talks, grain price reports
3. 3 hours weekly, 1929
04/19/23 19
US Radio in CDA
1. Radio-wave interference
2. US listening (80%)1. NBC w/ Montreal affiliate
3. Can CDN radio compete?
04/19/23 20
Road to Public Ownership
1. Royal Commission on Broadcasting, 1928-29
2. Canadian Radio League, 1930
3. Graham Spry4. “The State or the United
States”
04/19/23 21
Aird Commission Recommendations, 1929
1. 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, 1932
1. State monopoly on network broadcasting
2. Extend radio coverage 3. Produce/transmit programs4. Purchase/construct
stations/transmitters5. CRBC stations//private
stations6. Partisanship
04/19/23 22
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1936
1. More autonomy
2. Assured funding
3. Dual function
04/19/23 23
04/19/23 24
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;
04/19/23 25
“The Barrelman”
1. Joey Smallwood
2. NFLD Folk Tradition
3. ethnic nationalism
4. ‘foreign’ consumerism
5. “imagined community”
6. modernity
04/19/23 26
“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
04/19/23 27
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
04/19/23 28
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