early radio history
description
Transcript of early radio history
Company
LOGO Radio Broadcasting
The early years
Mass Media Market
Newspapers
Magazines/Books
Phonograph1877
Movies1904
Radio
1905 Mass Media Market
Broadcasting Debuts
1. Technological advances made toward developing radio late in 19th C
2. Heinrich Hertz transmitted energy without wires
3. Guglielmo Marconi saw this as way to 3. Guglielmo Marconi saw this as way to replace telegraph lines
4. British Government interested in technology
5. It had colonial empire, with ships at sea and large navy.
Guglielmo Marconi 1874 - 1937
Marconi Wireless & Signal co.
1. Secured British patent in 1897
2. Formed Marconi Wireless & Signal Co. to communicate with lighthouses & ships
3. Focused on increasing distance signals traveled
4. 1901 – Sent a transmission across the Atlantic Ocean
5. U.S. Navy adopted wireless fully by WW-I
6. Specialty companies like United Fruit Company
7. Hobbyist
1st Known Radio Program
1. Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian Scientist
2. Became first to transmit voice over the air
3. From experimental station in Brant Rock, 3. From experimental station in Brant Rock, Mass
4. December 24, 1906
5. Ships of United Fruit Co were listening first came static then Morris Code
6. First came static, then Morris Code, Followed by voice & music
Radio – A New Technology
1. Airwaves became crowded (shipping interests, navy, amateurs, universities, experimental)
2. President Taft enacted 1st radio license law in 1912
3. Commerce Dept put in charge of allocating frequencies to ships, government agencies and amateurs
4. Reserved a few for universities & experimental stations
5. 1917 – 8,562 licenses issued in U.S.
David Sarnoff
1. Most saw lack of privacy as a disadvantage
2. David Sarnoff was manager of American
3. Marconi’s Wanamaker’s Dept Store station in NY in 1912
4. Received important radio signals on April 15, 1912
50.14 W MGY CQD SOS SOSCQD CQD DE MGY WE ARE SINKING FAST PASSENGERS ARE BEING PUT (The signal then fades to unreadable.)
1891 - 1971
The Sarnoff Memo - 1916
1. Marconi should make radio receivers that tune to frequencies
2. Provide radio concerns, recitals, lectures
3. Called it – Radio Music Box
4. Programming paid for out of sales of radio sets
5. But World War I Intervened
6. All Frequencies taken over by Government
First Commercial Broadcasters
1. Begin as means of promoting other enterprises (dept stores; radios, churches, colleges.
2. Dr. Frank Conrad operates station out of his garage after WW-I
3. Local Dept. Store advertised sets to 3. Local Dept. Store advertised sets to hear his program
4. Westinghouse decided to set up station to help sell sets
5. KDKA went on air on 11/2/20 with broadcast of Harding-Cox Presidential election returns
1874 - 1941
First Stations
1. Business model had been established
2. Sets moved quickly
3. Didn’t accept advertising
4. 8 stations opened by 1921
Making a Profit
1. Two possible sources of income – sales of radios; advertising
2. 8 Stations Licensed by end of 1921
3. Sales of radio sets began to boom
4. By Nov. 1, 1922 – 564 broadcasters licensed
5. 1922 used long distance phone lines to connect NYC with Chicago to broadcast football game.
6. 1926 – NBC purchased WEAF in NY
Government Regulation
1. Chaotic, unplanned system
2. Business practices threatened a possibly monopoly
3. Congress passed Radio Act of 1927
4. Agency is now called FCC
5. Allocated frequencies
Mass Media Market
Newspapers
Magazines/Books
Phonograph1877
Movies1904
Radio
1930s Mass Media Market
Radio Station Growth
Major Source for Entertainment
• 1934 – 593 broadcast stations in U.S.
• 1935 – 67% of homes had radio sets; grows to 81% by 1940
• Networks provided 24 hours programming• Networks provided 24 hours programming
• Daytime – soaps, children’s Shows, music
• Primetime – dramas, comedies, quiz shows, specials & music
Radio Stations - 1922
•
AM Radio Stations - 1946
FM Radio Station - 1958
Radio Stations - 2006
The Nation Enters the ‘30s
Entering the 1930s
• 2,000 daily newspapers reached about 40-million readers
• 10,000 weekly
Approaching the 1940s
• Radio spreading hard news
• Newsreels provided visuals• 10,000 weekly
newspapers
• Advertising revenue approached $900-million
• Seen as a necessity
visuals
• 1934 -- advertising revenue ½ of 1929 high
• 1939 a number of dailies & weeklies disappeared
Music
• Programming targeted to national audience
• Similar to today’s TV blocks.• Similar to today’s TV blocks.
• Did not want recorded programs
Power of Broadcasting
1. Presidential Election – 1932
2. Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping – 1932
3. Hindenburg – 1937
4. Orson Welles' Broadcast of War of the Worlds – 1938
5. Trouble in Europe
Radio News
• Only 4 network newscasts 1933
• 1930s crisis in Europe created market for newsfor news
•CBS received enormous praise for broadcasts from war torn Europe
Power of Broadcasting
Herb Morrison at Lake Hurst NJ for WLS May 6, 1937
Competitive Environment
Newspapers Face Competition
� We fight the growing encroachment of our field by radio, only to have the news organizations to which we belong turn around and help the radio thumb its nose at our honest radio thumb its nose at our honest effort. Every bulletin we printed in our extra was second hand. The radio with the assistance of the Associated Press scooped us miserably. – Editor & Publisher 1928
We cannot keep on selling news if we encourage others to give it away.
Newspaper Radio War
� American Newspapers Publisher Association Convention - 1933
� Stopped providing newspapers with bulletins and printing schedules.and printing schedules.
� Biltmore Agreement� Two 5-minute newscasts
daily� No spot news
� Press described it as a complete defeat for broadcasters
The War Years
The War Years
Edward R. Murrow
Golden Age of Radio Fades
�In 1950s, more turning to TV for entertainment
�The “leftovers”
�Tried various strategies to off TV’s impact
�In Dec. 1955, Nielsen ratings did not list one evening radio program in top ten
�How could radio survive�Portability�Innovative programming�Recorded music�Top 40 format
Mass Media Market - 1950
Competing for Consumer Attention
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