Richard E. CaplanThe University of Akron

6. Radio

Christopher BurnettCalifornia State, Long Beach

Radio’s Pervasive Presence

• 99% of homes have radio• 95% of cars have radio

– 4 out of 5 adults listen

• 40% listen between 6 am and midnight

• 7% of bathrooms have radio

• More than 3000 stations Webcast on Internet

• An everyday accessory

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Radio Takes a Technological Leap

• Telegraph and Telephone• Radio’s Revolution

– Heinrich Hertz, 1887

• Wireless Breakthrough– Guglielmo Marconi, 1890s

• Experimental Broadcasts– Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, 1906

• Detecting Radio Waves– Lee De Forest’s Audion, 1907

• Radio for the People– David Sarnoff’s predictions

Policing the Airwaves

• Regulated media

• Radio Act of 1912– Licensing

– Limited frequencies

• World War I– Govt. took over all radio

• RCA 1919– Govt. approved private monopoly

– David Sarnoff, general manager, 1921

Development of Radio

• Early Experimental Stations– Pioneers broadcasting to each other

• KDKA Pittsburgh, 1920– Nation’s first commercial radio station– One hour each night

• Expansion– Profitability encouraged radio craze

Radio Expansion

• ASCAP, 1923– Blanket licensing of music

broadcast over radio

• Commercial sponsors– WEAF, New York, sold

advertising– Caught on quickly

• Regulation– Radio Act of 1927– Federal Radio Commission– Federal Communication

Commission, 1934• Granted frequency licenses

David Sarnoff

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Where do people listen?

Illustration 6.1

Radio Becomes Powerful Force

• New kind of national experience

• Cultural, political force• Sponsored programming

– Comedy– Music– Serials– Drama– News

• Formats migrated to television later

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“War of the Worlds”

• Orson Welles, Mercury Theater

• October 30, 1939• Aired dramatized version

of H.G. Wells “War of the Worlds” as a live news broadcast

• People thought it was really happening

• Challenged Radio’s Credibility

Orson Welles

AP

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Creation of Radio Networks

• David Sarnoff, NBC, 1926– Red and Blue Networks

• William S. Paley, CBS, 1929– 25 stations

• NBC-Blue becomes ABC, 1943, Edward J. Noble– $8 million sale

• Three original radio networks lasted until 1980

Radio in the TV Era

• The FCC Recognizes FM– Edwin H. Armstrong– Clearer sound, 1939

• Disc Jockeys & BMI• Format Radio

– Gordon McLendon, 1950s

• Clock and Car Radios– Drive-time audience

• Payola and Talk Show Scandals– Play for pay, 1960s, Alan Freed– Don Imus, 2007

Radio in a TV Era

• Less prominent role after TV• Currently about 12,000

stations– Half FM, half AM

• Play music more than network programming

• Radio group– Company owns stations in

more than one market

• Radio combo– Company owns AM and FM

stations in the same market

Michael C

onnors/morguefile.com

Working in Radio

• General Manager– Runs the station

• Program Manager– Runs programming content

• Account Executives– Ad sales

• Traffic People– Scheduling ads, billing

• Production People• Engineers• Administrative People• Info and Careers

Radio since the ‘70s

• Public Broadcasting Act of 1967– Created the Corporation for

Public Broadcasting– National Public Radio 1970– NPR link

• Telecommunications Act of 1996– Deregulation– Removed ownership limits– Allowed cross ownership– Prompted consolidation

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Radio Ratings

• Arbitron– Only company doing radio ratings

• Average Quarter-hour– Average number of people listening for five minutes in any given

fifteen minutes

• Cume– Estimate of the unduplicated audience

• Ratings– Estimate of the percentage of the total populations listening to a

particular radio station

• Share– Estimate of the percentage of the people listening to radio that

are listening to a particular radio station

Radio Depends on Ready-Made Formats

1. News/Talk• Larry King, Rush Limbaugh

2. Adult Contemporary

3. Contemporary Hit/Top 40

4. Country

5. Spanish Language

6. Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)• Modern rock/oldies/love songs

7. Middle of the Road (MOR)

8. Religious

Larry Dow

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orbis

Jim S

ulley/epa/Corbis

Most Popular Formats

Illustration 6.2

Audience & Income

• Narrowcasting– Targeted audience

• Digital audio broadcast

• Internet radio

• DBS radio or RDBS – Direct broadcast satellite radio

• New kind of Payola, 2005– “Promotions” packages

• Satellite splits radio income– Advertising dominance

declines

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Satellite Digital Radio

Illustration 6.3

Critical Discussion

1. Did CBS Radio do the right thing in 2007 in firing talk host Don Imus for making racially insensitive remarks about the Rutgers basketball team? When does free speech outweigh racial sensitivity?

2. Will subscription radio services overtake traditional over the air broadcast radio? Why or why not?

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