COMMON THREADS
One of the Common Threads discussed in Chapter 1 is the developmental stages of mass media. Like other mass media, radio evolved in three stages, but it also influenced an important dichotomy in mass media technology: wired versus wireless.
In radio’s novelty stage, several inventors transcended the wires of the telegraph and telephone to solve the problem of wireless communication. In the entrepreneurial stage, inventors tested ship-
As the first electronic mass medium, radio set the pattern for an ongoing battle between wired and wireless technologies. For example, television brought images to wireless broadcasting. Then, cable television’s wires brought television signals to places where receiving antennas didn’t work. Satellite television (wireless from outer space) followed as an innovation to bring TV where cable didn’t exist. Now, broadcast, cable, and satellite all compete against one another.
Similarly, think of how cell phones have eliminated millions of traditional phone, or land, lines. The Internet, like the telephone, also began with wires, but Wi-
Both wired and wireless technologies have advantages and disadvantages. Do we want the stability and the tethers of a wired connection? Or do we want the freedom and occasional instability (“Can you hear me now?”) of wireless media? Can radio’s development help us understand wired-
KEY TERMS
The definitions for the terms listed below can be found in the glossary at the end of the book. The page numbers listed with the terms indicate where the term is highlighted in the chapter.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Early Technology and the Development of Radio
Why was the development of the telegraph important in media history? What were some of the disadvantages of telegraph technology?
How is the concept of wireless different from that of radio?
What was Guglielmo Marconi’s role in the development of wireless telegraphy?
What were Lee De Forest’s contributions to radio?
Why were there so many patent disputes in the development of radio?
Why was the RCA monopoly formed?
How did broadcasting, unlike print media, come to be federally regulated?
The Evolution of Radio
What was AT&T’s role in the early days of radio?
How did the radio networks develop? What were the contributions of David Sarnoff and William Paley to network radio?
Why did the government-
What is the significance of the Radio Act of 1927 and the Communications Act of 1934?
Radio Reinvents Itself
How did radio adapt to the arrival of television?
What was Edwin Armstrong’s role in the advancement of radio technology? Why did RCA hamper Armstrong’s work?
How did music on radio change in the 1950s?
What is format radio, and why was it important to the survival of radio?
The Sounds of Commercial Radio
Why are there so many radio formats today?
Why did Top 40 radio diminish as a format in the 1980s and 1990s?
What is the state of nonprofit radio today?
Why are performance royalties a topic of debate between broadcast radio, satellite radio, Internet radio, and the recording industry?
Why do radio broadcasters want FM radio chips enabled for use in mobile phones?
The Economics of Broadcast Radio
What are the current ownership rules governing American radio?
What has been the main effect of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on radio station ownership?
Why did the FCC create a new class of low-
Radio and the Democracy of the Airwaves
Throughout the history of radio, why did the government encourage monopoly or oligopoly ownership of radio broadcasting?
What is the relevance of localism to debates about ownership in radio?
QUESTIONING THE MEDIA
Count the number and types of radio stations in your area today. What formats do they use? Do a little research, and find out who owns the stations in your market. How much diversity is there among the highest-
If you could own and manage a commercial radio station, what format would you choose, and why?
If you ran a noncommercial radio station in your area, what services would you provide to address needs that are not being met by commercial format radio?
How might radio be used to improve social and political discussions in the United States?
If you were a broadcast radio executive, what arguments would you make in favor of broadcast radio over Internet radio?
LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE
REVIEW WITH LEARNINGCURVE LearningCurve, available on LaunchPad for Media & Culture, uses gamelike quizzing to help you master the concepts you need to learn from this chapter.