Chapter Review

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COMMON THREADS

One of the Common Threads discussed in Chapter 1 is about the development of the 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-to-shore radio, while others developed person-to-person toll radio transmissions and other schemes to make money from wireless communication. Finally, when radio stations began broadcasting to the general public (who bought radio receivers for their homes), radio became a mass medium.

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-Fi and home wireless systems are eliminating those wires, too. And radio? Most listeners get traditional local (wireless) radio broadcast signals, but now listeners may use a wired Internet connection to stream Internet radio or download Webcasts and podcasts.

Both wired and wireless technology have advantages and disadvantages. Do we want the stability but 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 versus wireless battles in other media?

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.

telegraph, 158

Morse code, 158

electromagnetic waves, 159

radio waves, 159

wireless telegraphy, 160

wireless telephony, 161

broadcasting, 162

narrowcasting, 162

Radio Act of 1912, 162

Radio Corporation of America (RCA), 163

network, 165

option time, 167

Radio Act of 1927, 168

Federal Radio Commission (FRC), 168

Communications Act of 1934, 168

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 168

transistors, 172

FM, 173

AM, 173

format radio, 174

rotation, 174

Top 40 format, 174

progressive rock, 175

album-oriented rock (AOR), 175

drive time, 175

news/talk/information, 176

adult contemporary (AC), 178

contemporary hit radio (CHR), 178

country, 178

urban contemporary, 178

Pacifica Foundation, 179

National Public Radio (NPR), 180

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 180

Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, 180

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), 180

satellite radio, 181

HD radio, 181

Internet radio, 183

podcasting, 184

payola, 185

Telecommunications Act of 1996, 185

low-power FM (LPFM), 188

For review quizzes, chapter summaries, links to media-related Web sites, and more, go to bedfordstmartins.com/mediaculture.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Early Technology and the Development of Radio

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  1. Why was the development of the telegraph important in media history? What were some of the disadvantages of telegraph technology?
  2. How is the concept of wireless different from that of radio?
  3. What was Guglielmo Marconi’s role in the development of the wireless?
  4. What were Lee De Forest’s contributions to radio?
  5. Why were there so many patent disputes in the development of radio?
  6. Why was the RCA monopoly formed?
  7. How did broadcasting, unlike print media, come to be federally regulated?

The Evolution of Radio

  1. What was AT&T’s role in the early days of radio?
  2. How did the radio networks develop? What were the contributions of David Sarnoff and William Paley to network radio?
  3. Why did the government-sanctioned RCA monopoly end?
  4. What is the significance of the Radio Act of 1927 and the Federal Communications Act of 1934?

Radio Reinvents Itself

  1. How did radio adapt to the arrival of television?
  2. What was Edwin Armstrong’s role in the advancement of radio technology? Why did RCA hamper Armstrong’s work?
  3. How did music on radio change in the 1950s?
  4. What is format radio, and why was it important to the survival of radio?

The Sounds of Commercial Radio

  1. Why are there so many radio formats today?
  2. Why did Top 40 radio diminish as a format in the 1980s and 1990s?
  3. What is the state of nonprofit radio today?
  4. Why are performance royalties a topic of debate between broadcast radio, satellite radio, Internet radio, and the recording industry?
  5. Why do radio broadcasters want FM radio chips required in mobile phones?

The Economics of Broadcast Radio

  1. What are the current ownership rules governing American radio?
  2. What has been the main effect of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on radio station ownership?
  3. Why did the FCC create a new class of low-power FM stations?

Radio and the Democracy of the Airwaves

  1. Throughout the history of radio, why did the government encourage monopoly or oligopoly ownership of radio broadcasting?
  2. What is the relevance of localism to debates about ownership in radio?

QUESTIONING THE MEDIA

  1. 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 are the owners of the stations in your market. How much diversity is there among the highest-rated stations?
  2. If you could own and manage a commercial radio station, what format would you choose, and why?
  3. If you ran a noncommercial radio station in your area, what services would you provide that are not being met by commercial format radio?
  4. How might radio be used to improve social and political discussions in the United States?
  5. If you were a broadcast radio executive, what arguments would you make in favor of broadcast radio over Internet radio?

ADDITIONAL VIDEOS

Visit the image VideoCentral: Mass Communication section at bedfordstmartins.com/mediaculture for additional exclusive videos related to Chapter 5.