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Popular Radio and the
Origins of Broadcasting

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In radio, a “clear channel” refers to an AM signal that, by law, is set aside for just one station, which, when combined with a powerful transmitter, can cover a huge geographical area. This area gets even bigger at night, when upper layers of the atmosphere become more efficient at bouncing the signals back down to earth. Take, for example, clear channel WHO 1040 AM radio in Des Moines, Iowa. One of the nation’s first powerhouse AM stations (it’s so old it predates the practice of making the call letters of stations west of the Mississippi begin with the letter K), the station has a signal that can be heard across most of Iowa during the day, and most of the United States at night. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the signal to reach other countries at night. Clear channel stations on the coasts can be picked up on the other side of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Up until late 2014, WHO 1040 wasn’t just a clear channel station—it was also a Clear Channel station. Clear Channel was the name of a company that grew from a few stations in Texas to the largest radio chain in the United States, owning over twelve hundred stations at its peak. But in 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia, rebranding that covered its iHeartRadio Music Festival, which has featured massive stars like Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj.

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Clear Channel has long been a poster child for the success—and the excess—of media consolidation following the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Not only a radio giant, the company has long been one of the biggest live-music-event promoters and outdoor billboard owners, among its other media and entertainment enterprises. But one of its biggest recent ventures has been into the online radio platform with its rapidly growing iHeartRadio service. Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman said in a press release announcing the change, “The opportunity for the new iHeartMedia is to use all of these industry-leading assets together in new ways—extending our massive reach and cultural influence across radio, outdoor, digital, social and live events.”¹

It is in part due to this extensive reach and cultural influence that Clear Channel has drawn a great deal of fire from critics both in and out of the radio industry. Tactics ranging from making drastic cuts to news and programming staffs at its local radio stations across the country to simulcasting much of the same programming (including prerecorded announcers playing as if live) across multiple distant cities have made Clear Channel a target for those who say local news and other local content are a vital part of the public service required as part of a broadcasting license. Clear Channel has been a target of documentary films, books, and investigative news programs. This raises the possibility that the name change seeks to distance the company from bad public relations or the perception of being centered on an older technology rather than cutting edge.

Whatever the reason for Clear Channel’s name change, the company’s part in the recent history of radio raises profound questions about the entire industry: As radio has morphed from small, locally owned broadcasting to national networks and large radio conglomerates, what has happened to the economics driving this business? Do technological innovations like the Internet give more power to consumers, who can now listen to any format or message from any part of the world based on their preferences? Is localism still an important concept for the radio industry? Does nonprofit radio bring different kinds of voices to the airwaves (or Internet)? To find clues to possible answers, let’s first trace how radio has evolved since its emergence as a full-blown mass medium.

THE STORY OF RADIO—from its invention in the late nineteenth century to its current incarnation as a multitechnology mass medium—is one of the most remarkable in media history. In the United States, the early days of network radio gave Americans “a national identity” and “a chance to share in a common experience.”² Even with the arrival of television in the 1950s, the recent “corporatization” of broadcasting, and the demographic segmentation of radio today, this medium has continued to play a powerful role in our lives. Likewise, the ways in which legislators a century ago wrote the first laws governing radio set the stage for later laws written to cover all forms of electronic mass media, from television to cable to the Internet. For people throughout the nation, the music and talk emanating every day from their radios, PCs, and handheld devices powerfully shape their political opinions, social mores, and (owing to advertisements) purchasing decisions. In this chapter, we will explore these themes by:

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