Radio

Radio

Radio becomes Americas second national mass medium after magazines

- 99% of American's homes have radios

- 95% of American's cars have radios

- 40% of Americans listen to the radio between 6 am and midnight

- 7% of Americas bathrooms have radios in them

Radio: A technological Leap

1835 Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrates his electromagnetic telegraph system

March 10, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell sent a message to his associate Thomas Watson with the aid of his new invention, the telephone

Heinrich Hertz experiments with radio waves that become known as Hertzian waves and leads to the development of radio broadcasting

Guglielmo Marconi used Morse, Bell, and Hertz ideas to transmit waves without the aid of wires

In 1912David Sarnoff relayed news from Nantucket Island that he received distress calls from the Titanic on his Marconi wireless device

Federal Government Polices the Airwaves

Federal government decided to regulated broadcasting almost as soon as it was invented

The Radio Act of 1912 required licenses for people who wanted to broadcast or receive messages

KDKA Launches Commercial Broadcasting

October 27, 1920 the U.S. Department of Commerce used the powers of the Radio Act of 1912 to license KDKA as the nations first commercial station

The Radio Audience Expands Quickly

In 1922 Americans spent $60 million on receivers

More than 500 stations began broadcasting in 1922

The Radio Act of 1912 would accept commercial sponsors

o Blanket Licensing

In 1923 the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) sued several stations for payment, claiming that broadcasting ASCAP licensed music on the radio meant that people would buy less sheet music

o Commercial Sponsorship

The success of commercial sponsorship was a way to support radio

Station WEAF in New York charged $100 for every 10 minutes

The cost of airing programs was solved

Congress Regulates Radio

The Radio Act of 1927 formed the Federal Radio Commission under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce

Limitations of air space required government regulation

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was formed in 1934 to regulate the expanding wireless medium

War of the Worlds

October