The Information Age began with the invention of the Telegraph and Telephone. These innovations led directly to the next important technological break-through—the arrival of commercial radio. Almost immediately, radio focused on listeners as consumers and the developing consumer culture, which would be replicated later with television, motion pictures, and most recently, the Internet. Radio transformed people's lives, changing the way living space was arranged, shaping family dynamics and leisure time, and reinforcing the ideals of the growing consumer culture.
Throughout its history, radio has not only been a driving force in American popular culture, but has basically provided the soundtrack for people's lives. Despite the all-encompassing influence of television, movies, and the Internet, radio remains at the core of the public's being. While some listeners tune in for music (spanning the spectrum from classic rock to rap) and others for talk (politics, sports, culture, and religion), radio continues to be a central component in shaping lives—musically, spiritually, politically, and culturally.
Early Days
Radio pioneers built on the success of telegraph and telephone inventors to conduct experiments with wire-based and wireless radio. Heinrich Hertz and Guglielmo Marconi carried out groundbreaking work. In 1901, Marconi gained international fame by sending a message across the Atlantic Ocean via wireless telephony. Early triumphs spurred greater advances. By the 1910s, Lee De Forest broadcast music and voice from his lab in New York. Early advocates championed the use of radio as an emergency device, citing how it was used when the Titanic sank in 1912 or during World War I (1914–1918).
In November 1920, Pittsburgh's station KDKA initiated America's first radio broadcast. Operated by the Westinghouse Corporation, KDKA was set up to en-courage radio sales. Other large companies followed suit, including the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and the phone company AT&T. Within two years, more than 500 stations were clogging the airwaves. The federal government stepped in to regulate radio stations with the Radio Act of 1927, which established the Federal Radio Commission to license stations. The need for regulating the entire telecommunications industry later led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to support the Communications Act of 1934, which established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Radio stations first sold advertising in 1922 at New York station WEAF. In 1926 and 1927, NBC (NBC-Red and NBC-Blue) and CBS were founded as national radio stations, although there were 700 other stations on the air at the time. Along with the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS), these stations controlled the airwaves for most of radio's heyday. Since RCA owned both NBC stations, it was ordered by the FCC to divest one. In 1943, NBC-Blue became ABC.
Golden Age
The period leading up to the introduction of television is considered radio's Golden Age. Radio transformed people's lives from the late 1920s to late 1940s by providing news and entertainment to anyone who could afford a receiver. Specific audience-friendly programming was introduced to lure listeners, from half-hour sitcoms to daytime dramas and music programs. Radio had a grip on the nation's psyche, as seen on Halloween 1938 when Orson Welles narrated a dramatization of the book War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. A panic ensued when listeners believed the news that invaders from Mars were attacking the world, despite many disclaimers that were run throughout the broadcast.
The national networks solidified their hold during the Golden Age. Local stations lost their monopolistic control over programming and as network affiliates, were contractually obliged to play the shows emanating from the larger stations. The networks delivered more sophisticated programs and made national stars of performers such as Will Rogers and Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, better known as Amos 'n' Andy, the most popular show in America by 1929. The networks played an important cultural role, since they delivered the same programming nationwide. Radio helped promote national values and attitudes, making radio one of the few threads that tied the entire nation together. By the late 1940s, more than 90 percent of the homes in the nation had at least one radio and Americans spent more leisure time listening to the radio than doing anything else other than sleeping.
As radio developed, the kind of programs it offered changed as well. Action series, such as The Shadow and The Green Hornet, helped define how people thought about law enforcement. The medium endorsed a hero culture to listeners, from broadcasting the heroic efforts of baseball's Babe Ruth to the intergalactic exploits of Flash Gordon.
Radio had a tremendous impact on politics and journalism. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the radio to mobilize support for his New Deal programs in "fireside chats" with the American people. As World War II (1939– 1945) loomed, the president used the radio to stoke the public's patriotic fever. Once the war began, correspondents, such as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and Eric Sevareid, delivered reports from the European front-lines, forever changing reporting and in essence inventing broadcast journalism.
During World War II, most people experienced the war most forcefully through radio. In addition to the breaking news, presidential reports, and reports from the frontlines, celebrities used radio to pitch for war bonds and plead for scrap metal drives and other resources. Paper shortages during wartime limited the influence of newspapers. Radio stations stepped into this void and provided a mix of news, reports, and patriotic messages that listeners craved.
Advertisers realized the power of radio and poured money into commercials. In 1928, radio garnered less than 1 percent of all advertising. By 1945, however, radio commanded 15 percent. In 1948, sponsors spent more than $400 million on radio advertising. The financial growth of radio was mimicked by the expansion of stations themselves. In 1930 there were 600 amplitude modulation (AM) stations. A decade later, the figure jumped to 765. But by 1948, it more than doubled to 1,612.
Radio in the Television Age
Frequency modulation (FM) radio developed in the late 1930s, when E. Howard Armstrong searched for a way to broadcast without the static common on AM dials. The AM dial also became overcrowded during radio's Golden Age. Inventors looked for an alternative to mainstream radio, which coincided with the anticommercialism of the 1960s.
The decade's youth culture helped spur the growth of FM stations. Listeners were antitelevision and anticonformity and could find a similar rebelliousness in the songs and programs on FM radio. Progressive rock stations took root in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston, eliminating advertising jingles and the antics of AM disc jockeys.
Gradually, the FM dial went through the same commercial transformation that occurred with AM. Initially, the networks started exerting their influence on FM, attempting to maintain a delicate balance between commercialism and FM's underground roots. By the end of the 1970s, however, the demand for profits and fall of the counterculture movement made FM radio look just like its AM predecessor, with the large networks squeezing out the remnants of the underground heritage. Revenues at FM stations, under $20 million in 1964, hit $284 million a decade later. There were more than 2,300 stations on air in 1972, but 3,700 by 1976. In 1977, FM revenues topped $543 million, but programming was done by committee and depended on computerization. An assembly line mentality took hold and the same rotations of hit songs were played over and over.
Modern Radio
Modern radio is far removed from its origins. At one time, pioneering entrepreneurs influenced radio and introduced diversity into programming. At the end of the twentieth century, corporate conglomerates governed the industry and a general uniformity had befallen radio. Despite the homogeneity of modern radio, however, its influence is still strong. By 2000, there were more than 12,000 AM and FM stations broadcast, with much of the programming distributed by satellite networks.
The cookie-cutter mentality at most radio stations from the 1980s onward led to the rise of talk radio, from National Public Radio (NPR) to political and sportsoriented shows. Talk radio opened the airwaves to a variety of voices and made celebrities of hosts like Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, and Diane Rehm. Stern, in particular, gained notoriety as a "shock jock." His show is syndicated via satellite nationwide and features racy bits and an in-your-face attitude that launched a slew of imitators. The number of stations with all-talk or news and talk format topped 850 in 1994, and talk radio placed second among popular formats, with country music at the top.
The domination of the radio industry by large corporations was helped by the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which eliminated restrictions on radio ownership. Before, companies could only own two stations in any single market and 28 nationwide. All this changed after the Telecom Act passed. For example, as of 2002, Clear Channel Radio was the largest operator of radio stations in the United States with more than 1,350 stations and reaching 110 million listeners every week. Clear Channel also syndicated more than 100 programs to 7,800 stations, including Rush Limbaugh, sports talk leader Jim Rome, and Casey Kasem. Nearly half (625) of Clear Channel's radio stations were purchased in the 1999 Jacor acquisition.
The Telecom Act pushed radio acquisitions into overdrive. The feeding frenzy, driven by an influx of Wall Street money, enabled a handful of conglomerates to take control of the industry. Although radio is now more profitable, critics rebuke the conglomerates for forcing staid, automated music and formats on listeners, as well as for the elimination of countless radio jobs. Regardless of its shortcomings, however, radio continues to attract listeners and frames the way people think about music, sports, politics, and culture. In 2001, there were nearly 13,000 stations in the United States, which reached 77 percent of the people over 12 years old every day and 95 percent of consumers weekly.
Bibliography
Barnouw, Erik. A History of Broadcasting in the United States. 3 Vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966–1970.
Douglas, Susan J. Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination, from Amos 'n' Andy and Edward R. Murrow to Wolfman Jack and Howard Stern. New York: Times Books, 1999.
Keith, Michael C. Talking Radio: An Oral History of American Radio in the Television Age. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2000.
MacDonald, J. Fred. Don't Touch That Dial! Radio Programming in American Life, 1920–1960. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979.
