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Radio History

MIT2000

Early Radio: Main Themes

1. Wired/Wireless

2. Bi-directional: one to one

3. Uni-directional

1. Central transmitter to passive receivers

2. “broadcasting”

4. Public interest/commercial interest

5. Culture/Community Formation

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Radio/Technology

1. Radio waves 1. electro-magnetic energy,

radiating in waves

2. Heinrich Hertz (1888) 1. lab experiments2. ‘telegraph without wires’

(Hertzian waves)

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Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937)

1. Land-Ship2. Trans-Atlantic signal

(1901)3. Marconi Wireless

Telegraph & Signal Co1. trans-Atlantic2. first commercial

service

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Reginald Fessenden (1866-1932)

1. first voice transmission1. “radiotelephone”(1900)

2. Shore-to-ship “broadcast” 1906

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Early “Radio-Telegraph”

1. Morse Code2. Shipping/distress calls3. Titanic (1912)4. Simultaneity of

Experience5. Worldwide Network

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Amateur Radio

1. Technical expertise

1. home-made radio sets

2. Exploratory listening-distance

3. Middle-class boys/men

4. Unregulated frequencies

5. Bi-directional

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Amateur Radio

1. Pranks1. “All Titanic Passengers

Safe”

2. Obscene/false message

3. Lots of radio traffic

4. Radio Act of 1912 (US)

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World War I (1914-18)

1. Military control1. Naval/ Shell-spotting

2. Ban citizen use

2. Post-1918, oppose: 1. amateur uses

2. foreign ownership

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Early Broadcast Radio

1. One-to-one: 1. DXing, 1920-19242. Voice/sound

2. One-to-many: Broadcasting1. (Telephone “Broadcasters”)

3. Frank Conrad/KDKA, 19204. XWA, Montreal, 19205. RCA, 1921

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Early Radio

1. 1921: 2 radio stations

2. 1925: 100s in US/CDA1. Dept stores; churches

newspapers; universities

2. Non-commercial origins

3. Public interest/limited spectrum

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Network Radio: AT&T (1925)

1. 25-station network 1. long distance lines

2. sell time on transmitters, “air time,” to advertisers

3. purchase blocks/ provide own programming

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Content/Culture: Commercial Radio

NBC (1926-) public service high-brow non-sponsored

programming Symphony

theatre, etc.

CBS (1928-) more advertising ad agencies

produce shows soaps; crime

dramas “lowest common

denominator”

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Programming

1. Music: classical & dance bands (Tommy Dorsey)

2. Variety Shows: (Bob Hope)

3. Drama1. daytime serial –”Guiding Light”

2. evening anthology: “Mercury Theater on the Air”

4. Children’s Shows

5. Comedy: “Li'l Abner”; “Amos ‘n’ Andy”

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Radio as Mass Medium, ca. 1935

US Private ownership

(NBC, CBS) Advertising-

supported Popular fare

UK BBC: government-

run monopoly Taxes, license fees High-brow/cultural

uplift

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Radio in Canada

1. Radio-Telegraph Act, 1913

2. Dept. Marine & Fisheries

3. XWA, first license (1919)

4. $1 licence fee per set

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CDN Radio

1. 1928: 60 stations

2. low power; intermittent service

3. Roy Thomson, CFCH

4. minimal regulations

5. diverse ownership

6. selling radio sets

1. Edward S. Rogers

7. Entertainment/Commercial

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Networking: CNR Radio Dept

1. first network, mid-1920s

2. concerts, operas, plays, health talks, grain price reports

3. 3 hours weekly, 1929

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US Radio in CDA

1. Radio-wave interference

2. US listening (80%)1. NBC w/ Montreal affiliate

3. Can CDN radio compete?

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Road to Public Ownership

1. Royal Commission on Broadcasting, 1928-29

2. Canadian Radio League, 1930

3. Graham Spry4. “The State or the United

States”

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Aird Commission Recommendations, 1929

1. state broadcasting organization, modelled on BBC

2. foster national spirit/citizenship

3. nationalize private radio stations, with compensation

4. ‘defensive expansionism’

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, 1932

1. State monopoly on network broadcasting

2. Extend radio coverage 3. Produce/transmit programs4. Purchase/construct

stations/transmitters5. CRBC stations//private

stations6. Partisanship

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Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1936

1. More autonomy

2. Assured funding

3. Dual function

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CBC: Carrier/Content

1. 8 stations; 16 private affiliates

2. Strong transmitters

3. US/UK shows (entertainment, talk)

4. Canadian content 1. “The Happy Gang”; NHL;

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“The Barrelman”

1. Joey Smallwood

2. NFLD Folk Tradition

3. ethnic nationalism

4. ‘foreign’ consumerism

5. “imagined community”

6. modernity

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“Peculiar Hybrid” of CDN Radio

Commercial interest Corporate power NBC/CBS

Low-Brow Culture Entertainment Advertising-

supported

Public Interest “The State” BBC/CBC

High-Brow Culture Educational Tax/license fee

supported

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Midterm Exam: 23 Feb, 7-9pm

Section 1 (5X5 =25 points) Identify/Significance of 5 of 8 terms, concepts

Section 2 15 multiple choice questions (15 points)

2 hours Closed Book Covers Lectures and Readings

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Sample Question: “The State or the United States”

Graham Spry; chairman Canadian Radio League

early 1930s lobby for Aird Commission recommendations re: public broadcasting

McChesney article culminate in 1932; est. of Canadian Radio

Broadcasting Commission

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“The State or the United States”

State: government as bulwark against US broadcasting which predated broadcasting in Canada

high culture/ low culture Canadian sovereignty /US

cultural/economic imperialism