up to this point, wireless was seen as point to point
|
| what happens as another philosophy emerges? |
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| 1919 - 1920 - Frank Conrad (American) |
Westinghouse engineer
|
puts a microphone in front of a phonograph in his garage
|
a hobby - 2 hour transmissions on Wednesday and Sunday evenings
|
some talk, music, news
|
people write in requesting music!
|
who was listening?!
|
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A Pittsburgh department store advertises wireless sets (in the newspaper!)
|
Westinghouse starts to see the revenue potential
|
| 1920 - builds a radio station - KDKA |
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| "broadcasting" |
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| point to mass |
| AM - amplitude modulation |
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| 1912 Radio Act |
transmissions required a government license
|
specified wavelength, power and hours of operation
|
not a problem when wireless was point to point
|
but, in 1920 only one wavelength was available
|
by 1921, a second was added and in 1922 a third
|
| |
| radio was catching on |
| January 1, 1922- 30 licenses - 100,000 receivers sold |
| May 1, 1922 - 218 licenses |
| March 1, 1923 - 576 licenses - 550,000 receivers sold |
(doesn't count homemade sets)
|
| |
Interference was increasing |
Herbert Hoover, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor (the person who issued licenses) was concerned
|
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| 1922 - First National Radio Conference |
clarified government role in regulation (technical not content)
|
proposed that radio should operate in the public interest
|
what does that mean?
|
| since not everyone who wants to broadcast can do so, those who do get to broadcast must broadcast not only in their own interests but also in the interests of those who don't get to broadcast |
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| 1923 - Hoover v. Intercity Radio |
Hoover had denied Intercity Radio a license, the courts said that he didn't have that authority
|
impact?
|
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1923-5 three more National Radio Conferences, but not much gets done |
| |
| 1926 United States v. Zenith |
Zenith knowingly violated the terms of its license, said the license was too restrictive
|
the Court agrees and essentially nullifies the power of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor
|
impact?
|
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| 1927 - Radio Act of 1927 |
Congress creates the Federal Radio Commission (FRC)
|
mandate is to figure out how to regulate radio
|
spectrum scarcity and the public interest
|
seven years of work and many court cases later...
|
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| 1934 - Communications Act of 1934 |
Congress establishes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
|
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As the 1920s were unfolding, what did radio look like? |
competing philosophies
|
| |
| 1. Radio Group |
headed up by Westinghouse and its flagship station WJZ in New York City
|
the chief aim of radio is to sell receivers
|
how do you do that?
|
| key question - what will attract people to radio so much that they will want to buy a radio receiver? |
| role: entertainment! |
| |
2. Telephone Group |
headed up by AT&T and its flagship station WEAF in New York City
|
radio should be "toll broadcasting"
|
radio as a common carrier (like the phone system)
|
anyone can lease time on a telephone group station and provide their own content
|
who would be interested in doing that?
|
| |
| role: information and education |
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| which philosophy would win? |
Radio Group (with shorter advertisements)
|
today, radio sells audiences to advertisers
|
| |
who owned radio stations? |
in 1923 40% were owned by radio dealers/manufacturers
|
13% by educational institutions
|
12% by newspapers
|
5% by department stores
|
2% by churches
|
the beginnings of Christian broadcasting
|
| |
| how did radio diffuse? |
early radios were expensive
|
however, they were cheap to make at home
|
| 1921 1 in every 500 American households had a radio |
| 1926 1 in every 6 American households had a radio |
radio diffused across all classes and geographic locations
|
| |
by 1926, AT&T wanted out of radio |
sells WEAF and other stations to RCA and agrees to leave the broadcasting field
|
| |
| RCA now owns two groups (chain broadcasting, networks) |
which two?
|
the Westinghouse Radio Group (recall Westinghouse is part owner of RCA)
|
and the Telephone Group
|
| |
| RCA wants to create a new company to run both networks |
| 1926 forms the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) |
NBC Red - the old AT&T group (WEAF)
|
NBC Blue - the old radio group (WJZ)
|
| |
NBC growth |
| 1927 - the Red has 22 affiliates, the Blue has 6 |
what is an affiliate?
|
| 1933 - the Red has 28 affiliates, the Blue has 24 |
the best of the best
|
note: David Sarnoff becomes President of RCA in 1930
|
| |
| 1926 - Arthur Judson is a talent agent who can't get his talent booked on NBC |
decides to start his own network - the United Independent Broadcasters (UIB)
|
shaky financing
|
looks like failure until...
|
the Columbia Phonograph Company gets interested
|
why?
|
| 1927 Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System ("Phonograph" dropped later that year) - CBS |
William S. Paley would own CBS until 1977
|
| |
| 1928 - 17 affiliates |
| 1933 - 91 affiliates! |
but, NBC had the best stations and the best talent
|
| |
1930s - the Depression years, NBC and CBS dominate |
"the Golden Age of Radio"
|
| |
| 1934 - Mutual forms as the fourth network |
has trouble competing
|
a marketing coup - getting exclusive rights to the 1938 World Series
|
a problem - Mutual doesn't have affiliates in all markets
|
offers rights to NBC or CBS stations in unaffiliated markets
|
| |
| the response?! |
| |
as a result, some cities don't get the broadcast of the 1938 World Series
|
| |
| impact? |
1938 - inquiry into chain broadcasting
|
| |
1941 Report on Chain Broadcasting (FCC)
|
key provisions
|
1. non-exclusivity (affiliates can carry non-network programming)
|
2. pre-emption rights (affliates could pre-empt network programming)
|
| |
why? the license holder, not the network is responsible for broadcasting in the public interest
|
| |
3. duopoly rule - "no license shall be issued to a standard broadcast (AM) station affiliated with a network organization which maintains more than one network"
|
what does this mean?
|
| |
| NBC and CBS sue |
| |
| 1943 - Court agrees with the FCC |
| |
| NBC is forced to sell one of its networks |
| |
| 1943 - NBC Blue is sold to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) |
| |
| this brings us to World War II |
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