6. Radio

Richard E. Caplan The University of Akron Christopher Burnett California State, Long Beach

Radio’s Pervasive Presence

• 99% of homes have radio • 95% of cars have radio – 4 out of 5 adults listen • 40% listen between 6 am and midnight • 7% of bathrooms have radio • More than 3000 stations Webcast on Internet • An everyday accessory

Radio Takes a Technological Leap

• Telegraph and Telephone • Radio’s Revolution – Heinrich Hertz, 1887 • Wireless Breakthrough – Guglielmo Marconi, 1890s • Experimental Broadcasts – Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, 1906 • Detecting Radio Waves – Lee De Forest’s Audion, 1907 • Radio for the People – David Sarnoff’s predictions

Policing the Airwaves

• Regulated media • Radio Act of 1912 – Licensing – Limited frequencies • World War I – Govt. took over all radio • RCA 1919 – Govt. approved private monopoly – David Sarnoff, general manager, 1921

Development of Radio

• Early Experimental Stations – Pioneers broadcasting to each other • KDKA Pittsburgh, 1920 – Nation’s first commercial radio station – One hour each night • Expansion – Profitability encouraged radio craze

Radio Expansion

• ASCAP, 1923 – Blanket licensing of music broadcast over radio • Commercial sponsors – WEAF, New York, sold advertising – Caught on quickly • Regulation – Radio Act of 1927 – Federal Radio Commission – Federal Communication Commission, 1934 • Granted frequency licenses

David Sarnoff

Illustration 6.1

Where do people listen?

Radio Becomes Powerful Force

• New kind of national experience • Cultural, political force • Sponsored programming – Comedy – Music – Serials – Drama – News • Formats migrated to television later

“War of the Worlds”

• Orson Welles,

Mercury Theater

• October 30, 1939 • Aired dramatized version of H.G. Wells “War of the Worlds” as a live news broadcast • People thought it was really happening • Challenged Radio’s Credibility

Orson Welles

Creation of Radio Networks

• David Sarnoff, NBC, 1926 – Red and Blue Networks • William S. Paley, CBS, 1929 – 25 stations • NBC-Blue becomes ABC, 1943, Edward J. Noble – $8 million sale • Three original radio networks lasted until 1980

Radio in the TV Era

• The FCC Recognizes FM – Edwin H. Armstrong – Clearer sound, 1939 • Disc Jockeys & BMI • • Format Radio – Gordon McLendon, 1950s • Clock and Car Radios – Drive-time audience

Payola and Talk Show Scandals

– –

Play for pay, 1960s, Alan Freed Don Imus, 2007

Radio in a TV Era

• Less prominent role after TV • Currently about 12,000 stations – Half FM, half AM • Play music more than network programming • Radio

group

– Company owns stations in more than one market • Radio

combo

– Company owns AM and FM stations in the same market

Working in Radio

• • General Manager – Runs the station • Program Manager – Runs programming content • Account Executives – Ad sales • Traffic People – Scheduling ads, billing • Production People • Engineers • Administrative People Info and Careers

Radio since the ‘70s

Click on image to play video

• Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 – Created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – National Public Radio 1970 – NPR link • Telecommunications Act of 1996 – Deregulation – Removed ownership limits – Allowed

cross ownership

– Prompted consolidation

Radio Ratings

• Arbitron – Only company doing radio ratings • Average Quarter-hour – Average number of people listening for five minutes in any given fifteen minutes • Cume – Estimate of the unduplicated audience • Ratings – Estimate of the percentage of the total populations listening to a particular radio station • Share – Estimate of the percentage of the people listening to radio that are listening to a particular radio station

Radio Depends on Ready-Made Formats

1. News/Talk • Larry King, Rush Limbaugh 2. Adult Contemporary 3. Contemporary Hit/Top 40 4. Country 5. Spanish Language 6. Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) • Modern rock/oldies/love songs 7. Middle of the Road (MOR) 8. Religious

Illustration 6.2

Most Popular Formats

Audience & Income

• Narrowcasting – Targeted audience • Digital audio broadcast • Internet radio • • DBS radio or RDBS – Direct broadcast satellite radio • New kind of Payola, 2005 – “Promotions” packages

Satellite splits radio income

– Advertising dominance declines

Illustration 6.3

Satellite Digital Radio

Critical Discussion

1. Did CBS Radio do the right thing in 2007 in firing talk host Don Imus for making racially insensitive remarks about the Rutgers basketball team? When does free speech outweigh racial sensitivity?

2. Will subscription radio services overtake traditional over the air broadcast radio? Why or why not?