broadcast history

1. 1
Broadcasting:
History of Broadcast Media

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History: Inventors
• Early inventors and inventions paved the
way for the electronic mass media
• James Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz
demonstrated the existence of
electromagnetic radiation

3. 3
History: Inventors
WIRELESS BREAKTHROUGH:
Guglielmo Marconi
- used the results discoveries by Morse, Hertz and
Bell to expand his idea that messages should be
able to travel across space without a wire.
- he could ring a bell across the room or
downstairs without using a wire and able to
broadcast over a distance of nine miles.

4. 4
History: Inventors
- ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore communication
- dots and dashes (Morse code) aka
telegraphy
- two experimenters, Reginald Aubrey
Fessenden and Lee de Forest, advanced
Marconi’s discovery to create today’s radio
- Eventually he developed a powerful
wireless business history.

5. 5
History: Inventors
EXPERIMENTAL BROADCASTS:
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden
- began wireless experiments in United States in 1900
when he set up his National Electric Signaling
Company to attempt sending voices by radio waves.
- his 1906 experiment is considered the world’s first
voice and music broadcast.
- Violin music – Bible reading – New Year’s wish –
signed off

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History: Inventors
DETECTING RADIO WAVES:
Lee de Forest
- he called himself ‘the father of radio’ because in 1907 he
perfected a glass bulb called ‘Audion’ that could detect
waves (plus weak waves)
- Before ‘Audion’, crystal set is used to transmit signals –
can detect only strong radio waves
- ‘Audion’ became the foundation of modern radio
broadcasting.

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History of Broadcast Media
Early History (1840’s – 1900’s)
1844 – First transmission by Morse
1861 – transcontinental high speed electric
comm system coded msg
1858 – 1st transatlantic cable
1870 – undersea cables linked western
world
1876 – replacement of Morse code, voice
transmission by wire

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History of Broadcast Media
1864 – Marconi’s experiment succeed –
wireless voice transmission
1896 – Marconi formed company to
manufacture and sell his device
1901 – Marconi transmitted wireless signals
across the Atlantic
- Fessenden & Lee De Forest – set stage
for radio broadcasting
- Lee De Forest – Father of Radio, created
Audion tube

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History of Broadcast Media
1912 – Sarnoff demonstrated the importance
of radio
1912 – Titanic disaster
1913 – Marconi dominated radio in Europe
& US
WWI – radio become the medium for
shipping, business, military comm
1920 – Westinghouse began broadcasting
from Pittsburgh

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History of Broadcast Media
1922 - beginning of 1922, there were 28
stations actively broadcasting
At the end of 1922, there were 570 stations
Signals interference became a major
headache
Radio was commercialized
Until 1940 – AM frequencies

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Radio Goes to War
• During the First World War, the Navy took
control of all radio operations in the U.S.
• The Navy assumed all responsibility for
patent infringement and installed radio
equipment in all of its ships.
• By the end of the war, technology had
advanced rapidly as a result of the Navy’s
actions.

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The Birth of RCA
• Radio Corporation of America was
formed after the war
– Took controlling interest of the American
Marconi company
– Parent company was the General Electric
Company
– Was in the business of point-to-point
communication- this was before
broadcasting became popular

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The Birth of RCA
• RCA entered into a cross-licensing
scheme to solve the patent problems
• The RCA agreement allowed GE, AT&T
and Westinghouse to take advantage of
each others’ discoveries
– GE and Westinghouse would manufacture
radio equipment, RCA would sell it and AT&T
would build transmitters

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Broadcasting’s Beginnings
• Radio burst on the scene in the 1920s
because:
– Thousands of hobbyists were trained in radio
during the war
– Technological improvements made during the
war gave radio better reception
– Business interests began to realize that
broadcasting might make money

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Broadcasting Gets Some Rules
• The Radio Act of 1927 made some key
assumptions
– The radio spectrum was a national resource.
Individuals could not own frequencies
– Licensees would have to operate in the public
interest

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Radio Act
Radio Act 1912 – licensing for transmitters
Radio Act 1927 – Federal Radio
Commission formed and define:
- Broadcast band
- Standardized frequency designations
- Limit the number of stations operating at
night

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Radio Act
1926 – Radio Corp of America (RCA) setup
radio network named National
Broadcasting Corp (NBC) to share
programming costs. Change to American
Broadcasting Corp (ABC)
1928 – Competition from Columbia
Broadcasting Systems (CBS)

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Radio Act
By 1927
• The Radio Act 1927:
- Reduced radio frequency overlap and
interference
- Assigned licenses for frequencies
• Ads more dominant
• WWII – info for war
• Towards the end, entertainment dominates
radio – radio drama

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Radio
After WWII
1933 – Invention of FM radio
1940 – FM stations expand
1948 – more than 600 FM stations licensed
TV viewing becomes a phenomenal

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Radio
1960
- Economic growth for radio
- Phenomenal growth for FM radio
- Advertising revenue increased slowly
- Network radio stabilized
Mid 1960’s – more than 50% FM stations operated
1965 – AM & FM combinations in cities cannot duplicate
more than 50% of other station’s programming

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Radio
The role of radio changed with the advent of
TV
1940’s – 1960’s
- Intro of radio formats
- Intro of reliable clock and car radios

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Radio
• SCOPE OF RADIO TODAY
Organization and industrial structures
- From national to local
- From wide range to limited program
Content
- Issue oriented
Functions
- in-house to mobility
Style
- Content and programming
- Varieties for listeners

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Television
Audio + visual
Marconi – eliminated sound dependence on
wires and put sound on airwaves
De Forest – contributed ‘Audion’ which
amplified better audio quality
1927 – 2 inch screen by wire experimented
1928 – first dramatic production produced –
The Queen’s Messenger

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Television
Zworykin – developed an all electronic system to
transform visual image to an electronic signal
Zworykin – developed ‘iconoscope’, the eye of
electronic TV camera
1930 – Zworykin patented electronic scanner
Farnsworth – developed cathode ray tube to
reproduced better electronic image
Zworykin & Farnsworth – method of scanning for basis
of modern TV

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Television
1930’s – experimental TV stations went on air
1940’s – TV began to conquest
1945 – Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) resumed TV licensing. 10 stations
were on air
1947 – CBS initiated news plus pictures

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Television
War – interrupted the development of commercial TV
system
After WWII :
- Growth of TV viewing
- Shifting from radio - television
1948
- Network programming
- More stations
- Freeze on new TV stations application
- TV programming developed
- Dominant news and entertainment medium

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Television
• Early developers of network TV came from
radio and theater practitioner
• Programs originally featured from radio
programming – variety show
• Early TV programming – comedy
dominated TV programming (1940’s -
1954)

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Television
1954 – Color TV sets introduced
1960’s – TV developed as a force in American
society – political aspect
Programs especially sitcom and drama – begin to
hit critical point of social issues
Main events in 60’s TV:
- Vietnam war
- Assassination & funeral of Kennedy
- Civil rights movement
- Apollo 11 – moon landing

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Television
• Period of growth
- Networks – more popular in early 1970’s
- Sitcom – shift to adult themes
- 1975 – prime time drama
- 1980 – soap opera
- Viewing level – increased
- Criticism – TV impact & role on society

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Television
• Changes for TV
1975 – 1999 : great changes in TV industry
Competition:
- cable TV become player
- Satellite replace wires
- VCR as alternative
Mergers:
- Companies merged reshaped broadcasting
landscape

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Television
Public TV:
- Introduced in 1967
- Owned by universities, school boards,
state govt, community organization
- Issues: Educational? General appeal?
Minority interests?

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Television
Programming:
- Shift of programming trends – prime time
continuing episodes, sitcom
- CNN began in 1980 & prompted other
networks to expand their services
- 1990 – newsmagazine program

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Television
Technology
1970’s – Prod equipment become smaller & handy
1970’s – 1980’s – TVRO in rural areas
1980’s – development of Satellite News Gathering
(SNG)
1990’s – Direct Satellite Broadcast (DBS) to send
programming
1990’s – Internet and www
Satellite TV, Cable TV & Videocassette players
(1960’s – 1970’s)

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Radio’s Period of Adjustment
• TV has an impact on radio
– It completely changed radio network
broadcasting
– Radio stations began to turn to specialized
audiences
– TV brought the radio and record industry
closer
– Radio stations became more dependent on
local revenue

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Television’s Growth Curve: 1953-
1962

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Technological Advances
• Electronic News Gathering (ENG) revolutionizes
TV coverage
• Satellite News Gathering extends the ability to
broadcast from nearly anywhere in the world
• Emergence of the Internet and World Wide Web
• Emergence of satellite radio

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Broadcasting in the 21st Century
• Tough economic times have effected the
electronic media
• TV broadcasting went to an all digital
system in 2009
• TV and radio can now be accessed
on iPods and cell phones