Radio
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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- The technology that allows for the transmission of sound.
- A device that can capture (receive) the signal sent over radio waves and render the modulated signal as sound.
Radio is a broadcasting mass medium which enjoyed its greates popularity from the 1920s until the 1950s, when it was diplaced by television.
Radio which had enjoyed mainstream popularity since the 1920s spawned some important musical tastemakers. In no particular order: Electrifying Mojo, Frankie Crocker, Gilles Peterson, The Disco Sucks DJs, The Hot Mix 5 and Alan Freed
Mass medium (1920s - 1950s)
The 1920s saw the rise of broadcast radio as an entertainment medium. In the 1950s television replaces radio as the dominant mass medium in industrialized countries.
Old-Time Radio (OTR) and the Golden Age of Radio are phrases used to refer to American radio programs mainly broadcast during the 1920s through the late 1950s when music radio started to supplant it.
Before the expansion of television in the early 1950s, radio was the most popular home entertainment avenue throughout the United States. With the rise of the movie industry, America's appetite for mass entertainment grew. As with films, early radio shows reflected vaudeville origins with cornpone gags and ethnic humor interspersed between song numbers. As the medium matured, sophistication increased. During the 1930s radio featured genres and formats popular in other forms of American entertainment -- adventure, comedy, drama, horror, mystery, musical variety, romance, thrillers -- along with classical music concerts, dance band remotes, farm reports, news and commentary, panel discussions, quiz shows, sidewalk interviews, sports broadcasts, talent shows and weather forecasts.
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