Radio in the United States
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Like Edison's phonograph, radio was first conceived as a business tool--a talking telegraph. But even in the early ham days, when would-be broadcasters would first distribute crystal sets to their neighbors, some had more poetic ideas--a San Jose buff was airing live and recorded music as early as 1909. By 1926, when there were already Tin Pan Alley songsmiths who limited their melodies to the five notes early receivers could handle, David Sarnoff, who'd first proposed a "radio music box" in 1916, had assembled the NBC network. Much of the networks' allure, however, lay in the access they afforded to swank (and costly) metropolitan entertainment as it happened--stars live in your living room, big bands playing big hotels. Only in 1941, when the federal government--which back in 1922 had allotted the choicest frequencies to operators who promised not to broadcast records--moved to break the power of the networks, was the stage set for the small local stations whose need for cheap programming would soon transform disc jockeys into tastemaking local celebrities. And in those days, local celebrities played local music--including all the insurgent folk-pop BMI had had the luck or vision to exploit. -- A Dozen Moments in the Prehistory of Rock () by Robert Christgau |
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Radio is one of the major mass media of the United States.
The beginning of regular commercially-licensed sound broadcasting in the United States in 1920 ended the print monopoly over the media and opened the doors to the more immediate and pervasive electronic media. By 1928, the United States had three national radio networks - two owned by NBC (the National Broadcasting Company), and one by CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System). Until 1943, there were four major national radio networks: two owned by NBC, one owned by CBS, and one owned by Mutual Broadcasting System. The NBC's second network became ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.
Though mostly listened to for entertainment, radio's instant, on-the-spot reports of dramatic events drew huge audiences throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the potential of radio to reach the American public, and during his four terms (1933-1945), his radio "fireside chats" informed the nation on the progress of policies to counter the Depression and on developments during World War II.
After World War II, television's visual images replaced the audio-only limitation of radio as the predominant entertainment and news vehicle. Radio adapted to the new situation by replacing entertainment programs with schedules of music interspersed with news and features, a freeform format adopted by NBC when it launched its popular weekend-long Monitor in 1955. During the 1950s, automobile manufacturers began offering car radios as standard accessories, and radio received a big boost as Americans tuned in their car radios as they drove to and from work.
The expansion and dominance of FM radio, which has better sound quality but a more limited range than traditional AM, represented the major technical change in radio in the 1970s and 1980s. FM radio, aided by the invention of ever smaller portable radios and inexpensive "Walkman" headsets, dominates music programs, while AM has shifted to "talk" and news formats. Barely in existence 25 years ago, "talk radio," in which celebrities and experts from various fields answer listener "call-in" questions and offer their advice on various topics, has grown spectacularly in recent years. It has contributed to the comeback of AM radio. Both FM and AM radio have become increasingly specialized. Music formats, for instance, comprise a variety of specializations -- the top five in 1991 being "country and western," "adult contemporary," "top 40," "religious" and "oldies."
In an era in which TV is clearly the glamour medium, the reach of radio is still extensive. Ninety-nine percent of American households in 1999 had at least one radio; the average is five per household. Every day, radio reaches 80 percent of the U.S. population at one time or another. Revenues more than doubled from $8.4 billion in 1990 to more than $17 billion in 2000.
In 1998, the number of U.S. commercial radio stations had grown to 4,793 AM stations and 5,662 FM stations. In addition, there are 1,460 public radio stations in the United States. Most of these stations are run by universities and public authorities for educational purposes and are financed by public and/or private funds, subscriptions and some underwriting. NPR (National Public Radio) was incorporated in February 1970 under the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act. NPR was created to provide leadership in national newsgathering and production and to act as a permanent nationwide interconnection of noncommercial stations.
Until the 1980s, most commercial radio stations were affiliated to the large networks, such as Capital Cities/ABC, CBS, Mutual Network, NBC, and others. NBC sold its radio network in 1988. Mutual was purchased by Westwood One. Capital Cities/ABC, later sold to Disney, reduced gradually its radio operations. Nowadays, most commercial radio stations are controlled by media conglomerates like Clear Channel Communications, Infinity Broadcasting and many others.
A new form of radio that is gaining popularity is satellite radio. The two biggest subscriptions based radio services are Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Unlike terrestrial radio music channels, most channels feature few or no commercials. Satellite radio is not regulated by the FCC.
