Page 1
1.
The telegraph had significant limitations as a means of communicating between ships
because _____, making it useless for anyone seeking to communicate with ships at sea.
A)
its signal was too weak to travel across bodies of water
B)
the telegraph signal was distorted by the electromagnetic spectrum
C)
telegraph equipment was too cumbersome to be used aboard ship
D)
it depended on wires
2.
Marconi realized that developing a way to send high-speed messages over great
distances would transform communication, _____.
A)
commercial shipping, and the military
B)
gossip, and shipping
C)
advertising, and the military
D)
entertainment, and ads
3.
The person credited with making the first voice broadcast is ______.
A)
Heinrich Hertz
B)
Guglielmo Marconi
C)
Lee De Forest
D)
Reginald Fessenden
4.
The ______ was important to radio technology because it allowed radio signals to be
detected and amplified.
A)
Morse code
B)
narrowcasting
C)
electromagnetic wave
D)
Audion vacuum tube
5.
Which event led to the Radio Act of 1912 and required all radio stations on land or at
sea to be licensed and assigned special call letters?
A)
Fessenden’s 1906 Christmas Eve transmission
B)
The sinking of the Titanic
C)
David Sarnoff‘s wedding
D)
Lee De Forest’s Eiffel Tower broadcast
6.
What did the government do with radio when the United States entered World War I in
1917?
A)
Created a private monopoly
B)
Closed down all amateur radio operations
C)
Sold patents to Great Britain
D)
Created National Public Radio
Page 2
7.
GE founded the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to purchase and pool patents
from the navy, AT&T, GE, the former ______, and other companies to ensure U.S.
control over the manufacture of radio transmitters and receivers.
A)
American Marconi
B)
AT&T
C)
Westinghouse
D)
WNBC
8.
Who set up a crude radio station above his Pittsburgh garage in 1916?
A)
Edwin H. Armstrong
B)
David Sarnoff
C)
Ethan Zuckerman
D)
Frank Conrad
9.
In the late 1920s, which of the following was not a part owner of the National
Broadcasting Company?
A)
CBS
B)
Westinghouse
C)
RCA
D)
General Electric
10.
As a new network, CBS was able to compete with NBC by ____.
A)
charging affiliates less for its programs
B)
advertising its programs on billboards
C)
paying affiliates to carry its programs
D)
being the first network to broadcast in high fidelity
11.
The act that first emphasized that licensees did not own their channels but were granted
licenses provided that they operated in the “public interest, convenience, or necessity”
was the _____.
A)
Federal Communications Act of 1934
B)
Radio Act of 1912
C)
Radio Act of 1927
D)
1932 revocation of RCA’s monopoly status
Page 3
12.
What time period is considered the “golden age” of radio?
A)
Late 1950s
B)
Early 1900s
C)
1920s through 1940s
D)
1890s through 1910s
13.
The transistor made radio receivers ____.
A)
portable
B)
expensive
C)
larger
D)
stereophonic
14.
The public found it easy to believe Orson Welles‘s broadcast of War of the Worlds
because _____.
A)
it sounded like an authentic news report
B)
the broadcast was never identified as fiction or a dramatization
C)
a sizable meteor really did hit New Jersey that day
D)
All options are correct.
15.
TV snatched radio’s ____.
A)
audiences
B)
program genres
C)
place in the living room
D)
All options are correct.
16.
Compared to AM radio, FM radio _____.
A)
includes less static and has greater clarity
B)
is cheaper to operate
C)
is better for talk programs
D)
No option is correct.
17.
Radio formats usually target special audiences according to _____.
A)
age and income
B)
gender
C)
race or ethnicity
D)
All options are correct.
Page 4
18.
Network radio helped give the United States “a national identity.”
A)
True
B)
False
19.
Radio evolved from technology developed in the 1840s.
A)
True
B)
False
20.
Guglielmo Marconi received a patent on wireless telegraphy, a form of voiceless
point-to–point communication.
A)
True
B)
False
21.
History often cites Marconi as the “father of radio,” but Russian scientist Alexander
Popov accomplished similar feats in St. Petersburg at the same time.
A)
True
B)
False
22.
Nikola Tesla was the founder of the first radio network.
A)
True
B)
False
23.
Inventor Lee De Forest developed the Audion vacuum tube capable of detecting and
amplifying radio signals.
A)
True
B)
False
24.
American Marconi (a subsidiary of British Marconi) was the biggest of the companies
focused on ship-to–shore communication.
A)
True
B)
False
25.
The Wireless Ship Act of 1910 resulted from the sinking of the Titanic.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 5
26.
William Paley built the CBS network by charging large fees to its affiliates.
A)
True
B)
False
27.
The Radio Act of 1927 created the Radio Corporation of America.
A)
True
B)
False
28.
In the 1940s, NBC sold its Blue network, which then became CBS.
A)
True
B)
False
29.
Radio soap operas got their name because they were often sponsored by makers of soap
products.
A)
True
B)
False
30.
The period of the 1920s through the 1940s was marked by a proliferation of informative
and entertaining radio programs.
A)
True
B)
False
31.
The invention of the transistor in the late 1940s made radio more accessible and portable
than ever.
A)
True
B)
False
32.
The radio industry transformed its business model in the 1950s because of television.
A)
True
B)
False
33.
The term Top 40 is derived from the number of records stored in a jukebox, and Top 40
format refers to the forty most popular hits in a given week as measured by record sales.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 6
34.
AM radio is superior to FM radio for broadcasting music.
A)
True
B)
False
35.
The first person to discover and develop FM radio in the 1920s and the 1930s was
David Sarnoff of RCA.
A)
True
B)
False
36.
Jazz music formats in radio today reach more total listeners than any other format.
A)
True
B)
False
37.
The aim of networks such as CBS and NBC was to serve the public interest.
A)
True
B)
False
38.
Congress created National Public Radio to help win the Cold War.
A)
True
B)
False
39.
One type of Internet radio station involves an existing AM, FM, satellite, or HD station
“streaming” a simulcast version of its on-air signal over the Web.
A)
True
B)
False
40.
Stations can pay for syndicated programming with money, receive the programming in
exchange for time slots for national ads, or combine the two.
A)
True
B)
False
41.
The practice of payola affected 1950s radio, but does not occur today.
A)
True
B)
False
Page 7
42.
The FCC cannot provide oversight for the practice of payola on streaming radio
services.
A)
True
B)
False
43.
Combined, the top three commercial radio groups—iHeartMedia, Cumulus, and
Townsquare Media—own over sixteen hundred stations.
A)
True
B)
False
44.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has resulted in more competition and less
consolidation in U.S. radio.
A)
True
B)
False
45.
Most of the applicants for low-power FM radio licenses have been national retailers like
Wal-Mart.
A)
True
B)
False
46.
Most radio markets in the United States are dominated by a few owners.
A)
True
B)
False
47.
American artist and inventor Samuel _____ initially developed the practical system of
sending electrical impulses from a transmitter through a cable to a reception device.
48.
Person-to–person or point–to–point transmission of wireless messages is called _____.
49.
In the mid-1860s, James Maxwell theorized that there existed _____ waves.
50.
In 1906, Lee De Forest developed the _____ vacuum tube, which detected and
amplified radio signals.
51.
Westinghouse established a station with the call letters _____, which is generally
regarded as the first commercial (profit-based) broadcast station.
Page 8
52.
_____ created a new subsidiary called the National Broadcasting Company.
53.
The Federal Communications Act of _____ established the Federal Communication
Commission.
54.
A type of radio and sound transmission that is sufficient for radio content such as talk
but not ideal for music is called _____.
55.
_____ is the person who discovered and developed FM Radio.
56.
_____ is a noncommercial radio network established in 1967 by Congress to provide an
alternative to commercial broadcasting.
57.
Under the provisions of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and the _____, NPR and
PBS were mandated to provide alternatives to commercial broadcasting.
58.
_____ refers to the practice of making audio files available on the Internet so that
listeners can download and listen on a variety of devices.
59.
_____ is a digital technology that enables AM and FM radio broadcasters to multicast
two or three additional compressed signals within their traditional analog frequency.
60.
_____ is the practice by which record promoters pay deejays to play particular records.
61.
What were Marconi’s and De Forest’s contributions to radio?
62.
How did broadcasting come to be federally regulated?
63.
How and why did radio networks develop?
64.
What is the significance of the Federal Communications Act of 1934?
Page 9
65.
Explain how radio survived the coming of television.
66.
Define format radio and give examples.
67.
What has been the effect of deregulation on radio?
68.
Pick two of the media that we have studied so far (magazines, sound recording, radio)
and briefly describe their evolution in terms of the three stages of emerging mass media.
Answer Key
1.
D
2.
A
3.
D
4.
D
5.
B
6.
B
7.
A
8.
D
9.
A
10.
C
11.
C
12.
C
13.
A
14.
A
15.
D
16.
A
17.
D
18.
A
19.
A
20.
A
21.
A
22.
B
23.
A
24.
A
25.
B
26.
B
27.
B
28.
B
29.
A
30.
A
31.
A
32.
A
33.
A
34.
B
35.
B
36.
B
37.
B
38.
B
39.
A
40.
A
41.
A
42.
A
43.
A
44.
B
Page 11
45.
B
46.
A
47.
Morse
48.
narrowcasting
49.
radio
50.
Audion
51.
KDKA
52.
David Sarnoff
53.
1934
54.
AM or amplitude modulation
55.
Edwin Armstrong
56.
NPR or National Public Radio
57.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
58.
Podcasting
59.
HD radio
60.
Payola
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.