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Chapter 5
Popular Radio and the Origins of Broadcasting
In this chapter, we examine the scientific, cultural, political, and economic factors surrounding radio’s
development and perseverance. We will:
Explore the origins of broadcasting, from the early theories about radio waves to the critical formation
of RCA as a national radio monopoly
Probe the evolution of commercial radio, including the rise of NBC as the first network, the
development of CBS, and the establishment of the first federal radio legislation
Review the fascinating ways in which radio reinvented itself in the 1950s
Examine television’s impact on radio programming, the invention of FM radio, radio’s convergence
with sound recording, and the influence of various formats
Investigate newer developments, like satellite and HD radio; radio’s convergence with the Internet; and
radio’s hopes for greater convergence with the mobile phone industry
Survey the economic health, increasing conglomeration, and cultural impact of commercial and
noncommercial radio today, including the emergence of noncommercial low-power FM service
Preview Story: Prerecorded on-air segments may make it seem as if there is a live deejay at a radio
station, but that is rarely the case. This side effect of corporate ownership consolidation has led to a
radio industry that has become more homogenized in ownership as well as content.
I. Early Technology and the Development of Radio
A. Maxwell and Hertz Discover Radio Waves.
B. Marconi and the Inventors of Wireless Telegraphy.
C. Wireless Telephony: De Forest and Fessenden.
D. Regulating a New Medium.
1. Radio Waves as a Natural Resource.
2. The Impact of World War I.
3. The Formation of RCA.
II. The Evolution of Radio
A. Building the First Networks.
B. Sarnoff and NBC: Building the “Blue” and “Red” Networks.
C. Government Scrutiny Ends RCA-NBC Monopoly.
D. CBS and Paley: Challenging NBC.
E. Bringing Order to Chaos with the Radio Act of 1927.
F. The Golden Age of Radio.
1. Early Radio Programming.
2. Radio Programming as a Cultural Mirror.
3. The Authority of Radio.
III. Radio Reinvents Itself
A. Transistors Make Radio Portable.
B. The FM Revolution and Edwin Armstrong.
C. The Rise of Format and Top 40 Radio.
D. Resisting the Top 40.
IV. The Sounds of Commercial Radio
A. Format Specialization.
1. News, Talk, and Information Radio.
2. Music Formats.
B. Nonprofit Radio and NPR.
1. The Early Years of Nonprofit Radio.
2. Creation of the First Noncommercial Networks.
C. New Radio Technologies Offer More Solutions.
1. Satellite Radio.
2. HD Radio.
D. Radio and Convergence.
1. Internet Radio.
2. Podcasting and Portable Listening.
V. The Economics of Broadcast Radio
A. Local and National Advertising.
B. Manipulating Playlists with Payola.
C. Radio Ownership: From Diversity to Consolidation.
D. Alternative Voices.
VI. Radio and the Democracy of the Airwaves
Case Study: Host: The Origins of Talk Radio
Media Literacy and the Critical Process: Comparing Commercial and Noncommercial Radio
Global Village: Radio Goes Local, Global, and Local Again
Digital Job Outlook: Media Professionals Speak about Jobs in the Radio Industry
LECTURE IDEAS
I. Early Technology and the Development of Radio
• Early radio’s contributions to the Titanic rescue effort inspired throngs of American boys to build
short-range telegraphy sets as a hobby. Electrical gadgetry became readily available in hobby
stores, and many boys—and perhaps some girls—dreamed of becoming wireless operators.
Wireless clubs also became popular in high schools and colleges.
• The regulation of radio was a topic of active debate in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1933, the year’s
national high school debate topic asked students to argue in favor of either the British or the
American (commercialized) broadcasting system. In the British system, radio was (and in part
continues to be) owned and operated by the government and supported by funds generated through
some form of taxation. In the contested American system, radio would be owned by private
enterprises, and its existence would depend solely on advertising for funding. Not surprisingly, the
debate topic sent shock waves throughout the radio industry. Educators were angered by both the
radio industry’s and the government’s favoritism toward commercial and not educational radio; the
debate topic was one way of fighting back.
During the early 1930s, there continued to be a push among educators, religious organizations, and
other interested groups for 25 percent of all broadcasting licenses to be given to nonprofit institutions.
One central argument was that commercialized radio was promoting negative cultural values,
especially to children. Other educators expressed concern that the radio would replace parents,
teachers, and the clergy in determining children’s attitudes and that it would simply supplant the
public-school system as a creator of mass culture. The broadcasters fought back by claiming that
commercial radio had already brought educational programs to the American home. In 1934, NBC’s
president, Merlin Aylesworth, told educators that radio programs were a source of public
enlightenment, with 20 percent being educational and 30 percent having some educational value.
(Similar arguments were later made for television and the Internet.) In the end, the FCC, with heavy
lobbying pressure from commercial broadcasters, agreed with Aylesworth that commercial radio was
providing enough educational programming to its listeners.
II. The Evolution of Radio
• Chart the influence of GE, RCA, AT&T, and Westinghouse from their beginnings in radio to their
status as media corporations today.
• Draw comparisons between the development and growth of radio and the development and growth of
the Internet.
• “Clear channels” were among the first AM channels established, and they have the most powerful
signals in radio (50 kilowatts), which enables them to broadcast over an enormously wide area,
often across much of North America. A person listening in Chicago can sometimes pick up a clear
channel from Atlanta, for instance. These AM stations have long been protected from interference
within their primary and secondary service areas. The best time to listen to a clear channel is at
night, when many smaller AM stations are required to power down to reduce interference. (A
complete listing of stations is compiled at: http://www.AC6V.com/clearam.htm#USA.)
WMAQ-AM, one of the most famous clear-channel stations, was Chicago’s oldest radio station and
home to many icons of early radio. It is where Amos ’n’ Andy premiered in 1928. In July 2000,
WMAQ-AM signed off for the last time, a victim of the CBS and Viacom merger and FCC
regulations. It was replaced by an all-sports station. Before its demise, however, WMAQ-AM had
already gone through numerous format changes, from easy listening to country and finally all news.
• Radio was an intimate medium that took some getting used to. In the early 1930s, some actors were
so scared of microphones that engineers devised lamp-shade covers to make them appear more
innocuous. Actors stood very close to one another around the microphone when rehearsing and
performing, and they often found their bodies pressing close to those of other actors. Consequently,
breath fresheners became standard fare for radio performers between the 1930s and 1950s. According
to radio historian Robert L. Mott, the breath freshener Sen-Sen was effective for disguising boozy
breath during rehearsals and performances. It became so popular that “most actors were afraid to use
it for fear of being guilty by association.” (See Mott, 1993, p. 3.) Actors usually received $6 an hour
for rehearsals and $15 for a broadcast that was usually fifteen minutes long. Some actors worked on
as many as four soap operas a day.
• Being a sound-effect artist was often nerve-wracking and uncomfortable, with artists often standing in
2 feet of water to get the kinds of splashing sounds the director wanted. The biggest fears were
dropping anything accidentally, having an equipment failure, or making some other kind of noticeable
mistake. One artist, desperate not to let a sledgehammer hit the floor, put his foot in its path and broke
his foot. Here are some examples of how sound-effect artists colored a radio show with sound:
• A bowl of cooked spaghetti squeezed rhythmically = a giant worm devouring people in
their sleep
• Glass wind chimes tinkling = sunlight
• Two moist rubber gloves twisted and stretched = a human body turned inside out
• A hopper that drained bird seed onto a piece of stretched waxed paper = rain on a roof
• A cork dipped in turpentine and rubbed against a bottle = a squealing rat
• A box of cornstarch squeezed in a rhythmic fashion = footsteps in snow
• Cotton balls ripped close to the microphone = footsteps in snow
• Water from a seltzer bottle squirted into a pail = milking a cow
• Audiotape crinkled close to the microphone = fire crackling (audiotape was developed in
Germany in the 1940s and was introduced to the United States in 1945)
• Discuss the success and impact of radio drama in American culture during the Golden Age of Radio.
An early concern about broadcasting revolved around violence in radio’s popular horror and crime
stories. Some children were said to have been mimicking violent acts after hearing about them on the
radio. A few advertisers pulled back, and the radio industry altered radio scripts with criminal themes
(the FCC called these programs Goosepimple Kid Shows) in an act of self-censorship that would
repeat itself with other mass media in decades to follow. (For more information, see McChesney,
1993.)
III. Radio Reinvents Itself
• The history of transformations of the radio industry provide an excellent opportunity to discuss how
older media forms adapt when challenged by newer media: radio and sound recording in the 1920s;
radio and television in the 1950s; radio and digital forms of radio in the 21st century (satellite, HD,
streaming, podcasts, etc.).
• Tom Lewis's book Empire of the Air (see Further Reading), also made into a documentary by Ken
Burns, is a worthwhile chronicle of Edwin Armstrong’s patent arguments with David Sarnoff and
does much to demystify the two characters.
• Using the radio stations in your area as examples, discuss their various formats as well as how and
why over the years those formats may or may not have changed. Relate these changes to the
economics of broadcast radio and the conditions and population profile of your own radio market.
The market size of your metro area is ranked in the annual Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook.
• Conduct a classroom experiment to illustrate the homogeneity of radio programming and promotion
despite differences in location. Spend a few minutes asking students about the radio stations in their
hometowns. Do they remember the call letters or catchphrases (Mix 96, Kool, Lite, etc.), the names of
on-air personalities (deejays, morning show hosts, etc.), and the songs that were played? If your
classroom has computer access, look up a few of the stations to see how many of them have
overlapping ownership. Or you could ask students to look up the ownership of their favorite
hometown station prior to class and see how many stations have overlapping ownership during class
discussion.
IV. The Sounds of Commercial Radio
• Funding for nonprofit radio continues to spark debate in the U.S. In 2011, House Republicans voted
to axe federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but the Senate rejected the
House proposal. Here are some of the arguments for and against federal funding for public radio
and television used during the debate:
• “It is time for American citizens to stop funding an organization that can stand on its own
feet. . . . As a country we no longer have this luxury.”—Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), one
of the sponsors of the 2011 measure, arguing that taxpayers should not have to pay for
nonessential services.
• “Why should we allow taxpayer dollars to be used to advocate one ideology?”—Majority
Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), arguing that content on NPR and PBS has a liberal bent.
• “The issue about taxpayers funding public broadcasting isn’t about who gets hired or fired.
. . . It’s about two simple facts: We can’t afford it and they don’t need it.”—Sen. Jim
DeMint (R-S.C.)
• “Their government funding is a larger share of revenue—30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent
2015, the BBC announced that it would support a move to a levy (tax) on all households.
• The BBC received approximately £3.8 billion (approximately $5.3 billion) in 2015 from
television license fees.
• In 2015, the BBC also generated just under $1.5 billion more from commercial services
(e.g., use of the BBC television studios and postproduction facilities by BBC Worldwide
and others).
• The BBC successfully competes against five national radio networks and forty local radio
services, plus cable and twenty-four-hour news offerings. Most Brits watch or listen to the
BBC for at least two hours a week.
• The BBC’s broadcast entertainment and news audience has remained stable for several
years, after having sagged when its sports broadcasting declined. For forty years, the BBC
had brought domestic cricket matches, Formula One racing, England rugby, and the FA
Cup soccer championship to its viewers. That tradition ended when commercial TV and
broadcasting. With sponsored programs, a radio hour begins with product-themed chitchat, after
which the programming is free.
• Threatened by the competition from SiriusXM, radio stations are increasingly supportive of high-
definition digital radio. It makes AM sound as good as FM and FM sound as good as a CD.
Moreover, it allows for song identification on the radio dial, instant weather reports, and location
advertising (e.g., drive by a McDonald’s and you immediately hear a McDonald’s ad).
• Explore the influence of online radio stations that allow users to create tailor-made stations (e.g.,
Pandora, Last.fm, Slacker) based on their musical tastes and listening habits. Ask students if they use
these services. If so, have they discovered new artists or listened to more diverse radio content
because of Internet radio stations? Also discuss Internet-streaming radio in conjunction with your
students’ music-purchasing habits. Have students downloaded songs they heard and liked on an
Internet radio site?
• It might be helpful to visit a digital radio Web site like Pandora.com or Live365.com (or have your
students visit these sites if they haven’t already) to demonstrate how users access digital radio.
Pandora allows users to create their own customized radio stations: Users enter songs they like, and
Pandora adds other music that is categorized similarly. In 2009, Pandora and other Web-streaming
radio ventures narrowly avoided a big financial hit that would have made it too expensive for many of
them to survive. Earlier, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board had decided that it would no longer allow
these sites to pay a percentage of revenue in performance royalties. Instead, the board proposed that
Webcasters would be charged each time a user listened to a song, representing a rate increase of 300
to 1,200 percent, and that there would also be a minimum charge of $500 per radio station. These
(controversially) considered by the radio companies to be promoting the artists’ work for free.
• Discuss the emergence of podcasting. Explore the many uses of podcasts, and discuss how they are
changing radio.
V. The Economics of Broadcast Radio
• Discuss radio’s business model. Explain how radio in the United States ended up being financed by
advertising and not, for example, by license fees. Explore the advantages and limitations of
commercial radio versus public-owned radio and the impact of a radio program’s funding on its
content. Discuss under which model (if any) listeners are better served and why.
• The radio industry is tremendously healthy, but that doesn’t mean that radio jobs pay well. Most
deejay salaries are low, and deejays no longer have artistic control over the music they play.
• Many radio stations are now automated. With automated computer systems, deejays can record
their breaks between songs ahead of time and sound live when their shows play long after they’ve
left the station. Although this strategy means lower costs (a deejay might work only one hour to
create a four-hour shift), it leaves no one in the studio to deal with unexpected glitches or to
provide emergency weather updates.
VI. Radio and the Democracy of the Airwaves
• The new pattern of radio ownership:
• Large companies buy several stations in a market.
• They change the formats to make them complementary, not competitive.
• They focus each station at a different niche market.
• The number of low-power FM radio stations nearly doubled between 2014 and 2016. LPFM stations
are only licensed to not-for-profit educational organizations, government or non-government entities
providing public safety radio services, or federally recognized native American tribes and tribal
organizations. Thirty-eight percent of the 1,536 LPFM stations self-identified their formats as being
religious in nature. (See: Vogt, Nancy. “Number of U.S. Low-Power FM Radio Stations Has Nearly
Doubled Since 2014.” Pew Research Center. 19 September 2016. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2016/09/19/number-of-u-s-low-power-fm-radio-stations-has-nearly-doubled-since-2014.)
• The mandate that radio serve the “public interest, convenience, or necessity” remains important. As of
2016:
• radio reached 91 percent of all consumers (twelve years old and over) every week. (Source:
Radio Marketing Guide and Fact Book for Advertisers,
http://www.rab.com/public/marketingGuide/DataSheet.cfm?id=1)
over the airwaves....Radio still remains the medium that reaches the widest audience worldwide, in
the quickest possible time.” (Web site: http://www.worldradioday.org)
MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES
RADIO LISTENING HABITS
1. Think. Take two minutes to write down answers to the following questions about your radio
listening habits: How much radio do you listen to? When do you listen? How do you access the
radio station? What attracts you to a particular station? If you listen to news, weather, or traffic, do
you trust radio more or less than other sources?
2. Pair. Turn to a neighbor and compare notes. Which radio formats (if any) do you agree on? What
do you think the stations are doing that is “right?” What aspects of radio programming bother you?
3. Share. Open up the discussion to the entire class. If you could envision the perfect radio station
with the perfect format, what would it be? How would it be funded? Whom would it serve? What
should be the purpose of this radio station in the community?
CENSORSHIP AND TALK RADIO
Considering that talk radio is now one of the most popular formats, discuss the following questions: Do
you listen to talk radio? Why? Should talk-radio hosts be able to say anything they want on the radio? Is it
important to air all potential issues over the airwaves, even if those issues might upset some listeners? Are
radio talk shows just silly sideshows of extreme views and shocking behavior, or do they appeal to
listeners in unique and significant ways? Do all potential topics contribute to democracy? What kinds of
things shouldn’t be said or discussed on the radio?
Ask students to consider the effect of the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine on the diversity of voices on talk
radio, and consequently, on political discourse in the United States.
UNDERSTANDING WAR OF THE WORLDS
Ask students about their familiarity with the Mercury Theatre Broadcast of October 30, 1938. Is it the
most infamous radio broadcast of all time? Have you ever heard the dramatization?
• Listen to the opening segment of the broadcast. (The CD included in The Complete War of the
Worlds book has the entire broadcast. I usually play about ten minutes of the broadcast, beginning
about ten minutes into the recording.)
• Ask students to write a response to the questions, “What skills are involved in being a radio
broadcast was the subject of one of the first important studies of media effects (Cantril, Hadley, Hazel
Gaudet, and Herta Herzog. The Invasion from Mars: A Study in the Psychology of Panic. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1940.) You might also want to point out that two of the three authors
were female scholars.
—Developed by Matthew Smith, Wittenberg University
(Note: If you don’t have a chance to play a recording of War of the Worlds in class, here’s a brief
description of the broadcast:
The production was scripted in the form of fake news flashes that repeatedly interrupted musical
recordings. The first news flash reported strange activity sighted on Mars. The next interruption was
an urgent message saying a meteor had crashed near Grover’s Mills, New Jersey. Then came a “live”
report from the New Jersey site saying that it wasn’t a meteor at all but, rather, Martians with death-
ray guns who had just killed one thousand people. A subsequent “eyewitness report” described the
Martians as “weird creatures streaming from a huge silver cylinder and burning everything that lay in
their path.” The report stopped suddenly “for reasons beyond the station’s control.” Then news
bulletins from across the country started streaming in, telling listeners that the National Guard had
been called out, the U.S. military was rapidly mobilizing, and the White House had declared a state of
national emergency. Even though there had been a strong disclaimer at the beginning of the broadcast
saying that the story was only make-believe, people crowded into churches, highways became jam-
packed with cars, and many people put on gas masks. In one unlucky town in Washington State, an
actual power failure magnified the frenzy and horror.)
FORMAT SPECIALIZATION
This Critical Process exercise examines radio-group ownership and format specialization. Assign each
radio station in your market to individuals or small groups in the class. Listen to the same hour (e.g.,
4:00 to 5:00 P.M.) during the day for each station.
1. Description. Create a chart that breaks down the selected hour into a program log. Describe what
you hear, including music, news, deejay chatter, ads, community announcements, station
promotions, and contests. Describe the style of these broadcasts as well as the number of minutes
devoted to each category. Who is the target audience? Who owns the station? Do the ad and
promotion styles match the general flavor of the station?
2. Analysis. Compare program logs and other station information with classmates. What patterns
emerge? Do the stations owned by the same radio group sound similar in certain ways (e.g.,
advertisers, newscasters, promotions)? Are there any locally owned stations, and do they program
differently? Which (if any) stations provide the best local news, events, and weather information?
Which (if any) stations feature local artists? What did you like best of what you heard? What did
you like least?
3. Interpretation. According to FCC rules, radio stations are trustees of public airwaves. Basing your
opinion on the limited hours you listened, do you think these stations are doing a responsible job of
serving the public? If some radio stations in a single market have similar formats, is that bad? Is
there enough station differentiation in your market? What audience segments are not targeted by
the radio stations in your market? Why not?
so, see “The Public and Broadcasting” document at http://www.fcc.gov.
NPR VERSUS COMMERCIAL RADIO NEWS
Pre-Exercise Question: Why should taxpayer money support NPR (through the CPB) in the United States
when it could probably be supported solely by corporate sponsorship and private donations?
In this Critical Process exercise, you’ll compare newscasts of NPR’s Morning Edition or All Things
Considered and those of their affiliates with morning and afternoon newscasts of commercial radio
stations in the same market.
Find your local NPR affiliate (check http://www.npr.org to find a nearby station) and a local
news/talk/information station (usually on the AM dial). Compare and contrast the stations’ coverage by
taping and listening to the same hour on the same day during the morning or afternoon “drive time.”
1. Description. Develop a profile of a full hour of news from each station, including the total time of
news versus commercials/promotions/corporate sponsorships, the number and length of news
stories, and the news story topics.
2. Analysis. What are the major differences between the news programs of the NPR affiliate and those
of the commercial news stations? Look for patterns.
3. Interpretation. Do you think that being nonprofit and publicly supported makes a difference in the
content and length of a station’s news stories? Were longer stories more comprehensive and
thoughtful? What do the differences mean?
4. Evaluation. Morning Edition and All Things Considered draw three to four million listeners a day,
more than twice the number of people who read the Wall Street Journal or USA Today. Based on
these news programs, does NPR deserve some kind of public-funding mechanism that could keep it
free of advertising? Do you think there is a difference in the kind of news and delivery provided by
a noncommercial program versus a commercial one?
Suggestion: For a class project, students should work in pairs, with each responsible for recording a
newscast at the same time.
5. Engagement. If you’re interested in the kind of journalism found on NPR, you may want to consider
becoming involved in the Next Generation Radio training project. Cosponsored by NPR and a
number of journalism and media organizations, the project enables budding radio journalists to report
and produce their own radio stories.
TRACKING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RADIO INDUSTRY: A SEMESTER-LONG
CRITICAL PROCESS EXERCISE AND PAPER
In this exercise students discover the most recent developments in the industry, and they become familiar
with industry trade sources. The paper they produce is due in sections, which correspond with the steps in
the Critical Process.
1. Description. Read industry trade sources to get a sense of the main issues affecting the radio industry.
Look at the Web sites of industry trade associations and professional societies. (Links to Web sites of
some industry trade sources are given in the Classroom Media Sources below.) Take notes on topics
that have multiple stories or mentions in the current year. What issues or developments in the industry
have received a lot of recent attention, discussion, or commentary in industry sources? (Focus only on
information from the current year—and only from trade sources.) Write a one-page synopsis of the
information you found about current topics in the industry. Cite your sources properly.
2. Analysis. Look for one development or pattern that has received significant attention on trade sites
and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend, and write one or two pages
with details about the information you found about that trend. Continue to track news about your
topic as the semester progresses. Cite sources properly.
3. Interpretation. What does the trend mean for the state of the industry? Is it evolving? How? What
does it tell you about media in general at the current time? What might it say about our culture or our
society? Can your information help us interpret the role of the industry in our lives? Write up your
interpretation in a five-page paper. (The first page should be a synopsis of the trend, with proper
citations.) You might not have to provide information from your sources for the next four pages
because this section is your interpretation of the trend. (Save any ideas you have about whether the
trend is “good” or “bad” for the Evaluation step of the Critical Process.) Cite any sources properly.
4. Evaluation. Is the trend “good” or “bad?” For the industry? society? culture? democracy? us? What
do you think might happen in the future?
5. Engagement. Are there any actions you can take (related to your trend and the industry)? Possibilities
include posting your views on social media, creating a petition, contacting people in the industry to
see what they think of your interpretation and evaluation, or going to an industry event if any are held
nearby. (This step need not be required if students are not motivated to take action.)
Note: This exercise works well if each step of the Critical Process is due two weeks after the prior step is
due. Limiting students to only trade sources and only information from the current year helps keep them
on track. Your institution’s librarians should be able to provide students with information on how to
access industry trade sources.
CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES
LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE: http://www.macmillanhighered.com/mediaculture11e
Talk Radio On Screen (2009, 22:25 minutes). Sean Hannity is a conservative political commentator who
radio influences other media and how radio has adapted to today’s audience and media landscape.
Featuring Richard Campbell, Dino Corbin, Charles Osgood, and Sedge Thompson.
Streaming Music: “Bad Blood” (2015, 4:04 minutes). The music video for Taylor Swift’s hit song “Bad
Blood” features a variety of celebrity guests and high production value.
VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS
The Agronomist (2004, 90 minutes). This documentary, directed by Jonathan Demme, examines the life
and assassination of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique. Demme uses
a combination of historical footage of Haiti’s troubled past and interviews with Dominique and his
wife, Michelle Monta, highlighting the unique role of radio technology in remote areas of
underdeveloped countries, as well as the personal danger that crusading journalists face.
The Complete War of the Worlds (2001). This book with accompanying audio CDs tells how Orson
Welles and the Mercury Theatre drove 1.2 million people into a panic over something that never
happened. Available used at Amazon.com.
Invasion from Mars (1988, 25 minutes). This program illustrates how the increased reliance on radio as an
information and news medium set the stage for the panicked reaction to the War of the Worlds radio
broadcast. The video includes interviews with Orson Welles as well as with people who remember
listening to the broadcast. In discussing the dominance of radio during that period, this video also
includes elements of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chats and Edward R. Murrow’s
and H. V. Kaltenborn’s newscasts from Europe right before World War II.
WEB SITES
Billboard Magazine: http://www.billboard.biz
History and Old Time Radio: http://www.old-time.com/otrhx.html
National Association of Broadcasters: http://www.nab.org
National Public Radio: http://www.npr.org
Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com
Pandora: http://www.pandora.com
Radio Advertising Bureau: http://www.rab.com
Radio Days: http://www.otr.com
Radio Ink: http://radioink.com
Radio Locator: http://www.radio-locator.com
FURTHER READING
Abel, Jessica, and Ira Glass. Radio: An Illustrated Guide. Chicago: WBEZ Alliance, 1999.
Cantril, Hadley, Hazel Gaudet, and Herta Herzog. The Invasion from Mars: A Study in the Psychology of
Panic. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1940.
Douglas, Susan J. Inventing American Broadcasting, 1899–1922. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1987.
Fornatale, Peter, and Joshua E. Mills. Radio in the Television Age. Woodstock, NY: Overlook, 1980.
Halper, Donna L. Invisible Stars: A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting. Armonk, NY:
M. E. Sharpe, 2001.
Hilmes, Michele, and Jason Loviglio, eds. Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio. New
York: Routledge, 2002.
Lewis, Tom. Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio. New York: HarperPerennial, 1991.
McChesney, Robert W. Telecommunications, Mass Media, and Democracy: The Battle for the Control of
U.S. Broadcasting, 1928–1935. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Mott, Robert L. Radio Sound Effects: Who Did It, and How, in the Era of Live Broadcasting. Jefferson,
NC: McFarland, 1993.
Sterling, Christopher H., and John M. Kitross. Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American Broadcasting.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1990.
