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History of Broadcasting
Radio
Radio developed from two early
forms of "wired" communication
Where Did Radio Come From?
Telegraph
Telephone
The Next Step: Getting Rid of the
Wires
James Maxwell
Theorized existence of invisible,
radiant energy (electromagnetic energy)
Heinrich Hertz
First to prove Maxwell’s
theory
Guglielmo Marconi
Put Hertz’s waves to
practical use: Wireless communication
Created hardware to transmit
coded messages
Lee De Forest
Created the AUDION
Vacuum tube that allowed human
voice to be carried on the Hertzian waves
Audion permitted development of
wireless telephony (radio)
Reginald Fessenden
Made first radiotelephone
transmission in 1906
This transmission led to
development of radio broadcasting
Military Intervention - WW I
Navy took over wireless radio
Civilian radio operation became
illegal
At the end of war, AMATEURS
advanced development of radio
Post-War Developments
Gov’t worried about possible
foreign control from Marconi’s large companies
GE took over American Marconi in
1919, creating RCA
Post-War Developments
AT & T and Westinghouse
joined GE as investors in RCA
Patent holders joined a
cross-licensing agreement
The First Broadcast Station
Frank Conrad set up 8XK in
Pittsburgh, playing music and news.
The First Broadcast Station
Conrad developed many loyal
listeners
8XK became KDKA
Boom Era (1920s)
November 1920 KDKA went on the
air
Programming created to sell
radios
Boom Era (1920s)
Programming was very basic
Technology was limited
Interference became major problem
The Start of Radio Advertising
AT&T-owned WEAF began
"toll broadcasting"
Station later moved to
sponsorship of programs
Radio Networks
The First Radio Network
Cross-licensing agreement began
to crumble
AT&T set up first network
(chain-broadcasting)
The First Radio Network
AT & T owned telephone lines
AT & T had big stations in
all major markets
The Radio Group
Westinghouse, GE, RCA tried to
set up competing network
Problems with AT&T
Gov’t forced AT&T to
choose between wireless and telephone delivery
Problems with AT&T
AT&T sold all stations to RCA
RCA leased network relays from AT
& T
In 1926, RCA formed the National
Broadcasting Company (NBC)
NBC
NBC set up two networks
The RED network -- mostly
AT&T stations
NBC
The BLUE network -- mostly RCA
stations
David Sarnoff was NBC’s CEO
Emergence of CBS
Arthur Judson organized United
Independent Broadcasters
UIB tried to circumvent the ASCAP
rate and fee structure
Emergence of CBS
UIB joined with Columbia
Phonograph Company to create the Columbia Phonograph Broadcast Company
CBS Grows
William Paley bought CBS in 1928
Under Paley CBS became a
legitimate competitor of NBC
Mutual Broadcasting System
Mutual formed when 4 major-market
stations pooled programming
Difficulty gaining other
affiliates
Chain B/casting Rules - 1941
FCC didn’t have power to
regulate networks
Rules applied to broadcast
licensees
Chain B/casting Rules - 1941
O & Os
Affiliates
Terms
O & O - station owned &
operated by a network. Network gets license from FCC
Terms
Affiliate - station that receives
network programs but it is not owned by a network. Contractual relationship.
Terms
Independent - station that is
neither O & O nor affiliated with a network
Chain B/casting Rules - 1941
No licensee could sign contract
with org. that operated more than one network
No licensee could sign contract
with network that forced it to carry programs
Birth of ABC
NBC was forced to sell one of its
networks after losing court battle
Edward Noble bought NBC’s
Blue network in 1945 -- changed name to American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Importance of Chain B/casting
Rules
Reduce power networks had over
affiliates
Eliminate NBC monopoly
History of Broadcasting
FM Radio
FM Development
Credited to one person: Edwin
Armstrong at Columbia Univ.
Developed & demonstrated FM
technology in 1935
FM Development
FM was not readily accepted until
the mid-1960s
Why Wasn’t FM Accepted?
AM was firmly entrenched
RCA wanted to use FM for TV audio
only
FCC didn’t support until
1960s
Why was FM Finally Accepted?
People changed
FCC changed rules governing FM
FM receivers more readily
available
Rock ‘n Roll
The Development of Television
Early Experimentation
Philo Farnsworth successfully
transmitted an electronic TV signal in 1927
Vladymir Zworykin invented the
iconoscope, for picture scanning
Improvements
Originally television had just 60
scan lines per frame
At least 400 scan lines are
necessary for proper imaging
Move to Electronic TV
Zworykin improved the picture
quality to 441 lines per frame
New system debuted at the 1939
World’s Fair
Creating Standards
1941 -- FCC endorsed the
standards established by the NTSC
525 lines/30 frames
Pre-WWII
In 1940, CBS demonstrates color
TV
During the War
Production of TV sets stopped
Still some telecasting--only
about 4 hours/week in major cities
Less than 10,000 TV sets in use
After the War (Expansion)
FCC sets aside 13 channels for
commercial TV -- in the VHF band
Unexpected Growth
By the end of 1947, nearly
200,000 TVs in US
The Freeze
In September of 1948, the FCC
imposes a freeze on licenses
Freeze was only supposed to last
a few months
The Freeze
In 1952, the FCC releases the
Sixth Report and Order - Freeze ends
FCC expands into UHF band
Mixed VHF/UHF markets created
Problems with UHF
TV sets in use didn’t
receive UHF channels
People had to buy converters
UHF used more power to cover same
distance as VHF
Consequences
UHF reached a low of 75 operating
stations in 1960
In 1962, Congress required all
new TVs to have UHF tuners
The Debate About Color TV
CBS and RCA had been working on
Color TV since beginning
CBS develops a partly-mechanical
version
The Debate About Color TV
RCA develops an all-electric
version
RCA/CBS versions are incompatible
Color (Cont.)
After much debate, the RCA system
was accepted in 1953
Color Catches on... Slowly
Why?
Advertisers did not want to pay
the higher costs needed to create color advertisements
Color Catches on Slowly
Most people had B&W TV sets
-- didn’t see a need to get new TVs
Networks still programming
B&W
© B.L. Yates 2001
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