AM RADIO BROADCASTING

by R. J. Reiman, Historian

Radio Broadcasting ranks with electricity, the telephone, the automobile and indoor plumbing for its impact on American life. Radio broadcasting brought a new excitement to engineers, a chance for profitable opportunity to entrepreneurs, a new medium for educators, and a glamorous outlet for

talented performers. It proved to be an endless source of news and entertainment for the radio listener. It was also FREE and brought right into the home. Later, with the advent of television, a

young boy was asked to compare radio to television. He responded "I like radio, because the picture is better." Indeed, the distant voices and music fired the imagination and seemed to be alive to the listener. AM broadcasting has prospered for seven decades since its beginning in the 1920's and continues to prosper in spite of competition from television.

The attraction of radio broadcasting as a business and communication medium was so great that the

number of stations increased from a few to 700 shortly after the first broadcasts in 1920, to 1000 by 1940, and by almost 1000 per decade until the number reached 5000 in 1988. In the 1920's, anarchy prevailed until an effective way of dealing with interference between broadcasting stations occurred with the establishment in 1927 of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC). The FRC had the authority to assign power and frequency to the broadcasting stations. In 1934, the Federal Communications Commission was established to replace the FRC.The FCC improved the method of frequency assignment and also regulated programming. The introduction of the directional antenna in the late 1930's further permitted more broadcasting stations to coexist on the same channel with a tolerable level of interference.

Prior to and during World War II, the networks dominated broadcasting, and network time sales (advertising) were 40 percent compared to 30 percent for local sales. With television as competition in 1947, network advertisers shifted to television, and radio became mainly local advertising. Radio was able to survive due to technological advances which reduced costs. Broadcasting equipment became simpler and more reliable, permitting reduction of technical staff. Introduction of magnetic tape and long playing records allowed stations to switch from live to recorded programs. New control equipment made it possible for one or two people to announce, play recordings, put commercials on the air, and to adjust signal levels.Stations also reduced casts by specializing in themes such as "Country" or "Classical". The advances in receiver technology such as miniturization of receivers, the shift from vacuum tubes to transistors, lowering power levels and increasing the availability of portable and car radios, created a new audience in automobiles away from the home. Innovative programming formats were developed to appeal to listeners away from their television sets.