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MC101: RADIO
SULAY JALLOH
Radio
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HISTORY
1) EARLY RADIO MILESTONES
1873: James Maxwell of Scotland suggests an electromagnetic signal could be sent through space without using wires
1887: Heinrich Hertz, of Germany, verifies Maxwell's theory in a series of experiments by sending and detecting radio waves
1896: Guglielmo Marconi sends wireless signal two miles in Morse Code (letters encoded by a system of dots and dashes); sees promise of "wireless" (radio's first name) as a ship-to-shore or ship communication medium; starts wireless telegraph company
1906: Reginald Fessenden, with the help of G.E., makes first high-speed continuous-wave generator that can broadcast the human voice and music; makes first "broadcast" of music to ships in New YorkHarbor on Christmas Eve
1908: American Lee de Forest, inventor of vacuum tube which made it much easier to receive audio waves, broadcasts a classical phonograph concert from the Eiffel Tower
Patent wars between inventors severely hampers early radio’s development; but when the US Navy assumes responsibility for all relevant patents at the outbreak of World War I, the log jam is broken and great technical strides take place.
2) THE EVOLUTION OF RADIO AS A MASS MEDIUM
2.1 Big Business
Radio’s profit potential attracts big corporations.In 1919 the Marconi Company sells its radio rights to General Electric (GE) who, in turn, created the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to house the new division, AT&T, and Westinghouse are early investors.
2.2 Mass Audience
Shortly before 1920 Frank Conrad, a Westinghouse engineer, begins broadcasting a potpourri of sports scores and music from his garage. A local department store promotes the broadcasts by offering $10 discounts on their ready-built wireless sets.
Westinghouse sees opportunity and initiates the first radio station, KDKA of Pittsburgh, on November 20, 1920. RCA begins broadcasting in 1921 and GE in 1922. By 1926 there are over two million sets in operation and climbing rapidly.
2.3 Better Receivers
Early radios were bulky, filled with tubes and batteries, and required lots of patience from users in order to find—and keep—the desired radio signal for which they were looking. However, Technical and cosmetic changes help turn radio into a “must have” household appliance; 17 million sets sell by 1930.
2.4 Radio Goes Commercial
Station operating and equipment costs rose steadily along with personnel expenses.AT&T’s “air time for sale” idea quickly demonstrates advertising can be radio’s chief revenue source.
2.5 Networks
The fifth element of radio's evolution came about when stations saw they could drastically cut their production costs by sharing program content; this inter-station agreement came to be known as a network. Additionally, if enough stations were networked, an advertiser could reach a much larger audience yet deal with only one network broker.
NBC starts two networks in 1926; CBS follows with one in 1927. By 1937, NBC has 111 affiliates, CBS 105.
2.6 Government Regulation
Unregulated airwaves prompt Congress to order chaotic radio practices with the Radio Act of 1927.
2.7 Birth of FM
In the mid-1930s Edwin Howard Armstrong, a noted inventor, demonstrated frequency modulated radio, or FM. Despite FM's obvious superior quality over AM radio, Armstrong's audience, RCA, is not interested, opting instead to concentrate on developing TV as an emerging technology. FM is curtailed by WW II, later by TV.
2.8 Radio Programs
Programming expands to drama, soap operas, comedy, news, and westerns. Roosevelt becomes first “radio President.” Dramatic programs, such as The Lone Ranger, Gangbusters, The Shadow, Dick Tracy, and Buck Rogers flourished. By 1940 there were some 40 different soaps on the air such as Helen Trent, Our Gal Sunday, Backstage Wife, and Clara, Lu 'n' Em.
2.9 World War II
•Network news thrives as public follows war developments with “name” correspondents.
•Ad revenues double during war years.
•Supreme Court orders NBC to sell one of its two networks. ABC is formed from that court order.
3) INNOVATION AND CHANGE: 1945-1954
In the nine years following WW II, the public’s attention focuses on TV as the nation’s new entertainment medium.
Radio switches from dramatic programming to airing pre-recorded music, finds new markets and thrives.
FM’s development is further delayed by corporate and public preoccupation with the new TV medium.
3.1 FM RADIO (frequency modulated radio)
Although FM sounded better than AM, was static free, and could reproduce a wider range of sound frequencies, a number of pieces of bad fortune hampered FM’s quick development. Initially, of course, World War II froze FM development, but later these problems added to FM’s woes:
FM was trying to develop simultaneously with television’s evolution
FM and TV shared nearly the same electromagnetic wave area; in 1945 the FCC gave TV FM’s former bandwidths, moving FM into the 88-108-MHz band where it remains today.
3.2 Television’s Influence on Radio
TV’s entertainment advantage forces radio to create new program formats. Talk, music, news and sports, and religious shows debut as a result.
Though station revenues remain intact, network affiliations are cut in half due to a lack of demand.
Profits rise as stations turn to local businesses to provide primary advertising revenues.
3.3 Specialized Formats
Among the new program formats, pre-recorded music quickly becomes a favorite offering. Some stations begin specializing in certain music formats, none of which is more popular than the “Top 40” genre.
DJs become new radio personalities themselves as they intertwine personal talk and top 40 record hits.
The clock hour, a scheduling tool that specifies every element of programming within a given time frame, emerges.
4) GROWTH AND STABILIZATION: 1955-1990
Stations double in number.
Profit potential of Top 40 format leads some record companies to bribe DJs with payola schemes.
Format specialization continues increases.
FM emerges as viable medium.
In 1965 FCC passes its “nonduplication rule.” No more than 50% of content can be duplicated on AM/FM sister stations; FM stations become attractive investments.
Country music becomes favorite FM format, followed by adult contemporary
AM is home to talk, news, oldies, and religious formats.
National Public Radio (NPR) debuts in 1970 as the first non-commercial network; it boasts 160 affiliates by 1980.
By 1970, FM controls 70 % of the entire radio audience.
4.1 The Volatile 1990s
Congress passes Telecommunication Act of 1966. It allows unlimited station ownership, but limits the number of stations that can be owned within same market to eight.
As a result, an era of unprecedented station mergers and acquisitions begins. Radio conglomerates flourish.
Original FCC philosophy of “localism,” which mandated that stations should serve local interest, now replaced with a corporate view: the public interest is served by offering content that interests the public.
5) RADIO IN THE DIGITAL AGE
5.1 IBOC (in band, on channel) technology now allows simultaneous transmission of analog and digital signals; digital radio debuts in 2001.
5.2 Satellite radio : Aimed at expanding the commuter market, direct-satellite-to-car technology offers 100 commercial free program formats for $10 monthly fees.
5.3 Internet radio: With commercial free, highly specialized formats, over 300 Internet-only stations now offer their brand of programming plus Internet service options such as chat, e-commerce, and content-related web links.
6) DEFINING FEATURES OF RADIO
Radio is . . .
Portable –small and convenient enough to go anywhere, anytime supplemental– most listening occurs while doing something else:driving, working, and studying
Universal -- most homes have six radios with one in almost every car; 75% of us listen daily
Selective – radio is a niche medium, with specialized formats attracting narrowly defined audiences; only 2 or 3 % of the available audience is usually sufficient to generate a profit
7) ORGANIZATION OF THE RADIO INDUSTRY
There are about 12,500 radio stations in the U.S., most of which use local programming plus network and/or syndicated shows.
While reliance on network programming is declining, the new demand is for syndicated shows featuring hosts such as Russ Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and Don Imus, plus a variety of other specialized content.
7.1 AM Station Classifications
Everything being equal, AM (amplitude modulation) signals travel further than FM (frequency modulation)signals, especially at night. With AM listenership on decline, FM radio commands about 75 percent of the total audience.
AM radio has three channel classifications:
Clear -- a single dominant station designed to provide service over a wide area, almost always urban, and broadcasting with 50,000 watts of power
Regional -- a channel shared by many stations that serve fairly large areas
Local --a channel designed to be shared by a large number of stations that broadcast only to their local communities
7.2 FM Station Classifications
FM, though not as powerful as AM, does have these significant technical advantages:
Superior sound quality
Less likely to be affected by outside interferences (storms)
8. Station Formats
Stations are best categorized by format, a type of consistent programming designed to appeal to a specific audience which, in turn, attracts advertisers trying to connect with that audience type. This gives the station a distinctive type of personality that attracts a certain audience, which in turn attracts advertisers seeking to connect with that type of audience. There are three basic categories:
- The Music FormatThe largest category with many subdivisions and variations; the two most listened to music formats by 2000: Adult Contemporary, and country.
- Black and Ethnic Formats Aimed at audiences primarily defined by race and nationality, with about 175 stations aimed at black audiences and 260 stations serving Hispanics. Some 60 stations target other ethics groups such as Polish, German, Italian, Irish, and Greek.
- News/Talk FormatMost popular on AM, news/talk accounts for some 17% of all radio listening time and attracts primarily a male audience in the 25-54-year-old category.
9. Format Homogenization
Many stations across the nation sound essentially the same for good reasons:
Owners believe that what works well in one city should work well in another.
Satellite program transmissions are standardizing content.
Program choices are increasingly influenced by a limited band of radio consultants and audience research firms.
10. Noncommercial Radio
Some 1,900 noncommercial stations are owned by non-profit organizations, with most programming supplied by two networks:
National Public Radio (with 530 affiliates); stations pay NPR a usage fee based on audience size and budget. Most stations also receive funding from the CPB, or Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an agency funded by Congress.
Public Radio International Distributes programming from station-based, independent and international producers
11. OWNERSHIP IN THE RADIO INDUSTRY
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 encouraged a strong trend toward radio station consolidation and group ownership. As a result, several radio station conglomerates now dominate U.S. markets, the largest of which owns some 904 stations.
12. PRODUCING RADIO PROGRAMS
Departments and Staff
Though departmental radio organization varies by station size, most organizations feature the same two top positions:
- general manager enforces station policies, maintains contact with the community, and monitors program content, ratings, and sales information
- program director responsible for the station’s sound, plus hiring/firing on air personalities
Most stations are also divided into four departments:
. sales . news
. programming . engineering
13. Putting Together a Program
Music Format: Uses a format wheel divided into program element segments and the times they’re scheduled to air.
Talk Format: Staff produced, topics are geared to local interests. These shows require more equipment, staff and technical expertise than DJ-based programs.
All-News Format: the most costly of all formats, news shows schedule specific spots for news, weather, sports, business reports, and commercials. Their repeat story cycle usually starts at the top or bottom of the hour.
14. ECONOMICS
At $20 billion annually, radio advertising holds 8 percent of the advertising market. From 1993-2000, the industry enjoyed 93 consecutive months of revenue increases.
Revenue comes from three main sources:
national ads (usually on network programs to national advertisers) 5 %
regional ads or national spot ads (less market coverage than national, more than local) 16 %
local ads (purchased generally by local business or organizations) 79 %
15. General Expenses
Expenses in radio are divided into five areas:
technical: engineering staff payroll plus technical repairs and maintenance
programming: covers talent salaries, tape and record costs, music fees
selling: sales staff salaries and sales-related expenses
administration: management and business staff salaries, building expenses, supplies
news: news source fees
16. FEEDBACK
Audience figures for radio stations are monitored by Arbitron, which surveys 3,000 to 4,000 randomly selected listeners in some 262 markets nationwide. The results (usually only 40 to 50 percent of the surveys sent out), take two forms:
• ratings ratio of station listeners to all people in the market
• shares ratio of station listeners relative to the total number of people in the market share actually listening to radio at the same time
17. Radio Audience Profiles
550 million radios in U.S. (over two per person); 1/3 are in cars
on a typical day, 3/4 of all adults will listen to some radio
average person has the radio on for about three hours daily
most listen to radio during the twice daily rush-hour drive times
FM listenership rising (72%), biggest increase from teenagers
as people age, they tend to evolve from one format to another