FOUNDATIONS OF RADIO FUNDAMENTALS OF A/V: RADIO, TV & FILM

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THE MEDIUM OF RADIO

For people in most countries of the world, radio represents the number one source

of news and information.

THE MEDIUM OF RADIO

In the U.S. where people depend more on TV and the Internet for news, radios

still outnumber people by about three-to-one.

BUT LET’S NOT GET AHEAD OF OUR STORY…

Our story has its roots in the Telegraph.

This device was the first widely used electronic form of communication.

THE BEGINNING OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

Telegraphs operate with a “hardwire” set-up, utilizing Morse Code to communicate.

Combinations of dots and dashes represent letters of the alphabet.

Samuel Morse of Morse Code fame invented this system in 1836 and sends the first

message in 1844 from Washington, DC, to Baltimore.

STILL IN PLACE TODAY…

Morse Code is still used as a medium of communication—primarily because for long distance communication, the dots

and dashes survive interference and radio static much better than the human voice.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS ARE HERE TO STAY

With the help of wires strung from pole-to-pole across the country, the Telegraph eventually put the Pony Express out of

business.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE…

The Telegraph was just the first of a string of inventions throughout history that

threatened the existing order of things.

THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME…

Telegraph made the Pony Express obsolete.

Radio endangered the telegraph and telephone.

Film threatened radio.Television took a bite out of films.

The Internet looms large over TV and film.

THE TELEPHONE IS INVENTED

Not too long after the Telegraph was invented, Alexander Graham Bell was credited with inventing an even better

way of communicating:the Telephone.

THE TELEPHONE IS INVENTED

March 10, 1876First successful experiment with the Telephone.

“Mr. Watson—come here—I want to see

you.”

…AND LIFE HASN’T BEEN THE SAME SINCEThis version of the telephone was used in

hundreds of thousands of U.S. homes up to the mid-1900s.

“PARTY LINE”

All phones on the party line rang at the same

time, no matter who the call was for.

Each home had its own ring pattern.

It was pretty hard to keep a good secret in those

days.

“NUMBER PLEASE”

There were no dials or pushbuttons; you had to place every call through an operator at

the town’s central switchboard.Before leaving the line, the operator would

wait until someone picked up—or inform you that there was no answer.

POINT-TO-POINT COMMUNICATION

Given the ability of any number of people to listen in on interesting conversations, the early Telephone medium actually ended

up being a limited form of “broadcasting” in some communities.

THE FOUNDATION OF RADIO

The Telegraph and the Telephone both laid the foundation for RADIO.

THE FOUNDATION OF RADIO

In 1887, Heinrich Hertz demonstrated that

electromagnetic waves could be transmitted

through the air.

In recognition of his achievement, the term “Hertz” is now used as a term for cycles per

second, a common unit for the frequency of

both sound and radio waves.

TRANSMITTING SIGNALS BY RADIO WAVESGuglielmo Marconi is commonly credited

for inventing Radio in 1895.

Once he proved that wireless transmissions could work, he patented the invention and set up the Marconi

Wireless Telegraph Company.

EARLY SIGNALS WIMPY

What was needed was a way of electrically amplifying signals—including the human

voice.

VACUUM TUBE AMPLIFIER INVENTED

In 1906, the audion tube, a vacuum tube that

amplified signals was created.

Ship radio operators who had never heard anything

but boring Morse Code beeps, had a Twilight

Zone experience at sea when they heard

Christmas carols on their radios!

Music and even the human voice had been

successfully sent via radio.

EARLY BROADCASTS

Shortly after that first radio broadcast, broadcasts were transmitted from the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Metropolitan Opera

House in New York.Mostly just PR stunts, the success of these broadcasts did prove that radio could be an entertainment medium with the potential

for mass appeal.

TITANIC MAKES “RADIO” A HOUSEHOLD WORD

Meanwhile, out at sea, something happened that shook the nation.

The “Titanic” set out on its maiden voyage in April 1912.

It hit an iceberg—and sank.

TITANIC MAKES ‘RADIO’ A HOUSEHOLD WORD

About 2,200 people were on-board, and most of them perished that night. But, it could

have been worse. Thanks to the new invention of Radio, about 800 were saved.

TITANIC MAKES ‘RADIO’ A HOUSEHOLD WORD

A young radio operator, safely on land, was in charge of monitoring oceanic radio transmissions that night.

David Sarnoff [foreshadowing major player in radio and

TV] had just started his first day on the job. He received

the SOS signal from the Titanic and immediately

relayed the information to the nearest ships.

AUDIO RECORDING DEVELOPED

In the early days of radio there was no

way to record sound. Everything had to be

done “live.”In 1877, Thomas Edison

designed the “tinfoil phonograph,”

credited to be the first practical device to

record and play back sound.


The first recordings were made on strips of tinfoil and on wax cylinders, both of

which had a very limited life.


In 1898, the Telegraphone, the first practical magnetic sound recorder was patented.

They were sold as dictation machines and general purpose sound recorders.

It was not until WW2 that magnetic tape, common to tape recorders, was

developed.

FIRST U.S. BROADCAST STATION

KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pa., was the first radio station to be officially licensed by the Dept. of

Commerce as a commercial radio station.They played music by holding a microphone up

to a phonograph. And marketed these radios for $10 each.

By 1920, radio was officially on the scene in the U.S.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION

The U.S. Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927, which created the Federal Radio

Commission (FRC).

The FRC’s purpose was to organize the licensing of transmitters, including

assigning radio station frequencies, call letters, and power limits.


Stations to the east of the Mississippi started with “W,” and stations west start with the

letter “K.”

In 1934, the FRC was reorganized into the agency that now controls U.S. broadcasting:

the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC’s regulatory powers expanded to include telephone and

telegraph—and years later, television.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO

The Golden Age of Radio—the period when radio reached its peak popularity—was in

the 1930s and 1940s.Part of this period was during the Great

Depression. Radio and its wide range of live music, comedy, variety shows, and dramatic programming served as a welcome escape

from those troubled times.

STAY TUNED: TOMORROW…

The Golden Age of Radio!The “War of the Worlds” Broadcast!

How Radio Works!

THE EARLY HISTORY OF RADIO

Once radio broadcasting was launched, people began to realize just how significant

this new medium could be.KDKA, along with at least one other station,

broadcast the 1920 Harding-Cox presidential election returns—well in

advance of the newspapers.


People took note of all the free music, information and commentary that was

suddenly available to anyone with a radio set.

But…scores of people were building their own personal radio stations, which created a

major problem.


Soon there were too many stations for the number of frequencies available to separate

them on the dial.

THE DAWN OF BROADCAST ADVERTISINGIn 1922, a station in New York, WEAF, ran a 10-minute talk on the merits of some co-op

apartments --and charged $50 for their effort.

That was deemed a toll broadcast – now better known as a commercial.

Things haven’t been the same since.


The U.S. Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927, which created the Federal Radio

Commission (FRC).

The FRC’s purpose was to organize the licensing of transmitters, including

assigning radio station frequencies, call letters, and power limits.

Stations to the east of the Mississippi started with “W,” and stations west start with the

letter “K.”

In 1934, the FRC was reorganized into the agency that now controls U.S. broadcasting:

the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC’s regulatory powers expanded to include telephone and

telegraph—and years later, television.


The Golden Age of Radio—the period when radio reached its peak popularity—was in

the 1930s and 1940s.Part of this period was during the Great

Depression. Radio and its wide range of live music, comedy, variety shows, and dramatic programming served as a welcome escape

from those troubled times.


Even though people couldn’t afford payments on their washing machines, vacuum

cleaners or Model A Fords, they desperately struggled to keep up payments on their

radios.


By 1935, more than 22 million American homes had radios, and automobiles were

being sold with radios.

RADIO = MAJOR ADVANTAGE IN NEWS

Radio had a major advantage in being able to “be first with the news.”

Not only were radio stations scooping newspapers on major stories, they also were siphoning off advertising revenue.

RADIO = MAJOR ADVANTAGE IN NEWS

Radio did especially well in bringing the news and drama of World War 2 into the homes of

Americans.Edward R. Murrow was the most notable news

personality of this era. He once did a live report from London with the sounds of

bombs falling around him.

THE “WAR OF THE WORLDS” BROADCAST

October 1938Orson Welles, a young, controversial genius of

radio, stage and film, had come up with a radio drama for Halloween night involving

an invasion from Mars.

THE “WAR OF THE WORLDS” BROADCAST

The show was in the form of a mock radio newscast

featuring supposedly live reports from various parts

of the U.S., tracing the destructive advance of the

Martians across the country

Keep in mind that this was during the time when

“radio was king.” The show caused panic

across the country.

AM, FM WAVES AND SOUND

To understand some of the concepts we’ve talked about as well as some of the strange things that happen to broadcast signals, we

need to take a look at how radio works.


AM stands for amplitude modulation.AM radio ranges from 530 to 1710 kHz (kilohertz, or thousands of cycles per-

second of electromagnetic energy).These are the numbers you see on your AM

radio dial.


You can see that AM radio waves are of a lower frequency than either FM radio or TV

waves.They behave differently too.


Because the signals of AM stations tend to be

limited in their range, you can use some of the frequencies many times –

as long as the stations are far enough apart

geographically.This is why we can have

nearly 5,000 AM radio stations on only 117

different frequencies.


How far the AM station’s signal travels depends on such things as the

station’s frequency, the power of the transmitter in watts, how good their antenna is, and a thing

called ionospheric refraction.

Ionospheric refraction is a big deal because AM

radio waves can end up hundreds, even

thousands, of miles away and interfere with other

stations on the same frequency.


During the daytime, the distance the AM radio signal travels is the distance the ground

wave travels based upon the power of the transmitter. Notice the ground wave doesn’t go very far. This means stations can be put on the same frequency without interfering

with each other. The signal also reaches the ionosphere –and

it is much more effective in reflecting radio waves at night.


That’s why, at sunset, most AM radio stations in the U.S. have to:

• Reduce power• Directionalize their signal, or

• Go off the air.


FM stands for frequency modulated.The FM radio band ranges from 88 to 108 MHz

(megahertz, or millions of cycles per second of electromagnetic energy).

These are the numbers you see on your FM radio dial.


Unlike AM radio stations, FM stations –at least in the U.S.—don’t end up being assigned frequencies with nice round numbers like

610 or 1320. Thus, an FM station may be at 105.9 on the dial.


You may have noticed that FM (and TV) stations don’t reduce power or sign off the

air at sunset. Because of their higher frequency, ionospheric refraction doesn’t

appreciably affect FM or TV signals.


For the most part, FM and TV signals are line of sight. These waves go in a straight line

and don’t bend around the Earth as AM ground waves do. Thus, they can quickly

disappear into space.FM and TV signals can be stopped or reflected

by things like mountains or buildings.The higher you place an FM or TV transmitter

antenna, the greater area they will cover.

NOW, BACK TO OUR STORY…

So, how could this medium hold families around their radios night after night, and

hold women around their radios every weekday afternoon with soap operas?

For one thing, radio in the Golden Age wasn’t just designed to appeal to specific musical

and philosophical tastes as it is today.It was a family medium.

NOW, BACK TO OUR STORY…

Families sat around the radio and listened to shows like “The Shadow,” “Gunsmoke,”

“Ellery Queen,” “Dick Tracy,” “Buck Rogers,” and a host of others.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF RADIO

Today’s listeners, who use radio largely as a background to do other things, might

wonder how radio could hold a listener’s interest for several hours at a time.

There’s a one-word answer:

Imagination

THE FOUNDATIONS OF RADIO

Not being “troubled” by the spelled out details in pictures, the people of that era could –and did– imagine what the people

and situations looked like.

For this reason, radio was personally involving.

Documents

FOUNDATIONS OF RADIO FUNDAMENTALS OF A/V: RADIO, TV & FILM