Chapter 4 Popular Radio and the Origins of Broadcasting.

It is hard to believe but the thing most of us use everyday in our lives known as the Radio has evolved from almost nothing to something used by millions. Radio was introduced to the mass public by the 1920's. It was to the point that most families in the United States actually owned and used their radios daily. The technology of a radio had been already used for military purposes several years prior to this. It was madated in 1910 by congress that all ships carry a radio and have a man on them 24/7. this actually saved hundreds of people when the tragedy of Titanic had occured. A man had been on the radio that night on a nearby ship and heard the call and managed to save hundreds from drowning. The invention of the radio was used in the war as well which also benefitted soldiers in combat. As the years progressed, more and more networks had been fighting for space on the limited radio space. There was beginning to be too many networks fighting for a channel and this brought about the Radio act of 1927 from congress. This led to acts being placed which controlled what was to be played on the radio such as the FCC. They regulate what is or is not too innappropriate for the general public.

Radio is one of the most popular and most used media of today. Even today it still reaches 92% of American teens and adults every single week. The radio is home to a broad spectrum of people trying to advertise, play their record, create a station, or create some other radio groups. The economics of radio are phenomonal because of how much money the radio actually generates. The money generated by advertising on the radio are about 3/4 that of all ad revenue for local ad sales. Something that was common during the 1950's was something called payola. This is something where a record promoter or someone of that sort, pays or bribes a dj to play their song or record. The telecommunications act of 1996 changed the ownership of the radio and the public airwaves. From 1995 to 2005 the number of radio station owners decreased by up to 1/3. This was from about 6,600 to about 4,400 owners. Even though all of these stations have been eliminated and controlled, this still makes the radio one of the most popular forms of media used today.

When the FCC had started to buckle down and control the radio, people had turned to "pirate" radio. from 1995 to 2000 more than 500 illegal Pirate radio stations have been shut down. They operate on a low power signal from 1 to 10 watts of power. They are still around today. As many as 1000 pirate radio stations are still in service today, set up in small towns and urban areas. Even though we are fighting Pirate radio stations today, there are things that we have gained from the radio. Programs such as soap operas, situation comedies, and broadcast news have also been created from radio. The radio also popularized rock and roll, car culture, and the politics of talk radio. Yet no matter what has been done, radio has still remained the supremely local medium.