Stay Tuned [antikvár]

Preface ". . . it might be advantageous to 'shout' the message, spreading it broadcast to receivers in all directions, and for which the wireless system is weil adapted, seeing that it is so inexpensive and so easily and rapidly installed-such as for army manoeuvres, for reporting races and other sporting events, and, generally, for all important matters . . ."-J. J. Fahie, A History of Wireless Telegraphy (1901), p. 259 "In 1928 we were watching it grow." "And in 1950 the radio art will have influenced this whole people for more than thirty years, breaking down their distance barriers, making all the world their neighbor, carrying the electric word from coast to coast and nation to nation . . . promoting understanding, sympathy, peace . . . "It will have played its part in the development of music ... in education, and in business, and in happiness . . ."-Paul Schubert, The Electric Word (1928), p. 311 We think that the history of broadcasting is important. The ambiguous mirrors of radio and television, reflecting the world about us and projecting our interests and concerns upon themselves, are a major part of all our lives. In fact, most of us spend more time listening to and watching radio and television in an average week than doing anything else except perhaps sleeping. But we feel, in addition, that any institution-such as broadcasting-must recognize its roots and learn from its history in order to compete with other institutions and to grow in a constantly changing environment. Even though the past never exactly repeats itself, our knowledge of it will shape our future course. Our goal is to teli how American broadcasting got where it is today and, by analyzing principles, events, and trends, suggest what directions it may take in the future. We emphasize trends rather than incidents and trivia, key individuals rather than random examples, and basic principles rather than isolated facts. Instead of just listing events, we try to explain them, interrelating developments in technology, organization and structure of the industry, economics, news and entertainment programming, audience research, and public policy and regulation. We have arranged our material both chronologically and topically. The chapters are built around well-defined, consecutive periods of broadcasting's development. The topicai arrangement of sections within chapters is consistent throughout the book except for the first two chapters. Tables of contents for both approaches are provided. Within each chapter describing an era, we start with technology-the conditions, inventions, and innovations of that period relating to broadcasting. Man-made laws are more easily changed than are natural