Open book exams are lame as balls. However, I have taken open note exams, and I would take advantage of them – but really, what’s the point of testing what you know if you can just refer to notes? But really, what about in today’s world where you have all the answers in the palm of your hand? Not everyone did back in 2013 when I took History of Broadcasting I suppose.
I spent way too much time writing out some notes in I was in my History of Broadcasting Class when I was attending The Art Institute of Las Vegas. For each major exam, we were allowed to have one page of notes.
These notes weren’t meant to be deep dives into any certain topic, but I think they are a good set of notes on the history of broadcasting! Hopefully you can learn something from them because I hope my time in college wasn’t a complete waste!
*It has been about 10 years since I took these notes, and I know some of these notes are short hand and might not make sense, but that’s where YOUR research comes in 😉
Page 1 Notes
Important Acts:
The Wireless Ship Act of 1910: Ships +200 miles off the coast with more than 50 passengers to be equipped with radio equipment with a range of 100 miles.
The Radio Act of 1912: Required all ships to have 24-hour radio watch and keep in contact with nearby ships and coastal radio stations. Titanic. Amateurs had to have license and no military/gov’t broadcasting.
The Radio Act of 1927: Transferred most of the responsibility for radio to a newly created Federal Radio Commission (FRC). Five people, no censorship (obscene, indecent, profane) could take away license. “Have authority to make special regulations applicable to stations engaged in chain broadcasting.” Equal time for candidates. “Davis Amendment”
The Commuinications Act: Established 1934, abolished FRC, transferred jurisdiction to FCC. Network option time (CBS). Limited abuse of affiliates. Networks served as agents and employees of artists, which was a conflict of interest.
NBC Red/Blue/CBS/MBS “divorcement”, Red = Entertainment, Blue = News/Cultureal, Blue suppressed competition for Red. FCC “no license shall be issued to a standard broadcast station affiliated with a network which maintains more than one network” FCC won, NBC split, let go of Blue, Ed Noble bought in 1943 American Broadcasting System – 1944 = ABC
ABC came from NBC Blue
The Children’s Television Act of 1990: Must carry children’s informational/educational needs.
Mutual Broadcast System Radio (MBS 1934-1999) MLB Lone Ranger Superman, Introduced Larry King. 1930’s + respected news and commentary.
Important Notes by Year in the History of Broadcasting
1947 – 1970
1947 – Kukla Fran and Ollie 15 year run
1948 – Ed Sullivan Show to 1971
1949 – Time for Beany for 5 years
1950 – Buick-Berle Show
1953 – Captain Kangaroo CBS 1st kids show, Hamm’s bear, 1st color commercial
1954 – NBC=Tonight Show
1955 – Queen for a Day goes TV, General Electric Theater Reagan, Peter Pan, Gunsmoke 20 years, $64,000 Question CBS US Game Show craze
1956 – Videotape!, Wizard of Oz, Zenith Space Commander
1957 – Jack Paar Tonight Show
1958 – “Twenty-One” quiz show, Murrow quote “TV in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us.”
1959 – Bonanza Debuts
1960 – Kennedy/Nixon Debates
1961 – ABC makes 30 second commercials
1962 – All Channel Receiver Act UHF tuners 14-85 in all TVs
1963 – Instant Replay, I have a dream MLK, Wisk Ad = Black & White boys play, JFK shot (NBC)
1964 – “Daisy” Johnson’s mud, cigarette ads cut
1965 – NBC is full color network
1969 – Sesame Street (Ganz-Cooney), Neil Armstrong
1970 – Financial Interest Syndication Rules, Prime Time Access Rule (30 minutes to affiliates), Coke “world to sing”
1971 – 2000
1971 – Standard 60 commercial to 30, All In the Family CBS
1976 – WTBS Superstation
1977 – Roots
1978 – Showtime launched
1979 – ESPN debuts
1980 – CNN debuts, Walter Cronkite retires, MTV debuts
1982 – HSN, regulation
1983 – MASH ends, The Day After gets over 100,000,000 viewers
1984 – Michael Jackson and Pepsi, Tele-Communications Inc TCI buys 150 companies (de-regulation), Apple “1984” commercial
1985 – Captial Cities Comm buys ABC $3,500,000,000
1986 – Will Vinton Cali Raisins
1987 – Rupert Murdoch launches Fox BroadX Co, Playtex
1989 – PPV, Like a Prayer, Time Inc & Warner merge, The Simpsons Debuts
1991 – CNN covers Gulf War, advertisers quit
1992 – Infomercials, Jay Leno takes Tonight Show
1993 – Letterman to CBS from NBC – wins ratings, Cheers, NYPD, Beavis and Butthead, Bon Marche Subliminal
1994 – Olympics of Harding, Kerrigan, O.J., PBS Baseball
1995 – Disney buys Cap Cities/ABC for $19,000,000,000
1996 – Digital Satellites
1997 – Mini DV
1999 – Sony Digital 8, Y2K
2000 – DVD, AOL & Time Warner Merge, Licklider – Internet
Other Page 1 History of Broadcasting Notes
Sylvester “Pat” Weaver – Head of NBC 1953-1955, made TV dominant home entertainment
Rupert Murdoch – Australian – First national AU paper – The Australian – Bought papers, revamped to make them successes – News of the World/Sun, Intermix Media (Myspace), LA Kings/Lakers/Staple Center, Fox Sports Radio, Page 3
Walter Kronkite – “Most Trusted Man in America, And that’s the way it is” – CBS turned him down, Murrow saved, 19 years, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Beatles, Vietnam, JFK, MLK, Moon “If I’ve lost Kronkite”
Howard Cosell – “Tell it like it is bad voice, bad look, sportscaster, got people to talk (Hank Bauer) “Speaking of Sports” 61-92, Ali, Alvin Garrett “Little Monkey”
Robert Westin Smith – Wolfman Jack
NBC – Sarnoff worked for Marconi, operated most powerful radio network Manhattan Department Store, Titanic 72 hours, GM of RCA, he formed NBC in 1926, RCA president in 1930, CotB 1947-1970
Charles Kuralt – Normal People “On the Road”
Columbia Phonograph Company – United bought = CBS, Cigar Business by Paley ads showed him power of money making, moved to NY, bought up many stations, Crosby, Burns, Allen, Rogers, Hope, brought in Murrow
Edward Murrow – Hear it Now, See It Now, Person to Person, Small Word, Good Night and Good Luck (McCarthy)
Fred Silverman – Revamped networks, worked for all 3 majors
Page 2 Notes from History of Broadcasting
Communication – Process by which info is exchanged between individuals through a common system. “The technology of the transmission of information” – Needs: Message, Medium, Sender, Receiver.
Examples: Yelling, smoke signals, Camera, Persian Postal Service, Pigeons
Telegraph (“far writer”) – an apparatus for communicating at a distance by coded signal. Invented by Claude Chappe
Electric Telegraph – 1st telecom in industrial age – Samuel Morse invented in 1832 & Morse Code in 1838
Broadcasting – Distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience
Charles Harrold – School Electronics Institute – “broadcasting” San Jose Calling – SJN – 6XF – KQW – 1st station
Letter indicator for broadcast stations — East of Mississippi river = “W”, West of Mississippi River = “K”
RCA – Radio Corporation of America, from consolidation. AT&T sells WEAF to RCA to create NBC – November 15, 1926 for $1,000,000, closed WCAP, merged with WRC
Marconi, Guiglielmo – Italian. Studied Heinrich Hertz. 1895 – 2 mile broadcast with hill. “How can we do it without wires?” Patented UK #12039 on 2 Jun 1896. Meant to save lives at sea. Three Mile Hill
“Wireless Telegraph Signal Company – 1898
7777 Patent – 1900. Tuned coupled circuits for same time transmissions of different frequencies.
12 Dec 1901 – Transatlantic transmission
First advertised Public Broadcast – 15 June 1920
Beam system – shortwave, directional trans-microwave telephone link – 1932 – Vatican – Castel Gondolfo.
BBC – HD – 2 Nov 1936 – Marconi – EMI 33 US, 1 UK Patent – 1909 Nobel – Physics (Braun) “Wireless Telegraphy” -1937/63. 2 minutes Practical Use of Radar, Commissioned “Father of wireless technology.”
Philo T. Farnsworth
“Father of TV” from Utah. Image disector – 300 patents. 1922 sketched image discector for chemestry teacher.
1927 – first ever all electronic TV Generator won national inventors contest. Free reign at BYU -> cathode ray. 1 year deadline, made 1st digital image of his wife. TV Labs, Inc VP.
Dissector Tube – Basis of all TV’s. RCA paid $1,000,000 to Farnsworth for patent, licenses. Others included cold CRT, ATC system, baby incubator, gastroscope, electronic microscope. 1971 fusion. 165 devices, 49 U.S. Patents – Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor. Recognition Low – competition had money and networking.
Edwin Armstrong
Built 125ft antenna in parents’ backyard. In 1933, invented Frequency Modulation (FM Radio). Patent “Method of receiving High-Frequency oscillations Radio. Also (19B) Regeneration, superheterodyning (but you may want to look more into this as the Wiki article says that French inventor Lucien Levy has received credit for it, and this is the link for the footnote to a book on Google Books – Icons of Invention: The Makers of the Modern World from Gutenberg to Gates, Volume 1).
All TV’s/radios use Armstrong’s inventions. Regeneration -> 20,000x / second = greater range.
Lee DeForest
Audion tube – Age 13 – inventor of mini blast furnace, locomotive, and working silver plating apparatus. Doctoral dissertation possibly 1st thesis in U.S.A. on what became the Radio Audion Tube allowed voice, music, or anything to broadcast loud and clear. Audion replaced by transistor in 1947. Widely known as “Father of Radio” and “Grandfather of Television.”
More on Marconi
Under pressure by U.S. Government, Marconi sold American Marconi Co. to GE. Wanted to recreate international wireless monopoly.
During WW1, the Navy operated AMC. After, RCA made by U.S. Government to take American Marconi Co.
Marconi – Aubrey Fessenden, de Forest, John Stone
500 stations split:
1/4th = manufacturers, retailers, hotels, papers
1/4th = radio related firms, civic groups, government
40% = education, radio clubs, military
(What happened to the other 10%? lol)
RCA in 3 years = $83,500,000. 1930, 9/10ths Advertising. 1939 – 1/3rd lost money.
Post WW2, only 5% red.
More Notes
Radio = Cheap & great entertainment. 1930’s was the Golden Age of Radio Soap Operas
Westinghouse’s 8XK – 1916 -> KDKA in 1920 – Frank Conrad initially broadcasted only music, but then Westinghouse noticed commercial possibilities. Nov 2, 1920, Presidential returns within 5 years – Aus/ANT.
1921 – Jack Dempsey/Georges Carpentier fight teletype MLB games 1921.
1922 – Will Rogers Political Comedian. Philco/Maxwell House host Bing Crosby.
Heinrich Hertz – Antenna – detected oscillates. Hertz wave – Radio waves, MHz measures radio frequencies.
Paul Nipkow – 1st patented television – mechanical – in 1884. First TV scanning device. Scanning principle – light into small port success analyze & transmission. No working prototype.
John Logie Baird – bedroom telephone. 1924 – Transmitted image across a few feet.
26 January 1926 – 50 scientists saw first demonstration of true TV. BTDC 1sts = Transatlantic TV Transmission between London / New York. Transmission to a ship, color, & 3D TV.
1929 – Germans gave Baird facilities. 1930 – Same time video/audio Transmission.
Vladimir Zworykin – Charge storage-type tubes, infared image tubes, the electron microscope
Boris Rosing
1907 patent – 1911 demonstration.
U.S. in 1918. Patents “Television Systems” 1923 (31) & 1925 (28). CRT both transmitter and receiver. PhD in 1926. Vibrating mirror/fax in 1929.
“Kinescope – Sarnoff hired him & RCA for TV Research and Development.
23 Oct 1931 – Iconoscope
Berlin Olympic Games – also Image Disector
1936: Scanning tube.
Vice President at RCA in 1947. Became consultant in 1954.
1967 – National Medal of Science.
CBS – A Notable Corporation in History of Broadcasting
January 27th, 1927 as United Independent Broadcasters, Inc. Columbia Phonograph withdrew, leading to creation of CBS.
William S. Paley & family bought CBS and grew it. Family of Cigars. Advertised and he saw radio as an advertising medium. On 26 September 1928 – NYC, signed 49 stations, signed Crosby, Kate Smith, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Mills Bros., Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Hope, Benny. During World War 2, he was chief of psychological warfare division. Loved Murrow. Made I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, and other shows. Wavied retirement in 1966-1983.
CBS had Murrow, Kronkite, Bill Moyers, and Eric Sevareid. Murrow born 1908, hired as director of talks and education in 1935. 1937 was director of CBS Euro Bureau London. 1946 – CBS Vice President and Director of PA. Resigned 1947. Hear It Now 1950-1951. See It Now 1951-1958 and it won 4 Emmys.
“This is Korea…Crhistmas 1952.”
Senator McCarthy Gould’s soul grew weary, left 1958, USIA 1961-1964, won 9 Emmys, died in 1965. Invented traditions of TV news. Small World 1958-1959.
David Sarnoff
Russian born in 1891. Left school in 1906, bought a telegraph instrument. Worked for Marconi WTC. Became sole operator of most powerful radio station by John Wanamaker and picked up distress signals from Titanic.
1939 – NBC demonstration @ NY World’s Fair.
1926 – formed NBC – Became Brigadier General in World War 2 with Eisenhower.
1930 – President of RCA. COB 1947-1970.
November 15th – NBC spends $50,000 broadcast to 22 stations.
Red = AT&T Links. Blue = RCA Network
Other Notables in History of Broadcasting
Thomas Edison – Employed 10,000 people to manufacture & create, but took credit. William Kennedy Laurie Dickson = Kinetograph / kinetoscope. Holds 1093 patents for inventions – incandescent light bulb, early circuits & batteries, phonograph, mining processes.
Nikola Tesla – Croatia, Austrian Polytechnic School. U.S. in 1884 @ Edison Machine Works. Westinghouse bought patent rights to Tesla’s system of dynamos, transformers, motors to light Chicago in 1893.
WCE “Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using 17 of my patents.”
Invented flourescent lighting, Tesla Induction Morot, Tesla Coil, AC.
Conducted 1st demonstration of wireless communication through radio in 1894.
Alexander Graham Bell – Transmitted sounds with rays of light in 1890. Photophone – first practical test of such a device ever made.
Milton Berle – Mr. Television/Saturday Night. Uncle Milty. Texaco Star Theater. “The Milton Berle Show” 400 Published songs. 30 year $200,000/year with NBC. 1998 Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame.
Ed Sullivan – Gossip! Ed Sullivan Entertains 1936 – 1952. Toast of the Town – June 20th, 1948 – 1955 – Ed Sullivan Show until March 28th, 1971. CBS Studio 50 = The Ed Sullivan Theater. Colonel Tom Parker – Elvis 3 shows. Sullivan takes control – Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, The Doors.
Jackie Gleason – Street gang “Athletic Club” MC, barker, house comedian – WAAT – 1935
1938 – Manhattan Night Clubs. 1940 Musical “Keep off the Grass” Jack Warner signed him on the spot in 1941. “Life of Riley” 1st TV appearance. “Cavalcade of Stars” leads to “Jackie Gleason Show” – “And away we go – how sweet it is.” Colgate Comedy Hour in 1952 – CBS exclusive @ $10,000/week. 18 years. Honeymooners. Hummed photographic memory. Buford T. Justice
And here it is again because I wrote so small!
If you found this helpful or entertaining, please consider your support to BLoafX.com at the support page. Links to Amazon on this site are linked to my affiliate account with Amazon. Any link you click to Amazon that results in a purchase will generate a percentage to me.
Please subscribe to my blog. Every time I get a blog post, you’ll get an email notification! It’ll be a variety of posts, so maybe you’ll learn or see something new often! Thank you for your support!