| It is said that history repeats itself and the history of radio is no exception. AM radio began as a creative medium and as it became increasingly commercialized, FM radio took over as the creative outlet for music lovers. FM radio at present is the AM radio of the 1960s, but even more homogenized with listeners across the nation not only hearing the same music, but also the same djs. Radio didn’t begin as a big business, though. It only became a big business after independent, innovative programmers spent years developing its popularity. With popularity, also came corruption, backstabbing, and under-the-table dealings, all ignored or assisted by the federal government. Unfortunately, such a creative medium as radio has been raped and pillaged by greedy businessmen, looking for a quick dollar. Here is the story… |
The Beginning of American Radio Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor and entrepreneur, first developed radio. Radio came to America after WWI because of the American Government's demand that the British share this technology. From the beginning of radio in America, the government made it clear that it would be in ultimate control of the radio. General Electric's leader at the time, Owen Young, then convinced the Government to allow the sale of Marconi's American assets to the Radio Corporation of America, a company owned by communication giants General Electric, Westinghouse, and American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). In exchange for allowing this deal, Young offered the U.S. Government a seat on the board of the company. Thus began Radio's first American corporation, RCA. David Sarnoff, employee, president, and later CEO of RCA, was the first corporate slime ball of Radio. He angered many employees and with his blunt nature and inability to keep his word. Arthur Judson was one of the many who Sarnoff double-crossed. Judson managed many orchestras and individual symphony musicians and approached Sarnoff with concern about the effect of radio on his artists. He proposed a plan for booking talent on network radio, a plan that Sarnoff liked and promised the businessman that when networks were formed, he would be in charge of booking artists. Sarnoff realized a couple years later, though, that RCA had no competition with network radio and therefore Judson's plan was no longer interesting. I'm sure Sarnoff thought, "Why have interesting and costly broadcasting when we have no competition?" Judson, in retaliation, bought twelve radio stations, which eventually became RCA's first competitor, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). Slapping FM Radio in the Face Sarnoff was also responsible for stunting the growth of radio in the 1930s and 40s to promote the television's introduction into homes. He had promised Edwin Armstrong, an inventor who had supplied RCA with circuit devices in the past, full backing for the development of FM radio. Armstrong spent nearly a decade inventing FM radio and when he presented his invention to RCA in 1935, they were no longer interested. Days later, RCA announced a one million dollar commitment to the development of television. Sarnoff and RCA turned their back on Armstrong for this new medium. Sarnoff alienated Armstrong more by convincing the FCC to dedicate the very high frequency (VHF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum to television, leaving the inferior ultra high frequency (UHF) to FM radio. Further abusing Armstrong, RCA used many of his FM radio patents on their television development without paying royalties, unlike GE, Zenith, and others. In retaliation, Armstrong sued RCA. However, by orders from Sarnoff, RCA's law firm stalled the suit until Armstrong's widow (Armstrong committed suicide by jumping out of his 13th floor apartment) settled for cash payment of the royalties. Sarnoff kept FM radio buried beneath AM radio and television until the 1960s. During this stifling of FM and promotion of television, AM radio was also changing as businessmen looked for a more efficient way to make money and as desegregation was beginning to occur. World War two was a major cause of blacks migrating from rural areas of the nation into the industrial centers, looking for work. They brought their music with them and "race" radio became heard in the large radio markets. The Father of Rock 'n' Roll Radio "Race" radio first started as R&B shows on white radio at late hours of the night. As more blacks migrated to urban areas and as teens began to embrace R&B, businessmen realized the market for black music and started "Negro stations." Also, a larger portion of white pop stations began having late night R&B shows, which exposed more white teens to "race" music. Teens embraced the music because it took them away from the spiritless life of suburbia. This open-mindedness allowed rock 'n' roll to be born and was ushered in by "the father of rock 'n' roll radio," Alan Freed. Freed was first involved with radio as an evening host of "good music" at a Cleveland radio station. After seeing the popularity of R&B records with teenagers at a local music store, he decided he would host an R&B hour following his "good music" show. Popularity of the show was evident from the start and record storeowner, Leo Mintz, convinced him to devote his entire show to R&B. Reluctantly, he agreed, and began calling his show "The Moon Dog Show." Freed popularized the term, "rock 'n' roll" and his show became so popular that he was hired by New York station, WINS and later by WABC. His hiring at WABC caused his downfall, though, as explained later. Unfortunately, businessmen noticed Alan Freed and other notable djs popularizing radio and the medium became a new investment for those established entrepreneurs. They became chain owners and sought to commercialize and standardize radio. The president of Storer Broadcasting explained the businessman's view of radio: "American radio is the product of American Business! It is just as much that kind of product as the vacuum cleaner, the washing machine, the automobile, and the airplane…If the legend still persists that a radio station is some kind of art center, a technical museum, or a little piece of Hollywood transplanted strangely to your home town, then the first official act of the second quarter century (of commercial broadcasting) should be to list it along with the local dairies, laundries, banks, restaurants, and filling stations." This unnamed President was obviously not an artist, nor a fan of music. I'm sure everyone, but fellow businessmen disagreed with his statement. Play it Over and Over and Over and Over… Radio chain owners attempted to set themselves apart from their competition. Each wanted to develop their own sounds without alienating listeners, which would cause decreases in listenership and therefore advertising. One chain owner, Todd Storz, realized the solution at a bar, discussing radio with his program director. They noticed a cocktail waitress select the same song from the jukebox over and over again throughout the afternoon. Storz realized the effect of constant repetition of a song in building hits and therefore developed Top 40 radio. As the developer of Top 40 radio, Storz developed the concept of "rotation." Most of the programming at his stations would be taken up by the top forty songs on the market and those songs in the top ten would get more airplay than the others. Other owners followed Storz's lead and developed their own structure of the Top 40 concept. Gordon McLendon developed the "instant news" model of most Top 40 radio and dj Chuck Blore is responsible for promotional antics that nearly all radio stations participate in today. The Top 40 format not only brought a consistent listenership to each station, but also reduced the need for on air personalities and the large salaries that accompanied them. The freestyling methods of most djs did not fit with the station's formulated Top 40 sound. Djs lost most control over their own shows. They were stuck playing the same songs hour after hour. By making radio more successful, djs worked themselves out of their jobs. This was the first step in AM radio's unwillingness to play unknown music or to promote a regional hit into a national one. Radio began to go awry. |
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