J201Lecture: RadioHow many of you own an iPod?What percentage of the US population owns an iPod?(shows % of total radio audience in each age group)What percentage of the US population listens to plain old AM/FM radio?“According to data in the most recent edition (2004) of Arbitron’s annual Radio Today report, 94% of people 12 years old and older still listen to traditional radio weekly. That is a drop of just one percentage point since 1998.”stateofthenewsmedia.org 200694%1900s: “wireless telegraphy”•Guglielmo Marconi•point-to-point communication•military applications•Radio Act of 1912•Frank Conrad (Westinghouse)•David Sarnoff(RCA)•NBC in 19261920s: “radio broadcasting”•local stations cooperate to reach national audience•economy of scale: audience size and ad revenue•concentration: capital expenditure and program quality•diseconomy of scale: homogenized inoffensive content“network” model of broadcasting•Federal Radio Commission 1927•“public interest, convenience, or necessity”•principle of scarcity•principle of reach•Federal Communications Commission 1934•“seven station rule”“public interest” model of regulation•1940: 80% of US households had a radio•Live music most popular form of content•Pattern set for TV: dramas, comedies, talk shows, game shows•1949: First top-40 “disc jockey” in Omaha, Nebraska: Robert Storz1930s-1940s “Golden Age” of radioRobert Todd Storz, 1954•each locality has many competing stations•more effective to target one audience 24 hours/day than targeting different audiences at different times of day•radio dramas, comedies, game shows go to TV, leaving only news, “talk,” and music•music moves to FM, talk moves to AM•“rock ‘n roll” triumphant1950s: “format” model of radio•roughly even split between number of AM and FM stations•music represents 80% of all content•rock generates 25% of all revenues•rap/hip-hop and country split the next 25% US radio todayhow do people use radio today?what are the top radio companies today?Is satellite radio the future?•subscription service($13/month and up)•digital receivers•cable model for content•nationwide, not local•XM (6 million, 160 channels) vs. Sirius (3.5 million, 125 channels) •pending merger; profitable yet? Or is the future in free “webcast” Internet
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