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- History of Radio
-
- Radio is an enigma, it is the
- most obvious force on the planet.
- There is no patch of land anywhere
- that is un-touched by radio waves.
- Over 1/3 of radio broadcasts
- originate from the United States
- of America . In 1997 there are over
- 11,000 radio stations in this land.
- 99% of all households have a radio
- in them , many of these homes have
- more than one.
- More people tune into to todays
- radio for various forms of entertainment
- than any other source of media today,
- either printed or electronic.
- As a matter of fact there are twice
- as many car radios in use than the
- combined circulations of all daily
- newspapers. Even though radio seems to
- have been around for-ever, it is just a
- little over a century old. Radio was
- invented by Guglielmo Marconi, he called
- his invention "wireless telegraphy".
- It was David Sarnoff who can lay
- claim to creating the radio world
- we know today. In what was known as
- the " Radio Box Memo", Sarnoff suggested
- that radio recievers be mass produced
- for public consumption. At first the
- offer was rejected, but Sarnoff's
- persistence paid off. In a few years,
- radio's popularity even surpassed
- Sarnoff's expectations.
- In 1922 Pittsburgh's 'KDKA' radio
- station went on the air with a regular
- operating schedule.
- The first major broadcast network was
- established in 1926 by the Radio Corpor-
- ation of America (RCA). The network con-
- sisted of 24 stations.
- It was during the depression that
- radio flourished. The home front was
- entertained by radio shows like "Fibber
- McGee and Molly", and "The Lone Ranger".
- As most businesses failed, radio
- flourished. Some shows achieved so
- much popularity that peoples lives
- revolved around them. When " Amos and
- Andy " came on life in the country came
- to a halt.
- In the 40 's radio was at first
- threatened by World War II, as the FCC
- ordered a war time freeze on radio
- construction. And then in the latter
- half of the decade, television reared
- it's head. Radio was given it's last
- rights. Many radio station owners sold
- their stations and re-invested in t.v.
- stations.
- In the 1950 's radio was given a
- revival with the advent of Rock & Roll
- music. Soon music was pouring out of
- radio sets around the world. It was
- Rock & Roll music that triggered the
- advent of FM music.
- In 1961 the FCC authorized the use
- of stereo broadcasting on the FM band.
- This would be the benchmark of the
- medium.
- FM reached it's peak in the 70's. By
- the mid decade, stereo radio sets were
- one of the hottest products in the
- stores. Soon stations began to "program
- music " station formats arose. Rock,
- country, disco, and all sorts of other
- music was being run by various stations.
- Local disc jockeys became overnight
- celebrities,stations fought to be number
- one. The Arbitron Ratings became the
- guage to how good the station was, and
- how much any station could charge
- for advertising space on the airwaves.
- By the 1980's and well into the 90's
- radio became big business, and still
- stands there today.
-
- Radio Personel
-
- Radio stations are divided into many
- different departments, each of these
- departments managed by a professional
- radio employees. These employees range
- from the General Manager all the down
- to part time board operators.
- The general manager is the boss, here
- is the person who is in charge of all
- staff members, he is the final word on
- all matters. It is the station manager
- name that goes on payroll checks. It is
- responsibility to run the entire radio
- station.
- A G.M. is usually a business major in
- college, he has a strong sense of
- business, and a good knowledge of radio.
- He makes big money, but he has all the
- head-aches. The General Manager answers
- directly to the owners of the radio
- station.
- Between the General Manager and the
- Operation Manager lies the business
- manager, and executive secretary in some
- stations. The job of the receptionist is
- sometimes linked under that of the
- secretary.
- Answering to the G.M. directly is the
- operations manager. An O.P. is responsi-
- ble for the actual running of the
- station. He is the person who is the go-
- between for the staff and higher
- management. The various department heads
- like sales manger,the program directors,
- and chiefengineer.
- After the operation's manager the
- chain of command takes a three way split
- the departments are sales, maintenance,
- and the actual air shifts.
- The maintenance of the station is up
- to the chief engineer, his job is to
- see that all items in the station are
- in top working order. This is not just
- the transmitters, and other broadcast
- equipment, this includes general main-
- tenance like lights, and doors, and
- furniture as well. The chief engineer
- is responsible for the entire upkeep of
- the whole station.
- Under the chief engineer's jurisdic-
- tion is also the station technicians,
- and the maintenance personel.
- The sales manager is at the other end
- of the spectrum. Here is the person who
- handles the financial health of the
- radio station. The sales people, traffic
- and public affairs personel are all the
- responsibility of the sales manager.
- Sales staff, these are the folks that
- make the phone calls, keep the appoint-
- ments, and handle the station's many
- clients. They are the folks in the front
- line that try to sell the ad space for
- the radio station.
- Traffic Staff, the people in traffic
- handle the paperwork. They take care of
- the writing, placing, and billing for
- all the commercials that the radio sta-
- tion plays. The copy writers are loca-
- ted in the staff as well.
- The Program Director handles all the
- jobs of the air personel. Here is the
- backbone of any radio station. He is the
- guy that programs the music, makes the
- schedules, and handles all jobs that are
- connected with the actual air staff.
- Under the P.D. are the news director
- the sports, director, the music director
- the announcers, and the news people. In
- most smaller stations the P.D. serves
- double and triple duty by taking on all
- of the director jobs in the station.
- Lastly in the chain of command are
- the announcers, these are the people
- the actual listeners hear on the radio.
- As you can see, even though the air
- shift is the only people you can hear
- on a radio station, it is a huge staff
- that is in the background that keeps
- these guys on.
-
- PROGRAMMING MUSIC
-
- As you can tell by scanning the dial
- there are all sorts of music, different
- stations play different kinds of music.
- Why is this ? Well a radio station is a
- business, and as such it is competing
- against other stations for as many of
- the people in that city to listen to it.
- To get the most people a station has
- to play the music the city's population
- wants. This is called "demographics".
- Different types of people like various
- types of music. Even though there is no
- set rule as to what sort of people like
- sort of music, various trends have been
- noticed by programmers over the years.
- Senior Citizens for example, seem to
- treat rock and roll like the plaque, yet
- the embrace the format known as "Easy
- Listening" or "Beautiful Music". Also
- listeners tend to gravitate towards the
- music that is produced by people like
- themselves. Such as jazz and urban are
- usually prefered by African -American
- listeners.
- Even though these trends seem to
- hold true, the spectrum is broad, and
- there are exceptions to these rules.
- However demographics do contribute to
- a lot of what a station should play.
- But what are the various formats
- that a radio station will play. Well
- there are quite a number of them, and
- they in turn can be broken down even
- further. But the most important ones
- would include the following:
- Adult Contemporary (AC)
- Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR)
- Country
- Easy Listening
- Album Oriented Rock (AOR)
- News/Talk
- Oldies
- Middle of the Road (MOR)
- Urban Contemporary (UC)
- Jazz
- Classical
- Religious
- Ethnic
-
- In the terms of listeners Adult Con-
- temporary was the most popular music of
- the 1980's. It is format of low key pop
- hits of the last ten to fifteen years.
- It stays away from hard rock, and rap,
- it is an easy beat, it is a format that
- is heard in shops and stores. People
- like Barry Manilow, and The Beatles are
- a strong representation of this style of
- music.
- Contemporary Hit Radio is Top 40.
- This is a format widely listened to by
- teen-agers and young adults. The focus
- of this format is twelve to eighteen
- year olds. Any song that has been off
- the charts for more than two months will
- get rotated off this type of station's
- playlist. As of 1997 the representative
- artists of this format would be PHISH,
- Jonny Lang, and Big Head Todd.
- Country is country, in the mid 90's
- it is the number #1 format across the
- United States. Starting out as the folk
- music of rural people, the format has
- grown to huge proportions. Nashville
- Tennessee is the country music capitol
- of the world. Country artists include
- people like Reba McIntyre, Garth Brooks,
- and Pam Tillis.
- Easy listening, or beautiful music
- is gaining large audiences, it is very
- low key, very ballad oriented. It is the
- music of the 40's, 50's, and 60's and
- also the lighter hits of the 70's & 80's
- it is the music people have while they
- do their housework. Older people are the
- key group for this music. Artists of the
- format include Tony Bennett, Dean Martin
- and the Andrews Sisters.
- Album Oriented Rock is having a big
- resurgence in the 90's. Here is the hits
- of the 70's and 80's. It has a strong
- male following , but females are also
- tuning into this format. The typical age
- is between 25 and forty, but teenagers
- are finding the stations, as are people
- older than the core listening group. A
- typical show will include Bob Seger, The
- Doobie Brothers , Genesis , and Bruce
- Springsteen.
- News/Talk here is a format that shows
- you don't need music to have a radio
- show. Strictly an AM format this station
- specializes in keeping people abreast of
- the latest news stories. Also sports is
- an important aspect of these stations.
- Call in shows like Larry King, and Rush
- Limbaugh are key features on these kinds
- of stations.
- Oldies/Nostalgia the hits of years
- gone by are the strong suit of oldies
- stations. Hits of the 50's, 60's, and
- 70's, are the focal point. These kinds
- of stations differ from Easy Listening
- as the songs have a more rock and roll
- edge to them. Typical artists include
- Jefferson Airplane, Buddy Holly, and
- of course Elvis Presley.
- Middle of the Road is exactly what
- the name implies. Here is a format that
- does not stray to far from the general
- populus. It's called the "bridge format"
- because that is what it does. It bridges
- all formats. Any song from any format
- will be played in this genre, as long as
- it stays near the core of people's dif-
- ferent tastes. The Beatles, and Stevie
- Wonder are good examples of this type of
- format.
- Urban Contemporary is realitively new
- to radio, springing out of the disco
- sounds of the 60's and 70's, hip hop has
- emerged as a popular format for both
- african american, and non black youths
- across the country. Known as Rap or Funk
- this music is known for heavy drum parts
- and a stress on talking, or "rapping" on
- the tracks. Known artists of the format
- are "The Fat Boys", "Snoop Doggy Dogg",
- and M.C. Hammer.
- Jazz has been around almost as long
- as Country music. Jazz is known as Amer-
- ica's only true music form. Started in
- the mid 19th century in the south, it
- soon spread across the country. Cities
- like St. Louis, and New Orleans are the
- places associated with this music. Black
- senior citizens are the strongest demo-
- graphic group for this format. Jazz
- greats include Louis Armstrong, Count
- Basie, and Charlie Parker.
- Classical Music is usually the format
- played on college radio, the commercial
- value of classical music is very small.
- There are not to many classical stations
- in the market, and those that are, can
- be found only in major market cities
- like New York, and Los Angelas.
- Religious and Ethnic stations have
- recently just started to make head-way
- in middle market cities. The listening
- audience for these stations are choice
- select groups of people who belong to
- the specific group. As time passes these
- formats may become more popular, but as
- of now, they cater to a select few.
-
- BROADACSTING EQUIPMENT
-
- Various equipment is needed to run a
- successful radio station. The tools of
- the trade range from 'high tech' audio
- reproducers to simple pencils and paper.
- When most people think of a radio
- station they picture a huge tower out in
- a field behind the radio station. The
- tower is a huge metal structure that is
- used to transmit the signal from the
- station to the surrounding recievers in
- the area. The tower must have flashing
- lights on it to warn low flying air-
- craft of it's presence in the dark.
- Transmitters are the huge electronic
- devices that turn the music and talk
- into the radio waves that are to be
- broadcast into the air. The transmitter
- is tuned to a certain frequency. These
- machines are set to a cetrain power set-
- ting that is carefully regulated and
- monitored as well.
- Consoles or boards, these at control
- stations that d.j.'s operate. They house
- switches and "pots" that control the
- various input devices that are liked to
- the board. Meters built into the board
- show the volume of the input device.
- Turn-tables are record players that
- are built into the table top and then
- connected to the board. These work like
- standard household record players with
- the exception that they are activated
- by a switch in the board.
- Tape Players, these are the machines
- that play the various type of magnetic
- media that is found on tapes. Like the
- turn-tables, they are activated by a
- switch on the board. Tape machines come
- in a variety of styles, such as reel to
- reel, cassette, and cart machines.
- Microphones, these are the devices
- disk jockeys talk into. The are usually
- suspended in front of the board, some of
- them however are placed in mike holders
- and set on the table in fron of the disk
- jockey.
- Computers are playing a big part in
- radio these days. They are used for the
- news, for production, and some stations
- use them in lieu of live air talent. In
- some instances a station will automate
- by bringing in a live "feed" from a lo-
- cation away from the station. The com-
- puter will play the commercials, and
- run the news, station i.d.'s and other
- things a d.j. would normally do.
-
- GLOSSARY
-
- ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE........Station or agency
- sales person.
-
- ACTIVES.........Listeners who call radio
- stations for requests, or enter station
- contests.
-
- ADI...........Area of Dominant Influence
- this is an Arbitron Measurment.
-
- ADJACENCIE.........These are commercials
- stregically placed next to a feature.
-
- AFTRA.......American Federation of Tele-
- vision and Radio Artists.
-
- AIRCHECK.......Tape of a live broadcast.
-
- A.M..........Amplitude Modulation, this
- is the method of signal transmission
- using the broadcast band between 535 and
- 1605 kHz.
-
- ANNOUNCEMENT.....Commercial Spot or Live
- ad of variable length.
-
- AOR..................Album oriented rock
-
- ARBITRON............Audience measurement
- service employing a seven day diary.
-
- AUDIO...................Sound modulation
-
- BACK ANNOUNCE.........Recap of preceding
- music selections.
-
- BARTER..........Exchange or trade of air
- time for programming or goods.
-
- BED......Music behind voice in a commer-
- cial.
-
- BLASTING......Excessive volume resulting
- in distortion.
-
- BOOK........Term used to describe rating
- information.
-
- BULK ERASER..........tool used to remove
- magnetic impressions from tapes.
-
- CALL LETTERS......Assigned station iden-
- tification, begins with a "W" east of
- the Mississippi, and "K" in the west.
-
- CART......Plastic cartridge containing a
- continuous loop of tape.
-
- CLOCK.......Wheel indicating sequence of
- order of programming ingredients.
-
- COMPACT DISK (CD)......Digital recording
- using laser beam to decode surface.
-
- CONSULTANT.....Station advisor
-
- CONTROL ROOM.........Center of broadcast
- operations. The studio.
-
- COPY........Advertising message, script.
-
- CROSSFADE......Fading out of one element
- while bringing up another.
-
- DAT...................Digital Audio Tape
-
- DAYPARTS......Periods or segments of the
- broadcast day.
-
- DEAD AIR.......Silence where audio is to
- be heard.
-
- DEEJAY............Announcer, disk jockey
-
- DEMOGRAPHICS........Audience statistical
- data based on age, race, sex, etc.
-
- DUB.........Copy of one tape to another.
-
- EBS........Emergency Broadcasting System
-
- FCC......Federal Communication Comission
-
- F.M.........Frequency Modulation, method
- of broadcasting using an 88-108 mHz band
- width.
-
- FORMAT.....Type of programming a station
- offers.
-
- FREQUENCY....Number of cycles-per-second
- of a sine wave.
-
- GAIN...............Volume, amplification
-
- GROUND WAVE........A.M. signal traveling
- along the earth's surface.
-
- HEADPHONES.......Speakers mounted on the
- ears.
-
- HERTZ.........Cycles per second, unit of
- frequency.
-
- I.D...............Station Identification
-
- JACK.....Plug for patching sound sources
- patch cord, socket, input.
-
- JINGLE......Musical commercial or promo.
-
- KILOHERTZ (kHz)......One thousand cycles
- per second.
-
- LEVEL......Amount of volume units. Audio
- units.
-
- LIVE COPY....Material read over the air.
-
- LIVE TAG....Postscript of taped message.
-
- MAKE-GOOD.......Replacement spot for one
- missed.
-
- MARKET........Area served by a broadcast
- service.
-
- MASTER................Original recording
-
- MEGAHERTZ (mHz).......Million cycles per
- second.
-
- MONITOR...................Studio speaker
-
- MONO...........Single or fulltrack sound
-
- MULTI-TRACK.....Recording sound on sound
- overdubbing, stacking tracks.
-
- NAB..............National Association of
- Broadcasters.
-
- NETWORK......Broadcast combine providing
- programming to affiliates.
-
- NETWORK FEED...........Programs sent via
- telephone lines or satellites to affili-
- ate stations.
-
- OUTPUT..........Transmission of audio or
- power from one location to another.
-
- PACKAGE...............Canned programming
-
- PASSIVES.....Listeners of radio stations
- who do not call or make them-selves
- known.
-
- PLAYBACK........Reproduction of recorded
- sound.
-
- PLAYLIST.....Roster of music for airing.
-
- PLUG...............Promotion, connector.
-
- RAB.............Radio Advertising Bureau
-
- RATE CARD.......Statement of advertising
- rates and terms.
-
- REMOTE........Broadcast originating away
- from the station control room.
-
- REVERB.........Echo, redundancy of sound
-
- SBE.......Society of Broadcast Engineers
-
- SHARE.....Percentage of stations listen-
- ership compared to competition.
-
- SIGNAL................Sound Transmission
-
- SPLICE.........To join ends of recording
- tape with adhesive.
-
- SPONSOR.....Advertiser, sponsor, client.
-
- SPOTS..................Commercials, ads.
-
- STATION.........Broadcast facility given
- specific frequency by FCC.
-
- STEREO..........Multi-channel sound: two
- program channels.
-
- TALENT........Radio performer, announcer
- deejay, sportscaster.
-
- TRANSMIT....................To broadcast
-
- TSA........Total Survey Area, geographic
- area in a radio survey.
-
- VOICE-OVER...............Talk over sound
-
- VOLUME.................Quantity of sound
-
- V.U. METER...........Gauge for measuring
- units of sound.
-
- WINDSCREEN........Microphone filter used
- to prevent popping and distortion.
-