TV made radio what it is today. It seems odd to credit television with radio's identity but the newer medium had a profound effect on shaping the radio industry. Following the end of World War II, the FCC lifted the freeze on television's development. In just two short years, TV surpassed radio both in popularity and revenue. "In 1949 network radio's revenues declined for the first time ever," (Greenfield, 1989). The long form programs that worked well on radio, worked even better on television. Soon talent, programs and sponsors began migrating to the newer medium. At the station level, management and staff began heading for the new medium as well.

Radio programmers argued that radio was superior to television in the theater of the mind, and attempted to compete head-to-head. Elaborate programs were still conceived and produced for radio. In its infancy, TV could not handle special effects. Radio programmers surmised that Science Fiction would work well on radio. NBC for example worked with Galaxy magazine to produce X-Minus-1 a series of science fiction stories. The audience still showed a preference for television. There was talk of radio's demise.

Radio looked to its roots to develop a new identity. Recorded music had long been a staple of radio. Radio pioneers, Deforest, Conrad, Armstrong and Fessenden had long ago discovered that connecting a turntable to a transmitter was an easy way to produce a program.

Martin Block of WNEW AM in New York City began popularizing the DJ format with his program Make Believe Ballroom.

Block's idea was not entirely original. Several years early while a news reporter at KFWB in Los Angeles, Block was influenced by Al Jarvis who broadcast a program called "The World's Largest Make Believe Ballroom." In 1932 Los Angeles which is now the nations' second largest market and generates the most revenue was not considered a major market. Jarvis' program received little attention outside of LA.

Programs such as Your Hit Parade a program where studio singers performed the hits of the day, later grew into the "Top 40" format. The hits of the day during that time, the early 1950s were the recordings of Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Patti Page and Frank Sinatra. They catered primarily to adult tastes.

The modern format had not yet developed. Most stations still programmed blocks of music at different times during the day. Depending upon region, you could hear country music, classical music, or adult standards. Big band jazz and piano music were popular in the evening.

During this time period announcers played a background role. They were interchangeable and supplemented the program by announcing time and artist. The addition of other duties: weather forecasts, sports scores, and commercial spot announcements began to allow announcers to display a degree of personality.

Radio Experiments

Each focused on changing radio from a mass medium to one that served a specific audience. McLendon began playing popular music, and concentrating on local news and weather. His goal was use KLIF to offer the audience in Dallas something they cold not get from TV. In Milwaukee, Bartell, began looking at reports from various pollsters and ratings services. He developed programs on WOKY in response to his findings.

While working at KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska in 1955, Todd Storz and his partner Bill Stewart stumbled upon an idea that turned the industry around.

The programmers tailored KOWH's playlist to reflect their discovery. Soon the station was at the top of the local ratings. Soon the Top 40 programming approach was tried throughout the country.

Several other factors led to the development of formats in radio. It was the prosperous 1950s and Americans began spending more time away from home. Much of that time away from home was spent in the car. In addition,

In 1955, the same year that Storz and Stewart pioneered the Top 40 format, "Bill Haley's recording of "Rock Around the Clock" struck paydirt and sold over a million copies, thus ushering in a new era in contemporary music" (Keith & Krause, p. 8, 1989).

During this same period West Coast programmer Bill Gavin began compiling a list of popular records and playing them on his radio show which was carried by 48 stations. Gavin also devised a rotation. Gavin's list of songs would grow to compete with Billboard.

The emergence of Top 40 in effect created two formats. While some stations chose to target the newly emerging teen audience others stayed with the music from the big band era. These stations became known as Middle-of-the-Road or (MOR) stations.

Payola

Radio programming was further influenced as a result of the payola scandal of the late 1950s. Greenfield (1989, p.103, 104) writes:

Greenfield (1989, p.104) continues:

During the 1950s, individual DJs such as Alan Freed who is credited with coining the term Rock'n'Roll and Dick Clark who went on to fame as the host of TV's American Bandstand had an enormous amount of influence regarding the songs that were played on radio stations. Music industry executives figured that if they targeted these DJs they could get their records played and thus produce hits. Following the payola scandal and the accompanying plugola scandal (station personnel receiving goods and services for on-air mentions) DJs were stripped of their power to make programming decisions.

By the end of the 1950s radio had established a new identity. Long form network programs had been replaced by locally produced recorded music programs. Greenfield (1989, p. 5) writes:

Greenfield (1989, p. 7) goes on to say:

The Rise of FM

The radio format had established itself before FM became the dominant band. FM's rise did two things for radio. 1. It increased the number of radio formats. 2. It changed the structure of formats.

FM began its rise in the late 1960s.

The FCC felt this practice was a waste of valuable spectrum. In addition the technology had changed to the point where FM's drifting problem had been corrected. Add to this the beginning of large numbers of the "Baby Boom" generation leaving college with "radio" (primarily FM college radio) experience and you have the recipe for FM's rise.

During the late 1960s two FM formats "Beautiful Music" and Album Oriented Rock (AOR) began changing the way radio stations were programmed. Instead of the standard one or two songs followed by a commercial, they began playing long blocks of music followed by clusters of spots.

These two formats, in particular AOR, made the audience aware of FM's superior fidelity. Other formats soon followed and broadcasters began to see the band's financial potential.

In 1978, FM became the dominant band. By the end of the 1980s, FM accounted for more than three quarters of all radio listening. In addition to spawning new formats on the FM band, FM's dominance created new AM formats as well. The rise of news and talk on the AM band are attributed to FM's superiority in presenting music. FM's rise also created a much more competitive market.

Deregulation and The Telecommunications Act of 1996

Radio's deregulation began during the end of the Carter Administration in 1978 and was completed during the early Reagan years in 1982. During that time the FCC concluded and Congress agreed that the industry was mature enough to be regulated by the demands of the "marketplace." Several restrictions were removed during that time: The FCC no longer mandated the amount of non-entertainment programming (news and public affairs) that radio stations must broadcast; Limits on the number of commercial units per hour were removed; Owners were no longer required to operate stations for a period of three years before selling them, the three year rule; and the number of stations one entity could own the 7-7-7 rule was relaxed (see Ownership).

Ownership rules were further relaxed following the passage of The Telecommunications Act of 1996. This has resulted in the consolidation of radio station ownership and created a very different marketplace. A new era appears to be emerging.

Radio's change in identity from a mass medium to one targeted to specific demographic groups (narrowcasting),FM's rise, and The Telecommunications Act of 1996 have created the industry we know today. This changed marketplace will require new skills and strategies on the part of young people seeking careers in the industry and on the part of station owners competing in the medium.

References

Fornatale, P. Mills, J.E. (1980). Radio in the television age. Overlook Press: Woodstock, NY.

Keith, M. C. (1987). Radio programming: Consultancy and formatics. Focal Press: Boston.

Greenfield, T. A. (1989). Radio: A reference guide. Greenwood Press: New York.

Keith, M. C. and Krause, J. M. (1989). The Radio Station Focal Press: Boston.

O'Donnell, L. M., Hausman, C., Benoit, P. (1989) Radio station operations: Management and employee perspectives. Wadsworth: Belmont, CA.