Communication
130

Professor Joseph Turow

Aim of this class:

Paper

History of Recordings & Radio

The paper

The rise of sound

The recording and radio industries

“Waltz Me Around Again Willie”
(1890s)

“Rhapsody in Blue”
-Paul Whiteman & Orchestra (1924)

1922 accoustical: Oriental

1928 electrical: Oriental

“Take the A Train”
-Duke Ellington & Orchestra
(1941)

The Rise of Radio

Radio and the ethics of intruding advertising into the home

1916: David Sarnoff proposes system of consumer-oriented radio broadcasting.

Initially to promote radio set sales

1922: AT&T starts WEAF, announces it will sell commercial time.

Hostile reaction

Other modes of financing suggested, but AT&T’s approach took hold.

Is there a bargain with the audience?

First advertising: Queensboro Corporation

Rigid WEAF rules

Reinforcing name by title of shows, groups

Rise of networks– NBC (1926), CBS (1927)

Music on the Radio

The Romance of Helen Trent
(early ‘40s)

Soap Operas

Commercial Break
(‘40s)

Radio program types, produced by agencies

Hummerts & soap operas

Rise of radio ratings as arbiters

Crossley; Hooper; Nielsen

Adding time to space in advertising

Two types of radio products advertised by late ’20s

Low price, frequent purchase—shrill, repeated

Large manufacturers of durable goods—substantial programs, more modest ads

Abbott & Costello

(‘40s)

Hindenburg Disaster 1937

“War of the Worlds”
(October 30, 1938)

News (1940s)

Edward R. Murrow