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Marconi Invents Radio
Guglielmo Marconi is an Italian inventor who made the first radio signal in 1985. Though he is believed to have made the radio transmission, there are many people who think that he didn't actually make it first. but took the idea from someone who was never recognised for it. -
Audion Tube
In 1906, Lee de Forest created the audion tube, which is a vacuum tube that amplifies radio signals. The audion tube makes the radio signals more powerful, so that they can travel a further distance. -
Radio Stations
About 20 years after radio was invented, Frank Conrad came up with radio stations. On these stations, they broadcasted music, news, and other communications. To broadcast music, they would place a phonograph up to a microphone. -
AM Waves
AM stands for Amplitude Modulation, and modulation means the change. AM waves are 535 KHz - 1065 KHz. In these waves, the height of the waves changes, but the frequency remains the same distance apart. -
Begining of Advertising
In 1922, the very first advertisment was aired on a radio station for 10 minutes straight. Ads were the key of making money for radio stations, because advertisers pay the stations money to have their commercial aired for a specific amount of time. -
Call Letters
Call letters were invented to identify radio stations. Since radio frequencies change over distance, you may have a station in two different citites, but they would be completly different in content. 'W' stations are east of the Mississippi River, and 'K' stations are west of the Mississippi River. -
FRC
In 1927, the Federal Radio Commision (FRC) was made when Uncle Charlie became too popular. Advertisers were getting angry because when they paid for their ads to show on stations, other peoples personal stations would interfere with their ad, and no one would hear it. The FRC organizes the licensing of transmitters, and they assign station frequencies, call letters, and power limits. -
The Golden Era
The golden era lasted from the 1930s through the 1940s. During this time, the Great Depression and war was going on, so the radio was something that many people turned to for an "escape", so there were many people listening in on the stations. -
Video Killed the Radio Star
As television became really popular, advertisers turned to tv stations rather than radio, because they thought it would give them even better business, so radio began to lose money, some stations dropped, and people stopped listening to it -
FM Radio
FM stands for frequency modulation. In these sound waves, the height of the waves remain the same, but the distance between them varies. FM has 88 MHz - 108 MHz. -
Radio's Progression
Edward Armstrong invented the FM transmitter for better quality sound, and stronger signal. During this time, AM stations were for talk shows, and FM stations only played music. Listeners were forced to buy new radios because the old ones didn't have FM. -
Music
Back before FM, the only way to listen to music was by using jukeboxes, records, or going to live converts. -
Family Medium
During this era, the radio was a great place for the family t gather around and have a good time. They played music, told stories, did sitcoms, and dramas. Everything during this time was great for families with children. -
Radio Shows
Radio shows were made for entertainment. They were basically tv shows, but people would "act" them out into a microphone. Some shows like Amos and Andy, gun smoke, superman, and 64 dollar question were pretty famous on these srations, and some eventually were turned into television shows when the television was invented. -
Radio v. Media
When the Internet was introduced to the world, so was media. Websites and applications were made, and everyone had easy access to music they wanted to listen to, when they wanted to listen to it. YouTube, spotify, and pandora are few of the many new ways to listen to music, and eventually there were less and less people listening to the radio.
