Radio and History / Social Science

By studying the role of radio in history, students can be exposed a number of social, political, and economic questions.  You'll find a great many topic ideas on this page, and we encourage the addition of more.

Evaluating History

The radio program You Are There (Internet Archive) recreated historical events. The radio program aired following World War II, and continued into the early 1950s. The depictions of history reveal how we now present a more complex view of history than in the past. Students might be asked to anaylyze how "history" has changed as a field and what variables triggered those changes. Such research will also help students critically analyze current events and consider how they will be recorded for future generations.

Hearing radio broadcasts might lead to comparisons of news magazines from the past to the present, or other media studies.

Race

Using radio programs, it is possible to study changes is attitudes towards various ethnic groups.

African Americans

At one point, the stars of Amos and Andy were among the highest-paid entertainers in the United States. Why was Amos and Andy popular across racial lines? And why do we view it today as having promoted racial stereotypes? It was the most successful radio program of all time, and possibly the best-known series in any media. Because the show is now criticized for its portrayals of minorities, only a handful of episodes not considered controversial or offensive remain widely available (Internet Archive).

In addition to Amos and Andy, students should consider shows ranging from The Great Gildersleeve to The Jack Benny Show. In many programs, minorities are maids, cooks, and drivers. They are portrayed as ignorant, simple, and often were comic relief. However, Rochester on The Jack Benny Show was also sometimes revealed as wiser than his boss, and definitely kinder and more compassionate. Were the writers sometimes pushing limits that today are difficult to appreciate or even detect?

Native Americans

Any Western show, from The Lone Ranger to Tales of the Texas Rangers, could be used to study portrayals of Native Americans. Sometimes the characters were sympathetic, but still stereotypes — even "positive" stereotypes.

Asian Americans

From Fu Man Chu to Charlie Chan, Asian characters were often mysterious. They had unusual knowledge, special powers, or were smarter than anyone else. The brilliance of Chalie Chan was a "positive" stereotype, and one that still persists.

Class

Radio programs, like early television, often depicted idealized versions of middle-class life. Life of Riley began with the father working in an airplane factory near Burbank. Other shows featured similar working-class fathers, often dealing with financial struggles.

Word War II

Because Radio was the dominant medium during World War II, most radio programs of the time dealt directly with the war and its effects on daily life. Shortages, rationing, scrap metal drives, and war bond sales were common topics. Even the modern radio crime drama Adventures of Harry Nile is set during the war years to recreate the atmosphere of radio's golden age. (See Harry Nile mysteries and history at Jim French Productions.)

The reputation of CBS was built during WWII, when Edward R. Murrow and the CBS news division developed a reputation for broadcasting from the most dangerous places on earth. By the time television replaced radio as the dominant medium, there was little doubt that CBS news was the leading evening newscast.

Students could study how broadcast news quickly replaced the newspapers as a source for national and world headlines. What effect did this have on society? Did it create the impression of an "American Identity" or "American Experience" when newscasts from Europe became popular?

Rise of Media Networks

Radio led to the rise of many famous radio networks. The radio networks single largest owner was RCA, Radio Corporation of America. RCA had been granted non-exclusive access to all major radio patents during World War I in an effort to consolidate radio technology used by the United States government. Other companies, including General Electric, also had access to these patents, but were not as agressive as RCA in seeing the potential for commercial radio.

At one point, RCA held stock in NBC, ABC, and RKO. Students could study monopolies, cooperatives, and other forms of network operation. RCA wanted to sell radios, which is why it didn't mind airing a commercial free network (NBC Blue). Until commercials became a major source of income for RCA, the profit was in selling the hardware to receive radio signals!

Students might compare the initial approach of RCA to that of Apple with the iPod.

The RCA broadcasting dominance began in 1926, with the launch of a division called The National Broadcasting Company (NBC). NBC was jointly owned, with controlling 50% maintained by RCA, 30% by General Electric, and 20% by Westinghouse. The NBC Radio Network officially launched on November 15, 1926. January 1, 1927, NBC formally divided its network in two: the NBC Red Network offered entertainment and music programming; the NBC Blue Network carried many of the "sustaining" or non-sponsored broadcasts, especially news and cultural programs.

The NBC Blue became a separate company in 1943 after Federal Communications Commission declared NBC and other RCA networks a monopoly in 1940. RCA sold Blue Network Company, Inc., for $8 million to Lifesavers magnate Edward J. Noble. The purchase bought the network name, the New York studios of NBC Blue, and ownership of two major stations (WJZ in Newark/New York and KGO in San Francisco). The network had 60 affiliates at the time. Noble wanted a more memorable name for the network, but he also wanted it to parallel the name NBC. In 1944, Nobel acquired the rights to the name "American Broadcasting Company" and the Blue Network became ABC. The network's official name change was announced on June 15, 1945.

The last of the "Big Three" was founded in 1928. The same month he turned 27, William S. Paley purchased the "small" United Independent Broadcasters Inc., a network of 16 independent radio stations. He soon changed the name UIB to the Columbia Broadcast System. CBS was nicknamed The Tiffany Network, a reference to both its quality and its original test location — The Tiffany & Co. Building in New York City.

The Lone Co-op!

The Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) was an American radio network, which operation from 1934 to 1999. Mutual was unique because the stations operated as a cooperative, sharing shows and information, while not operating under any form of corporate ownership. Mutual's cooperative form meant the network affiliates shared an eclectic mix of programming. Of the four national networks during radio's classic era, Mutual had the largest number of affiliates. MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Superman, and The Shadow.

The Recording Industry

Before radio and records, the popularity of a song was judged by how often it was performed and how many copies of the sheet music were sold. The "fame and glory" for a hit song belonged to the composer and lyricist. Radio changed everything, leading to a surge in recoding sales. Musicians and vocalists soon replaced songwriters in the public mind.

How did the concept of "ownership" change with the advent of the recording industry?