- •The Radio Industry
- •Determining the Use of Radio
- •The Creation of the rca
- •Government Regulation of Radio
- •Radio in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s
- •Network Programming
- •The Baby Boom, Radio, and Recordings
- •Ethics and Payola
- •Fm Radio and the Fragmentation of Rock Music
- •Challenges of Fragmentation and Digitization, 1970 to the Present
- •Internet radio a service in which streaming audio is distributed to digital devices that access the Web location
- •An Overview of the Terrestrial Radio Industry
- •Where and When People Listen to the Radio
- •Am vs. Fm Technology
- •Commercial Radio Stations vs. Noncommercial Radio Stations
- •Radio Market Size
- •Production in the Radio Industry
- •Radio Formats
- •Determining Listening Patterns
- •Working with Formats
- •Producing the Playlist
- •Conducting Research to Compile the Playlist
- •Maintaining the Format and Retaining the Target Audience
- •Distribution in the Radio Industry
- •The Role of Networks, Syndicators, and Format Networks
- •Learning Who Listens
- •Conducting Market Research to Determine Station Ratings
- •When Stations Fare Poorly in the Ratings
- •Radio and the New Digital World
- •Satellite Radio
- •Traditional Radio’s Responses to Digital Music
- •Commercial Time
- •Hd Radio
- •Internet Participation
- •Media Literacy and the Radio Industry
- •If you had to create an industry that streams music and talk formats to Americans, would the radio industry as it is now organized be what you would choose?
- •Questions for Discussion and Critical Thinking
- •Case Study
Am vs. Fm Technology
commercial station a radio station that supports itself financially by selling time on its airwaves to advertisers
noncommercial station a radio station that does not receive financial support from advertisers, but rather from donations from private foundations and listeners, or from commercial firms in return for mentioning the firm or its products at the start or end of programs airing on the station; most of these stations are located at the very left of the FM band (88-92 MhZ) because these frequencies have been reserved by the government exclusively for noncommercial use
billboards the mention of a sponsor’s name or products at the start or end of an aired program in return for money
You already know that terrestrial radio stations broadcast using one of two technologies, AM or FM. The two technologies operate on different ranges of frequencies
called bands) and utilize two different means of broadcasting their signal (see Figure 11.2). There are about 4,700 AM stations and 9,200 FM stations in the United States. Since the 1970s, listeners clearly have preferred FM. In 1981, AM stations attracted 41 percent of the listeners; in 2005, they managed to grab only 18.5 percent. To put it another way, AM's share of radio listeners fell by 55 percent between 1981 and 2000. At the same time, FM's share of listeners increased by 38 percent.
Table 11.1 Radio Listeners (Aged 12+ Years) in the
Both AM and FM radio stations transmit a carrier wave that is somehow changed or “modulated” to carry audio signals such as music or voice. With AM (amplitude modulation) radio, the amplitude or strength of the carrier wave’s vibration fluctuates with the sound. With FM (frequency modulation) radio, the strength of the carrier wave remains constant, and instead it is the frequency or number of vibrations within the wave that changes based on the sound.
Commercial Radio Stations vs. Noncommercial Radio Stations
In addition to distinguishing radio stations by their positions in the AM or FM bands, we can also characterize them by the way they get the money they need in order to survive. In terms of funding, there are two types of radio stations:
Commercial stations
Noncommercial stations
The vast majority of stations in the United States—about 11,000— are commercial stations. As the name implies, these stations support themselves financially by selling time on their airwaves to advertisers. In 2008, advertisers spent about $17.6 billion on terrestrial radio.3
Noncommercial stations do not receive financial support from advertisers in the traditional sense of airing commercials. Most noncommercial stations are located at the very left of the FM band (between 88 and 92 MHz) because these frequencies have been reserved by the government exclusively for noncommercial use. If your college or university owns a station, it may very well broadcast here. Because the FCC does not permit these stations to sell products directly, the stations support themselves through donations from listeners, private foundations, and corporations—the latter in return for mentioning the firm or its products in announcements at the beginning and end of their programs. These announcements, called billboards, often sound suspiciously like the commercials these stations aren't allowed by law to run.