Big Ideas of the Radio Industry (ch 8)

1. Radio Act of 1927: Th effects of it Today
2. The Audience of Radio
3. Program Format of Radio

The Radio Act of 1927 established the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) with powers to enforce the law and limit the number of broadcasters. In this way the federal government became the "traffic police" of the airwaves. The act required radio broadcasters to operate in the "public interest, convenience and necessity" of the community. So in essence, radio stations had to broadcast material that was good for the community and for society in general.

So how does this affect today? Well the original purpose of this act was to regulate the interference caused by too many broadcasters operating on close frequencies. What has ensued from this is major controversy with censorship of radio. In the constitution, the freedom of speech is ensured to all citizens. Radio is an outlet for many to not only play music but to speak their opinions. Opinions are different among different communities of people and what is acceptable in one group may not be appropriate in another. That being said i had the question: why is it the govermnent's responsibility to oversee what is said on the radio? That same kind of censoship is not seen in the print industry (thethe extent as in radio/TV). Then I continued to think and censorship is an important thing; people can't say EVERYTHING they want to...I mean come on the War of the Worlds fandago in 1938 is evidence that the radio has influence over people even today. That being said the line in which radio is censored should be regulated by unbiased organization like television is (ch. 11). The government and big companies giving advertisement money to radio station need to be regulated themselves becuase these factors influence the censorship of radio and limit the voices that need to be heard.

The audience of radio has changed the way radio is presented throughout the histor of the industry. The textbook broughout that most people don't want to listen to radio; they just want it as a complemnent to their everyday activites. From my own experence I have seen the truth of this statement and with new expansions into satelite radio and internet radio, my question is how will the original format of radio, from a station, maintain itself. In an age where people are picking and chosing what they liste to, will radio as we know it completely change in a few years?

Lastly, program formatting in radio and homogenized programming has led to the decline in radio listeners (in my opinion). If a format works, other station will copy that format, which leads to predictablity and boring radio. I myself have turned off the radio in the car many times because hearing the same song and material gets really old very quickly and many could account to that as well. So will stations see that and start changing their material? Stay tuned.