Compliments of Professor Christopher H. Sterling
School of Media and Public Affairs
George Washington University
Washington, DC
This is anything but a
full listing of available published books, but suggests some of the better sources, with
something of an emphasis on radio. Many of the titles listed here have extensive
bibliographies of their own. Most of the material included is, unfortunately, out of print
but should be available in libraries. *
Indicates an especially important resource. Titles
are listed once under one of the following sections:
1.
Broadcasting: General Historical Reference
2.
Technical Development: Radio and Television
3.
American Broadcasting History: Radio and Television
4.
Pictorial Histories
5.
American Programming: Radio and Television
6.
American Broadcast Journalism
7.
Broadcast Audiences and Research
8. Broadcast Regulation
9.
State and Regional Broadcasting
10.
International and Foreign Broadcasting
1. Broadcasting: General
Historical Reference
* Barnouw, Erik. A
HISTORY OF BROADCASTING IN THE UNITED STATES. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1966, 1968, 1970 (three vols.). Classic and well-written
narrative; the first two volumes take the story to 1953 and focus most on radio.
Bergreen, Laurence. LOOK
NOW, PAY LATER: THE RISE OF NETWORK BROADCASTING. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980.
One of the few historical treatments of all American networks, both radio and television.
Bilby, Kenneth. THE
GENERAL: DAVID SARNOFF AND THE RISE OF THE COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY. New York: Harper
& Row, 1986. Best of several biographies of the seminal leader of RCA from the 1930s
to 1969.
THE FIRST 50 YEARS OF
BROADCASTING: THE RUNNING STORY OF THE FIFTH ESTATE. Washington: Broadcasting
Publications, 1982. Based on articles that
appeared in the industry trade weekly–one per year.
Halper, Donna L. INVISIBLE
STARS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF WOMEN IN AMERICAN BROADCASTING. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe,
2001. First attempt at an overall historical survey, from the wireless pioneers to the
present.
Hilliard, Robert L., and
Michael C. Keith. THE BROADCAST CENTURY: A BIOGRAPHY OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING.
Stoneham, MA: Focal Press, 2001 (3rd ed.).
An informal and illustrated history told in chronological fashion, with many
contributed comments from important pioneering figures.
Hilmes, Michele. ONLY
CONNECT: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF BROADCASTING IN THE UNITED STATES. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002. A concise survey focusing on the impact of radio
and television on society.
Inglis, Andrew F. BEHIND
THE TUBE: A HISTORY OF BROADCASTING TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS. Stoneham, MA: Focal Press, 1990. Includes chapters on both AM and FM as well as
television broadcasting, placing each against the larger context of industry development.
* Lichty, Lawrence W.,
and Malachi C. Topping, eds. AMERICAN BROADCASTING: A SOURCE BOOK ON THE HISTORY OF
RADIO AND TELEVISION. New York: Hastings
House, 1975. Excellent anthology of articles, statistics, first-hand accounts.
* Newcomb, Horace, ed. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TELEVISION. Chicago:
Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997 (3 vols). Extensive
reference largely focused on people and programs, covering American and other
English-language television systems.
* Sterling, Christopher
H., ed. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RADIO. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2002 (two vols). Some 700
essays of varying length by hundreds of contributors on most aspects of American radio
broadcasting, with some material on foreign systems as well.
. ELECTRONIC
MEDIA: A GUIDE TO TRENDS IN BROADCASTING AND NEWER TECHNOLOGIES, 1920-1983. New York: Praeger, 1984. Several hundred historical tables and explanatory
text on technology, stations and networks, advertising, programs, audiences, etc.
* ,
and John M. Kittross. STAY TUNED: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002 (3rd ed.). Standard history arranged by periods and then
by topic. See extensive bibliography, pp.
877-929.
2. Technical Development
(Excludes most books on
individual inventors or companies–of which there are many!)
A.
Radio
Aitken, Hugh G.J. SYNTONY
AND SPARK: THE ORIGINS OF RADIO. New York: Wiley, 1976.
Classic study of Clerk Maxwell, Hertz and Marconi and what they accomplished.
Continued in next volume.
* . THE
CONTINUOUS WAVE: TECHNOLOGY AND AMERICAN RADIO, 1900-1932. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985. Continues the story of wireless from author’s
earlier book, focusing on American developments: Fessenden and the alternator, Elwell and
the arc transmitter, de Forest and his Audion, radio
and cables and the national interest, the development of RCA (three chapters), and the
expansion of the business based on tube technology in the 1920s.
Coe, Lewis. WIRELESS RADIO: A BRIEF
HISTORY. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996. Provides
useful concise survey of the work of many inventors, bringing the story up to date.
Douglas, Alan. RADIO
MANUFACTURERS OF THE 1920s. Vestal, NY:
Vestal Press, 1988-89 (3 vols). Combines brief text with reprinted contemporary
advertising showingchanging radio receiver styles.
Dunlap, Orrin E. Jr. RADIO’S
100 MEN OF SCIENCE. New York: Harper, 1944. Useful mini-biographies of major technical
figures and inventors.
* Howeth, L. S. HISTORY
OF COMMUNICATIONS-ELECTRONICS IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1963. Very important history of early wireless and radio
into the 1930s with considerable comment on non-military developments.
Leinwoll, Stanley. FROM SPARK TO SATELLITE: A HISTORY OF RADIO
COMMUNICATION. New York: Charles
Scribner’s, 1979. A wide-ranging popular
history of radio into the 1970s, emphasizing the role of key inventors and developments in
the expanding roles of the medium.
* Lewis, Tom. EMPIRE
OF THE AIR: THE MEN WHO MADE RADIO. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Well-written
analysis of the lives and work of Armstrong, de Forest and Sarnoff, among others.
* Maclaurin, W. Rupert. INVENTION
AND INNOVATION IN THE RADIO INDUSTRY. New
York: Macmillan, 1949 (reprinted, Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,” 1971). Thorough treatment with supporting data and much
critical analysis of the process and nature of radio inventions. A study of struggles,
litigation, progress and failure of both individual inventors and industrial
organizations. Includes chapters on FM and television.
* McNicol, Donald. RADIO’S
CONQUEST OF SPACE: THE EXPERIMENTAL RISE IN RADIO COMMUNICATION. New York: Murray Hill Books, 1946 (reprinted by
Arno Press, “Telecommunications,” 1974). A semi-technical record of radio
progress from the mid-19th Century which is one of the best surveys of inventive
achievement–both readable and reliable.
Mott, Robert L. RADIO
SOUND EFFECTS: WHO DID IT, AND HOW, IN THE ERA OF LIVE BROADCASTING. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 1993. Written by a
radio sound-effects authority, this unique history reviews the development of sound
effects in radio drama and comedy programs.
Shiers, George, ed. THE DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS TO 1920. New York: Arno Press “Historical Studies in
Telecommunications,” 1977. This
anthology reprints 20 pioneering technical and historical papers tracing developments from
the late 19th century , many by the inventors themselves including Fleming, de Forest, Fessenden, Marconi, Carl
Braun, Armstrong, Elwell, and Alfred Goldsmith. Photos, diagrams, notes.
B.
Television
Abramson, Albert H. THE
HISTORY OF TELEVISION: 1880-1941. Jefferson,
NC: McFarland, 1987. One of the best
technical histories of the medium’s development–a second and concluding volume
is due in 2002.
. ZWORYKIN:
PIONEER OF TELEVISION. Urbana” University of Illinois Press, 1995.
Best biography of the RCA
television researcher.
* Burns, R. W. TELEVISION:
AN INTERNATIONAL HISTORY OF THE FORMATIVE YEARS.
London: IEE, 1998. Definitive
illustrated treatment of the story to about 1940 in Britain, Germany, the U.S. and
elsewhere.
Dinsdale, A.A. FIRST
PRINCIPLES OF TELEVISION. New York: Wiley, 1932. One of the most important of the
early works providing details on mechanical systems.
Godfrey, Donald G. THE
FATHER OF TELEVISION: PHILO T. FARNSWORTH. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press,
2001. Standard biography of a key pioneer in electronic television technology.
Shiers, George, ed. TECHNICAL
DEVELOPMENT OF TELEVISION. New
York: Arno Press, 1977. Collection of reprinted contemporary articles and reports from
late 19th century to about 1955.
3. American Broadcasting History
A.
Radio
* Archer, Gleason L. HISTORY
OF RADIO TO 1926. New York: American
Historical Society, 1938 (reprinted by Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,”
1971). While largely concerned with business aspects, this includes considerable
pre-broadcast technical background and context, especially patent and related corporate
rivalries. Photos, notes, appendices, index.
. BIG
BUSINESS AND RADIO. New York: American
Historical Company, 1939 (reprinted by Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,”
1971). Both continues previous book and fills
in some of its holes, though retaining a strong RCA bias throughout. Valuable for its
contemporary view of pre-war radio development.
Chase, Francis Jr. SOUND
AND FURY: AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF BROADCASTING. New York: Harper, 1942. Well-written
survey which emphasizes programming.
* Douglas, Susan J. INVENTING
AMERICAN BROADCASTING, 1899-1922. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. Readable
yet scholarly analysis of the combination of technological innovation, institutional
development, and both visions and business realities that led to the radio broadcasting
business in the early 1920s. Chapters focus
on Marconi as inventor-hero, the inventors’ struggles for technical distinction,
wireless telegraphy in the Navy, the ups and downs of wireless as a business, the
important role of amateur operators prior to World War I, initial radio regulation, the
rise of military and corporate control, and the social construction of broadcasting.
.
LISTENING IN: RADIO AND THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION. New York: Times Books, 1999. More focused on
programs and listener reactions.
* Godfrey, Donald G., and Frederic A. Leigh, eds. HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN RADIO. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Very useful reference ranging over programs, people, organizations, and topics with dozens of contributors.
* Hettinger, Herman S. A
DECADE OF RADIO ADVERTISING. Chicago”
University of Chicago Press, 1933 (reprinted by Arno Press “History of
Broadcasting,” 1971). Standard
treatment of the rise of radio advertising, focusing on network developments.
* Hilmes, Michele. RADIO VOICES: AMERICAN BROADCASTING, 1922-1952. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. Concentrating on what people heard rather
than on the industry or technology, the author focuses on several key programs to
illustrate the medium’s appeal and success.
, and
Jason Loviglio, eds. THE RADIO READER. New York: Routledge, 2001. Extensive collection of
original scholarly papers on the social and cultural impact of radio over the years.
* Keith, Michael C.. TALKING
RADIO: AN ORAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN RADIO IN THE TELEVISION AGE. Armonk, NY: M.E.
Sharpe, 2000. Impressive editing job makes
this readable despite about 100 contributors.
Landry, Robert J. THIS
FASCINATING RADIO BUSINESS. Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill, 1946, 343 pp. Broad popular
survey of the radio industry just before television entered the scene, written by the
editor of the Variety trade paper, and including numerous references to history and
technical factors.
Mayes, Thorn L. WIRELESS
COMMUNICATION IN THE UNITED STATES: THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN RADIO OPERATING
COMPANIES. East Greenwich, RI: New
England Wireless and Steam Museum, 1989. Sorts
out the host of pre-World War I wireless companies in the U.S.
* Smulyan, Susan. SELLING
RADIO: THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING 1920-1934. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
Scholarly study of the policy battles over commercial support of radio (and later
television) argues that what resulted--today's commercial system--was by no means a sure
thing in the early days.
Taylor, Glenhall. BEFORE
TELEVISION: THE RADIO YEARS. Cranbury, NJ: A.S. Barnes,
1979. Popular history of the radio business to the late 1940s.
White, Llewellyn. THE
AMERICAN RADIO. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1947 (reprinted by Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,” 1971). Critical history that finds much wanting in the
commercial industry.
B.
Television
* Barnouw, Erik. TUBE
OF PLENTY: THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION. New York: Oxford University Press,
1990 (2nd rev. ed.). Drawn from and expanding his three-volume history of
broadcasting, this is a very readable account.
Bogle, Donald. PRIME
TIME BLUES: AFRICAN AMERICANS ON NETWORK TELEVISION. New York: Farrar, Strauss &
Giroux, 2001. The role of Blacks in
prime-time programming.
* Brown, Les. LES
BROWN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TELEVISION.. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1992 (3rd.
ed). Excellent reference of people, technologies, companies, programs, and the like.
Kisseloff, Jeff. THE
BOX: AN ORAL HISTORY OF TELEVISION, 1920-1961. New York: Viking, 1995. Well-edited melding of a host of interviews with
pioneers great and small.
MacDonald, J. Fred. ONE
NATION UNDER TELEVISION: THE RISE AND DECLINE OF NETWORK TV. New York: Pantheon, 1990. Survey history of the three traditional networks.
Slide, Anthony. THE
TELEVISION INDUSTRY: A HISTORICAL DICTIONARY. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1991. Useful
and concise reference to people, companies, programs, events.
Watson, Mary Ann. DEFINING
VISIONS: TELEVISION AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE SINCE 1945. New York: Harcourt, Brace,
1998. Brief survey history of a half century
of development.
4. Pictorial Histories
Blum, Daniel. A
PICTORIAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN TELEVISION. Philadelphia: Childton, 1959. Thousands of small pictures of people and
performers.
Goldstein, Fred and Stan
Goldstein. PRIME-TIME TELEVISION: A PICTORIAL HISTORY FROM MILTON BERLE TO FALCON
CREST. New York: Crown, 1977.
Greenfield, Jeff. TELEVISION—THE
FIRST FIFTY YEARS. New York: Abrams,
1977. Lavish volume covering all aspects of the medium, primarily programming.
Henderson, Amy. ON THE
AIR: PIONEERS OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press,
1988. Photos and literate captions of
industry leaders and key stars, based on exhibit at National Portrait Gallery.
Marschall, Rick. HISTORY
OF TELEVISION. New York: Gallery Books,
1986. Largely programs and personalities.
Rhodes, B. Eric. BLAST
FROM THE PAST: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF RADIO'S FIRST 75 YEARS. West Palm Beach, FL,:
Streamline Publishing, 1996. Impressive collection of several hundred photos tracing the
rise of commercial radio.
Settl, Irving. A
PICTORIAL HISTORY OF RADIO. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1967 (2nd ed.).
Emphasis on programs, both local and network.
, and
William Laas. A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF TELEVISION.
New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1969. Again,
an emphasis on programs and networks.
Shulman, Arthur, and
Roger Touman. HOW SWEET IT WAS: TELEVISION—A PICTORIAL COMMENTARY. New York:
Shorecrest, 1966. Entertaining collection of
photos with useful captions, arranged by program type.
Slide, Anthony. GREAT
RADIO PERSONALITIES IN HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS. New York: Dover, 1982.
5. American Programming
(Excludes particular
programs or star biographies.)
A.
Radio
Buxton, Frank, and Bill
Owen. THE BIG BROADCAST, 1920-1950. New
York: Viking Press, 1972. A substantial
revision of the authors’ Radio’s Golden Age (1966), this briefly lists
and describes network programs.
Cox, Jim. THE GREAT
RADIO SOAP OPERAS. Jefferson, NC:
McFarland, 1999. Descriptions of each major network program with cast and creative
credits.
DeLong, Thomas A. THE
MIGHTY MUSIC BOX. Los Angeles: Amber
Crest Books, 1980. A broad history of all types of music on the air from initial classical
pioneers through the various d formats of the so-called golden years (into the 1950s).
* Dunning, John. ON
THE AIR: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OLD-TIME RADIO. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Definitive directory of network and major syndicated
programs from the 1920s into the 1960s. Often
includes full credits and lengthy discussion.
Eberly, Phillip K. MUSIC
IN THE AIR: AMERICA’S CHANGING TASTES IN POPULAR MUSIC, 1920-1980. New York:
Hastings House, 1982. Reviews both popular music trends and the central role of radio in
spreading music’s popularity.
Erickson, Hal. RELIGIOUS
RADIO AND TELEVISION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1921-1991.
Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. 400
entries on people and programs.
Fong-Torres, Ben. THE
HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: THE HISTORY OF TOP 40 RADIO. San Francisco: Miller Freeman
Books, 1998. Reviews the rise of the format
and then its division into many sub-formats.
Grams, Martin. RADIO
DRAMA: A COMPREHENSIVE CHRONICLE OF AMERICAN NETWORK PROGRAMS, 1932-1962. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000. Listed by title with brief description and full
list of episodes.
Hall, Claude and Barbara
Hall. THE BUSINESS OF RADIO PROGRAMS. New York: Hastings House, 1978. Solid though
now dated overview of factors in formatting of stations.
Keith, Michael C. RADIO PROGRAMMING: CONSULTANCY AND FORMATICS. Newton, MA: Focal Press, 1987. Current trends.
* .
SIGNALS IN THE AIR: NATIVE BROADCASTING IN AMERICA. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1995. First book-length study of Native American radio
(primarily) and television stations, most of them noncommercial operations.
. VOICES IN THE PURPLE HAZE: UNDERGROUND RADIO
AND THE SIXTIES. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Fascinating slice of radio
history brings back an era--and some surprising people (many now active in senior
electronic media posts) who created an electronic version of the hippie movement.
Lackman, Ron. THE
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN RADIO. New York:
Checkmark Books/Facts on File, 2000. Primarily people and programs with from one to
several paragraphs on each. Updates his Same Time, Same Station (1996).
MacDonald, J. Fred. DON’T
TOUCH THAT DIAL! RADIO PROGRAMMING IN AMERICAN LIFE, 1920-1960. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979. A broad social
history, focusing on network programs.
Maltin, Leonard. THE GREAT AMERICAN BROADCAST: A CELEBRATION OF
RADIO’S GOLDEN AGE. New York:
Dutton, 1997. An affectionate and informal
history of network radio’s great years into the early 1950s discussing programs,
personalities, and behind-the-scenes developments.
Melton, J. Gordon, et
al., eds. PRIME-TIME RELIGION: AN
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING. Phoenix,
AZ: Oryx Press, 1997. Some 400 entries, most
concerning specific on-air personalities, trace the development of radio and televised
religious programs.
Nachman, Gerald. RAISED
ON RADIO. New York: Pantheon,
1998. Wonderful nostalgia with fair bit of background information on key programs.
Pitts, Michael R. RADIO
SOUNDTRACKS: A REFERENCE GUIDE. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1986. What is recorded
and how to find it.
Sies, Luther F. ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF AMERICAN RADIO, 1920-1960. Jefferson,
NC: McFarland, 2000. Individuals, programs,
and stations in thousands of brief entries.
Swartz, Jon D. and Robert
C. Reinehr. HANDBOOK OF OLD-TIME RADIO: A
COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GOLDEN AGE RADIO LISTENING AND COLLECTING. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1993. Dated, but
still useful.
* Summers, Harrison B.,
comp. A THIRTY-YEAR HISTORY OF PROGRAMS CARRIED ON NATIONAL RADIO NETWORKS IN THE
UNITED STATES, 1926-1956. Columbus: Ohio State University Department of Speech, 1958
(reprinted by Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,” 1971). Standard listing of programs with times aired,
ratings, etc.
Terrace, Vincent. RADIO
PROGRAMS, 1920-1984: A CATALOG OF OVER 1800 SHOWS. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1998.
Alphabetical directory.
* Wertheim, Arthur Frank. RADIO COMEDY. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
The best analysis of the format over radio’s history.
B.
Television
Brooks, Tim and Earle
Marsh. THE COMPLETE DIRECTORY TO PRIME TIME NETWORK TV SHOWS, 1946-PRESENT. New York: Ballantine, 1999 (7th ed.).
Regularly-revised annotated guide to all the programs–well indexed.
McNeil, Alex. TOTAL
TELEVISION: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO PROGRAMMING FROM 1948 TO THE PRESENT. New York:
Penguin, 1996 (4th ed.). Good directory with program descriptions.
Shapiro, Mitchell. TELEVISION
NETWORK PROGRAMMING. Jefferson, NC:
McFarland, 1989-1992 (3 vols). Provides detailed program schedules of the three major
networks from 1948 to about 1990.
6. American Broadcast Journalism
* Bliss, Edward Jr.
NOW THE NEWS: THE STORY OF BROADCAST JOURNALISM. New York: Columbia University Press,
1991. The only overall history, roughly the
first third deals with radio.
Brown, Robert J.
MANIPULATING THE ETHER: THE POWER OF BROADCAST RADIO IN THIRTIES AMERICA. Jefferson,
NC: McFarland, 1998. Franklin Roosevelt, War of the Worlds and Father Coughlin.
Charnley, Mitchell V. NEWS
BY RADIO. New York: Macmillan, 1948. Standard text with some history.
Cloud, Stanley and Lynne
Olson. THE MURROW BOYS: PIONEERS ON THE FRONT LINES OF BROADCAST JOURNALISM.
Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1996. Well-written
assessment of the legendary CBS radio and then television news team from the 1940s to the
1980s.
Culbert, David Holbrook. NEWS
FOR EVERYMAN: RADIO AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN THIRTIES AMERICA. Westport, CT: Greenwood,
1976. Commentators and how their role developed.
Fang, Irving. THOSE
RADIO COMMENTATORS!. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1977. Profiles of about a
dozen key figures.
Hosley, David H. AS
GOOD AS ANY: FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE ON AMERICAN RADIO, 1930-1940. Westport, CT:
Greenwood, 1984.
White, Paul W. NEWS ON
THE AIR. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1947. Former head of CBS News includes a fine
chapter on radio reports about D-Day.
7. Broadcast Audiences
and Research
* Berg, Jerome S. ON
THE SHORT WAVES, 1923-1945: BROADCAST LISTENING IN THE PIONEER DAYS OF RADIO.
Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999. Three main
sections trace the rise of the medium in the 1920s, shortwave broadcasting and listening
in the 1930s (“DXing”--the emphasis here), and wartime use of shortwave
services,
* Beville, Hugh Malcolm
Jr. AUDIENCE RATINGS: RADIO, TELEVISION, AND CABLE. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1988 (2nd
ed.). Best historical study of how methods and different companies developed.
Cantril, Hadley, and
Gordon W. Allport. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RADIO. New York: Harper, 1935 (reprinted by
Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,” 1971). Pioneering study of audience impact
of the aural medium.
* Lazarsfeld, Paul F. RADIO
AND THE PRINTED PAGE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF RADIO AND ITS ROLE IN THE
COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1940 (reprinted by Arno
Press “History of Broadcasting,” 1971).
Classic study of print
and radio and their varied impact.
and Harry Field. THE PEOPLE LOOK AT RADIO.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1946.
See next entry.
* and Patricia Kendall. RADIO LISTENING IN
AMERICA: THE PEOPLE LOOK AT RADIO–AGAIN. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1948. Two national surveys of who listened to what and
with what impact.
and Frank N. Stanton, eds. RADIO RESEARCH 1941. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1941. See next entry.
. RADIO
RESEARCH 1942-43. New York: Duell, Sloan
& Pearce, 1944. Two volumes of original
research on different types of programs, edited by an academic and rising CBS official.
Lumley, Frederick H. MEASUREMENT
IN RADIO. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1934 (reprinted by Arno Press
“History of Broadcasting,” 1971). First
book on radio audience measurement reviews a host of methods before the inception of most
regular ratings research.
* Schiffer, Michael Brian. THE PORTABLE RADIO IN
AMERICAN LIFE. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991. Valuable survey from clunky tube receivers to
modern transistor models.
8. Broadcast Regulation
Bensman, Marvin R. THE
BEGINNING OF BROADCAST REGULATION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
2000. The story of legislation and administrative decision-making through 1927.
Braun, Mark. AM STEREO
AND THE FCC: CASE STUDY OF A MARKETPLACE SHIBBOLETH. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1994. Best
analysis of the FCC-industry conflict over the setting of these standards and the impact
of the commission’s 1982 "nondecision" allowing open standards.
Davis, Stephen. THE
LAW OF RADIO COMMUNICATION. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1927. First book devoted to the
then-new American radio law.
Dill, Clarence C. RADIO
LAW: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE. Washington:
National Law Book Co., 1938. Written by
the co-author of the 1934 Communications Act, this relates it early implementation.
Edelman, J. Murray. THE
LICENSING OF RADIO SERVICES IN THE UNITED STATES.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1950. Study
of FRC and FCC practices from 1927 through 1947.
* Emery, Walter B. BROADCASTING
AND GOVERNMENT. East Lansing:
Michigan State University Press, 1961, 1971 [2nd ed.]. Standard text with
considerable historical material.
Flannery, Gerald, ed. COMMISSIONERS
OF THE FCC 1927-1994. Lanham, MD:
University Press of America, 1995. Useful
short (2-3 page) mini-biographies of commissioners of both the FRC (1927-34) and FCC
(since 1934).
Foust, James C. BIG
VOICES OF THE AIR: THE BATTLE OVER CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO. Ames: Iowa State University
Press, 2000. Study of a long-lasting policy
issue only finally resolved in the 1960s.
* Kahn, Frank J., ed. DOCUMENTS
OF AMERICAN BROADCASTING. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984 [4th
ed.]. Valuable anthology of key policy
materials.
* Paglin, Max D., ed.
A LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Includes committee hearings and floor debate.
. THE
COMMUNICATIONS ACT : A LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE MAJOR AMENDMENTS, 1934-1996.
Washington: Pike & Fischer, 1999. Continues
the previous title with the important amendments such as Communication Satellite Act of
1962, Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, various cable legislation, and the
Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Robinson, Thomas Porter. RADIO
NETWORKS AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. New York: Columbia University Press, 1943
(reprinted by Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,” 1971). How the issues
developed and the break-up of NBC’s two networks.
* Rose, C. B. Jr. NATIONAL POLICY FOR RADIO BROADCASTING.
New York: Harper, 1940 (reprinted by Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,”
1971). Invaluable pre-war review of American
radio policy concerns–many still with us today.
Rosen, Philip T. THE
MODERN STENTORS: RADIO BROADCASTERS AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 1920-1934. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1980. The countervailing
pressures between a nascent industry and nascent regulators.
Slotten, Hugh R. RADIO
AND TELEVISION REGULATION: BROADCASTING TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1920-1960. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.
* Warner, Harry P. RADIO
AND TELEVISION LAW and RADIO AND TELEVISION RIGHTS. Albany: Matthew Bender, 1948, 1953 (two vols.).
Includes very extensive historical material.
9. Regional and State Broadcasting
Blanton, Parke. CRYSTAL
SET TO SATELLITE: THE STORY OF CALIFORNIA BROACASTING–THE FIRST EIGHTY YEARS. Sacramento: California Broadcasters Assn., 1987.
Brouder, Edward W., Jr. GRANITE
AND ETHER: A CHRONICLE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE BROADCASTING.
Bedford,: New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters, 1993.
Doll, Bob. SPARKS OUT
OF THE PLOWED GROUND: THE HISTORY OF AMERICA'S SMALL TOWN RADIO STATIONS. West Palm
Beach FL: Streamline Press, 1996.
Dorgan, Howard. THE
AIRWAVES OF ZION: RADIO AND RELIGION IN APPALACHIA.
Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1993.
Jaker, Bill, et al. THE AIRWAYS OF NEW YORK: ILLUSTRATED HISTORIES
OF 156 AM STATIONS IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA, 1921-1996. Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
1998. Illustrated history of all of them, some well-known and still with use and others
long gone and forgotten.
Murray, Michael D., and
Donald G. Godfrey, eds. TELEVISION IN AMERICA: LOCAL STATION HISTORY FROM ACROSS THE
NATION. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1997.
Twenty-two stations are detailed, divided by region of the country.
Poindexter, Ray. ARKANSAS
AIRWAVES. North Little Rock, AK: the author, 1974.
Schroeder, Richard. TEXAS
SIGNS ON: THE EARLY DAYS OF RADIO AND TELEVISION. College Station: Texas A&M
University Press, 1998. Illustrated history
of the rise of radio and then television in the Lone Star state, relying heavily on
interviews and original documents.
10. International and
Foreign Broadcasting
(There are many books on
specific nations–listed here are some more general references that cover regions or
the world at different times.)
Batson, Lawrence D. RADIO
MARKETS OF THE WORLD, 1930. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1930 (reprinted by
Arno Press “History of Broadcasting,” 1971); 1932 [revised ed.]. Aimed at
pioneering advertisers, this includes profiles of radio in many nations.
* Briggs, Asa. HISTORY
OF BROADCASTING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. London:
Oxford University Press, 1961-1995 (5 vols). Definitive history of the BBC, both radio and
television, to about 1970, included here as the BBC has been a model for so many other
broadcast systems.
Browne, Donald R. INTERNATIONAL
RADIO BROADCASTING: THE LIMITS OF THE LIMITLESS MEDIUM.
New York: Praeger, 1982. The role of
radio propaganda in international services.
Codding, George A. BROADCASTING
WITHOUT BARRIERS. Paris: Unesco, 1959.
Technology and policy
concerns.
Emery, Walter B. NATIONAL
AND INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS OF BROADCASTING. East
Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1969. Profiles systems in a dozen nations.
Hale, Julian. RADIO
POWER: PROPAGANDA AND INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1975. The role of radio in the Cold War.
* Head, Sydney W. WORLD
BROADCASTING SYSTEMS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth, 1985. Excellent survey arranged not by region or country but rather by
technology, system organization, programming, financial support, regulation, and the like.
Hilliard, Robert, and
Michael C. Keith. GLOBAL BROADCASTING SYSTEMS. Stoneham, MA: Focal Press, 1996. A
survey of radio-television policy and structure worldwide.
Huth, Arno. RADIO
TODAY: THE PRESENT STATE OF BROADCASTING. Geneva, Switzerland: Geneva Research Centre
“Studies XII:6,” July 1942 (reprinted by Arno Press “History of
Broadcasting,” 1971). Wartime analysis of radio’s status.
* Katz, Elihu, and George
Wedell. BROADCASTING IN THE THIRD WORLD: PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977. The importance of radio (primarily) in developing
nations.
Schwoch, James. THE
AMERICAN RADIO INDUSTRY AND ITS LATIN AMERICAN ACTIVITIES, 1900-1939. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1990.
American wireless companies, growth of broadcasting, the rise of a military-industrial
complex, and international conferences on radio.
Shepherd, Frank M. TECHNICAL
DEVELOPMENT OF BROADCASTING IN ASIA-PACIFIC, 1964-1984.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union, 1984, Includes overall trends and
country-by-country assessment.
Smith, Anthony, ed. TELEVISION:
AN INTERNATIONAL HISTORY. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998 (2nd ed.) Anthology of illustrated articles covering most
parts of the world.
Tracey, Michael. THE
DECLINE AND FALL OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING. New York: Oxford University Press,
1998. The pressures on government-supported
radio and television systems in the face of expanding technological options and commercial
systems.
* Unesco. PRESS, FILM,
RADIO. Paris: Unesco, 1947-51 (7 vols;
reprinted in three by Arno Press “International Propaganda and
Communications,”1972). Information on
most countries includes extensive historical background and immediate post-war status.
Unesco. TELEVISION: A
WORLD SURVEY. Paris: Unesco, 1953, UPDATE,
1955. Invaluable for its details on the country-by-country initiation of television
service in much of the world.
Wedell, George, and
Philip Crookes, et al. RADIO 2000: THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RADIO
SERVICES IN EUROPE. London: John Libbey, 1991. Useful survey of developments in Europe
through the 1980s.
Woods, James. HISTORY
OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING. London:
IEE, 1992 and 1999 (two vols.). Best
history of the technology behind cross-border radio broadcasts from the 1920s into the
1990s, with much on both World War II and Cold War services, with considerable information
on specific nations.
1. History of Radio Technology Web Sites
These are some of the technology-emphasis sites–there are many more for different inventors (e.g., Marconi, Tesla).
Antique Radio Page by D.J. Adamsonhttp://members.aol.com/djadamson/arp.html
Designed for those who collect old radios this includes books, articles, links, classified ads and more.
The Broadcast Archive by Barry MishkindIncludes equipment and programming sections and links, plus information about the FCC, old stations, and links to other archives and organizations.
History of Recording Technology by Steve Schoenherrhttp://ac.acusd.edu/History/recording/notes.html
Includes phonographs, tape recorders and even musical jukeboxes. Offers a 16-part chronology with pictures and links.
Soundsite
http://www.soundsite.com/index.html
Reviews all aspects of current home entertainment audio and video technology, including data from manufacturers and a brief chronology.
Surfing the Aether
http://www.northwinds.net/bchris/index.htm
Extensive site with chronology arranged by decade and incorporating many links to people and developments.
United States Early Radio History by Thomas H. Whitehttp://www.ipass.net/~whitetho/index.html
A wonderfully useful site which offers full copy of a variety of pre-1920 articles and documents plus the author’s valuable own research on early radio station list publications, call-letter policies, and the like.
World of Wireless
http://home.luna.nl/~arjan-muil/radio/history.html
A Dutch site (in both English and Dutch) takes the story through World War II and includes details of the owners’ own collection.
2. "Old Radio" Program Web Sites
(Virtually any radio entertainment or news program is now the subject of a site or sites of its own–listed here are some more general "master" sites that link to a host of others.)
Jack’s List of Old Time Radio Pages
http://www.pe.net/~rnovak/jack.htm
Just that–a long list of links to all kinds of OTR sites, many of which allow you to hear whole program episodes. Also includes general radio history resources of all kinds. Regularly updated.
Old Time Radio
Includes many logs of program series, links to other sites, information on collecting programs.
Olde Time Radio
Allows one to listen to episodes of about a dozen old radio dramatic programs.
Radio Days
http://www.otr.com/index.shtml
Information on many old network radio programs (including some complete logs), OTR (old time radio) chat room and FAQs and more.