"Empire of the Air" by Ken Burns -- the beginning of commercial radio

[oldmanradio]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQANmy2Wcpc

 

[oaktree]

Very nice! Good find.

Burns is great at whatever projects he does. Would like to see a more contemporary version (last forty or fifty years) of this.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Burns is great at whatever projects he does. Would like to see a more contemporary version (last forty or fifty years) of this.

After reading all the jumping up and down that takes place in so many threads on this site, you know what struck me while watching the u-tube clip? It was anything but LOCAL. It filled a need. It fed the fantasies of listeners. But over and over the scenario was receiving a voice from far away, from somewhere we didn't know.

Then, circa the 1960s television took that away from radio and what was left but to deal with the local. If Burns did another film about the last 50 years, LOCAL would be very evident in the presentation.

If TWITTER is doing to radio what TV did 50 years ago, what is radio left with? THAT film will have to come from someone other than Ken Burns. ;D

 

[SUPERCASTER]

Checking the radio schedules of the 1920's, before "chain broadcasts" or radio networks, most broadcasts were local, there were very few remotes. Even after the radio networks began (mid to late 1920's) most of the network broadcasts were in the evening hours. Unfortunately most of these local programs were not recorded. The disk recording equipment was poor quality, acoustical, or early tube electronic, limited, complex, cumbersome, expensive and rare. Few actual broadcast transcriptions exist or survive from before the 1930's.

 

[oldmanradio]

The entire documentary, released in 1991, is available from PBS, or it can be rented from Netflix and, probably, Blockbuster's mail-order DVD service.

This section is the only part of the documentary that I could find on Youtube.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

 

[TrapperJohn]

I have it on VHS from when it first aired. Excellent program...also have the companion book.

 

[landtuna]

The entire documentary, released in 1991, is available from PBS, or it can be rented from Netflix and, probably, Blockbuster's mail-order DVD service.

This section is the only part of the documentary that I could find on Youtube.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

It was not available from Blockbuster online or in stores when I checked last night (Saturday).

 

[TheBigA]

Checking the radio schedules of the 1920's, before "chain broadcasts" or radio networks, most broadcasts were local, there were very few remotes.

"Local" is a matter of opinion. The radio stations at the time (and there were only a few hundred of them) were mainly regional, not strictly local. WLS in Chicago covered several states. Same with WSM Nashville and WLW in Cincinnati. They weren't doing local traffic reports (no traffic) and they weren't doing DJ shows (recorded music wasn't allowed thanks to the Musicians Union).

The advantage of network programming was a way to provide expensive entertainment programming that most of the local stations couldn't do themselves. Those who did, like WSM's Grand Ole Opry, signed up with a network to help defray the costs.

I really think we could be at a time when this kind of radio may return. There are simply too many radio stations to make quality programming efficiently. Stations need unique content, the kind of content that generates a lot of interest and talk beyond a small town. Once people hear it, they need to be able to share it with their friends in their own network. The only catch is how to pay for it.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Checking the radio schedules of the 1920's, before "chain broadcasts" or radio networks, most broadcasts were local, there were very few remotes.

Adding to what The Big A said- - - Yes, in that early era stations were doing something local as far as the origination point went. But think about the nation at that time. We were a very rural nation. A nation of rhubarbs living on farms and in small towns. What some of us commented on in the Ken Burns clip was that people were gathering around their receivers and "ooohing and ahhhhhing" over things they were hearing from a distance. "Keep those cards and letters coming" was not a bit of humor back then... it was the lifeblood of radio that was "knocking dead" an audience at a distance.

I remember radio circa 1950. The stations near me became a bit ho-hum. I lived about 20 miles from civilization near the Mexican border. I went to sleep at night to the serenade of coyotes. To turn on that radio in the evening and get Tulsa, OK and to get Shreveport, LA and Nashville, TN and Chicago, IL.... Wow!

There is a saying that is part of our language that comes from Christian theology: "A prophet is without honor in his own country." Being Local is an enigma. We say it is essential, and yet being local goes against all odds.

 

[oldmanradio]

The entire documentary, released in 1991, is available from PBS, or it can be rented from Netflix and, probably, Blockbuster's mail-order DVD service.

This section is the only part of the documentary that I could find on Youtube.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

It was not available from Blockbuster online or in stores when I checked last night (Saturday).

A few months ago, I switched to Netflix from Blockbuster online. The selection and availability is much better. I was really dissatisfied with Blockbuster.

Netflix also has a 24-hour, toll-free, customer line that will resolve any problems you have immediately.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams