MCOM72 Week 5

Question 1

Telegraph:

Answer 1

precursor of radio technology

Question 2

Morse code:

Answer 2

series of dots and dashes that stand for letters of the alphabet

Question 3

Although it was revolutionary, the telegraph had limitations

Answer 3

Unable to transmit the human voice

Ships at sea could not use it to communicate with the rest of the
world

Question 4

Guglielmo Marconi

Answer 4

Received a patent for wireless telegraphy
—a form of voiceless point-to-point
communication—in England in 1896

Question 5

Alexander Popov

Answer 5

Made parallel discoveries in Russia; sent
and received wireless messages in May
1895

Question 6

Nikola Tesla

Answer 6

invented a wireless system in 1892

In 1943, Supreme Court overturned
Marconi’s wireless patent and deemed
Tesla the inventor of radio

Question 7

Wireless telephony:

Answer 7

wireless voice and music transmission

Question 8

Broadcasting:

Answer 8

transmission of radio waves to a broad public audience

Question 9

Wireless Ship Act of 1910

Answer 9

required wireless equipment
on seagoing ships (Titanic had a radio room)

Question 10

Radio Act of 1912

Answer 10

required stations to be licensed

Question 11

Radio Corporation of America (RCA):

Answer 11

acquired American Marconi and radio
patents of other U.S. companies

RCA became a monopoly

Question 12

Chaos

Answer 12

in airwaves was common. With no restrictions on operation, hundreds of stations clog the airwaves in 1926, causing poor reception

Question 13

Radio Act of 1927:

Answer 13

stated that stations could only license their channels as long as they operated to
serve the “public interest, convenience, or necessity”

Question 14

Federal Radio Commission (FRC):

Answer 14

created to oversee licenses and negotiate channel problems

Question 15

Communications Act of 1934:

Answer 15

established the Federal Communications Commission in place of the FRC

Question 16

FM (frequency modulation) radio

Answer 16

Greater fidelity and clarity than AM radio

Accentuated the pitch, or distance, between radio waves

Surpassed AM radio by the 1980s

Question 17

AM (amplitude modulation) radio

Answer 17

Stressed the volume, or height, of radio waves

Question 18

Format radio: formula-driven radio

Answer 18

Management controls programming

Rotation: playing top songs many times during the day

Top 40 format: practice of playing the 40 most popular hits
in a given week as measured by record sales

Creation of the program log and day parts

Question 19

What are some details of modern day radio

Answer 19

Peak listening time is now drive time
rather than prime time

Stations today are more specialized

Fragmentation trend (with interesting
exceptions)

Question 20

Pacifica Foundation:

Answer 20

formed to run experimental public stations that often challenge the status quo

Question 21

First noncommercial networks

Answer 21

Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

National Public Radio (NPR) established in 1970, and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) are created to provide alternatives to commercial broadcasting

Question 22

News/talk: radio stations dominated
by news programs or talk shows;
appeals to adults

Answer 22

over age thirty-five

Question 23

Talk shows in the US are dominated by

Answer 23

right wing hosts

Question 24

Internet radio

Answer 24

AM or FM stations “stream” versions of on-air signal

New stations are created exclusively for the Internet

Question 25

Satellite radio:

Answer 25

a subscription-based national service originating with the launch of a series of satellites to cover the continental United
States

XM and Sirius merged to become SiriusXM in 2008

Requires a special radio tuner, though access is available on mobile devices via an app

Question 26

Podcasting

Answer 26

making audio files available on the Internet for downloading or streaming

Question 27

Radio advertising

Answer 27

Constitutes 10% of media advertising

Industry revenue has dropped, but number of stations remains stable

Only 20% of budget goes toward programming costs

National networks provide programming for local stations in exchange for time slots for national ads

Question 28

Payola:

Answer 28

record promoters paying deejays to play particular records

Resurfaced due to streaming radio services

Question 29

Telecommunications Act of
1996

Answer 29

eliminated most ownership restrictions on
radio

Question 30

Voice-tracking:

Answer 30

deejays digitally record their “breaks” between songs in advance

Question 31

Low-power FM (LPFM):

Answer 31

a class of 100-watt stations that give voice to local groups lacking access to the public airwaves