Figure 1.--The first radio sets appered in American living romms aftr World War I in the erly-1920s. They were enormous affairs, major pieces of furniture and a jumble of wires and vacuume tubes--the most expenive item in the livingroom. This continued into the 1940s. Many familis gathered around the radio after dinner to enjoy popular programs. Boys enjoyed prograns like 'The Lone Rabgr', 'Gang Busters', abd The Shadow'. We are not sure when this photograph was takenm but would guess it was taken un he lare-1930s. Our guess is that he is listening to the 'Lone Ranger' which begn in 1933.

Canada and the United State are the major countries of North America. We work on Mexico as part of Latin Ameruca for cultural rather than geographic reasons. The radio broadcasting industry in North America has been dominated by commercial broadcasters in the United States. The first American commercial radio broadcast took place on November 6, 1920, in Pittsburg Pennsylvania. The station was KDKA. A Westinghouse employee climbed into a wooden shack on the roof of a company plant and spoke into a converted telephone mouth piece. The first words were, "We shall now broadcast the election returns." He went on to provide details on the election of Warren Harding as president. It did not take long for radio to become a major industry. By 1925 about 10 percent of Americans had radios and by 1933, despite the Depression, 63 percent of Americans had acquired a radio. Though forgotten today, these stations--which often featured popular broadcasters, and catered to working class and rural audiences--played an important yet overlooked role in shaping the future course of American broadcasting. Many of the television staples like news programing, detective shows, adventure shows, sitcoms, quiz shows, variety shows, evangelists, and others were all developed on the radio by commercial broacasters. So was the western, a now forgotten program type. Virtually every American family had a radio which was usually given a place of honor in the living room. Canadian radio developed differently, in part because Canadian broacasters had dificulty competing with American briadcasters and there was no way to place restrictions on American broacsters. As a result, the Government fom an early point has played an important role in the broadcast indudtry.

United States

Commercial radio began to develop in the United States before Workd War, but was shut down when America entered World War I (1917). The first American commercial radio broadcast took place on November 6, 1920, in Pittsburg Pennsylvania. The station was KDKA. A Westinghouse employee climbed into a wooden shack on the roof of a company plant and spoke into a converted telephone mouth piece. The first words were, "We shall now broadcast the election returns." He went on to provide details on the election of Warren Harding as president. It did not take long for radio to become a major industry. By 1925 about 10 percent of Americans had radios and by 1933, despite the Depression, 63 percent of families had acquired a radio and were listening in. Though forgotten today, these stations--which often featured popular broadcasters, and catered to working class and rural audiences--played an important yet overlooked role in shaping the future course of American broadcasting. Many of the television staples like news programing, detective shows, adventure shows, sitcoms, quiz shows, variety shows, evangelists, and others were all developed on the radio by commercial broacasters. So was the western, a now forgotten program type. Virtually every American family had a radio which was usually given a place of honor in the living room. The radio was at the time a major piece of furniture. The radio by the late 1920s and especially the 1930s had become a major medium delivering news to Americans. For the kids of course, especially the boys, it was those thrilling adventure series that attracted them to radio. Some parents also worried about the impact of the War reporting as well as some violent radio programs would have on their children--a concern which has continued to this daty. Children listened to radio adventure programs an average of 14 hours a week, much less than the moder TV generation. Recent historical scholarship on American radio in the late 1920s has focused primarily on the emergence of the large, corporate-backed stations that were eventually consolidated into the major national networks. This paper challenges this assumption by focusing on the many independent stations that flourished in this decade. American radio is today stronger than ever. There are 10,000 radio stations in America. Most Americans tune in at least once a week.

Canada

Radio in Canada began after World War I with the Federal Government issuing the first licences for private commercial radio stations (1922). Many Canadians from an early point begn tuning into American stations south of the border. There they found high powered stations and a greater varirty if program broadcasts. Unlike other commrcial pursuits, there was no way to control this. This impaired the devlopment of a Canadian radio industry because Canadian broadcasters found it difficult to compete with the American station. Because radio waves travel long distances and a shared English language, American broadcasters posed a chllenge tonthe Canadian industry. The Federal Government thus appointed a royal commission to advise on the broadcasting policies (1928). The Canadian Government decided to set up a Government corporation--the Candian Broadcasting Company (CBC). CBC launched a news service during World War II (1941). Radio-Canada also set up a news service. Several notable radio broadcasts occured during the War, including Winston Churchill's speech from the House of Commons in Ottawa. tge end of the War, private radio stations affiliated with the national network. Some 43 hours of French and English programs were being broadcast daily, This compared with just 10 hours in 1936. After the War, CBC began preparing. CBC compiled a 15-year plan for Canada's the development of television.

Created: 6:58 AM 3/9/2015
Last updated: 6:58 AM 3/9/2015