Broadcasting in the United States

By the late 20th century radio (sound) broadcasting had similarly divided, with stations specializing in a particular musical genre, or news or sports.

In 1901 Reginald Aubrey Fessenden made a significant step toward the possibility of broadcasting when he succeeded in superimposing a human voice onto a continuous Hertzian wave.

He had it installed at Brant Rock, MA, and at 9pm local time on December 24, 1906, he began a broadcast that could be heard by several United Fruit Company ships at sea.

The result of the Navy's demand for broadcasting was the mass production of radio equipment with simplified construction and operation requirements so they could be readily used by the common man.

The formation of broadcasting corporations was necessary to produce the capital needed to reach a large audience which would serve as a broad consumer base.

[4] To compete with RCA (which was a subsidiary of General Electric), Westinghouse Broadcasting entered the market, hoping for sale of its radio sets and publicity.

On October 27, 1920, the Department of Commerce granted Westinghouse a permit to broadcast in Pittsburgh, PA under the call letters KDKA.

KDKA would prove to be a very successful broadcasting station as a result of superior Westinghouse equipment that was developed from the company's acquisition of the Armstrong-Pupin patents.

[citation needed] Rather than compete with Westinghouse, General Electric (GE), RCA, and AT&T formed an alliance with the company on June 30, 1921.

On March 3, 1923, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was asked by Congress to open an investigation into the radio industry to find out if violations of anti-trust laws were being committed.

[3] Upon completion of its study entitled: Report of the Federal Trade Commission on the Radio Industry',[5] the FTC filed a formal complaint with Congress that Westinghouse, GE, RCA, and AT&T had "combined and conspired for the purpose of, and with the effect of, restraining competition and creating a monopoly in the manufacture, purchase and sale in interstate commerce of radio devices...and in domestic and transoceanic communication and broadcasting.

To avoid trial, AT&T withdrew from the patent alliance in 1931 and the remaining three companies developed their own divorcement plan which left RCA as the sole owner of NBC.

Famous disc jockeys in the era included Alan Freed, Dick Clark, Don Imus and Wolfman Jack.