The Broadcast Century and Beyond: A Biography of American Broadcasting / Edition 5

by Robert L Hilliard, Michael C Keith

Overview

The Broadcast Century and Beyond is a popular history of the most influential and innovative industry of the century. The story of broadcasting is told in a direct and informal style, blending personal insight and authoritative scholarship. The book vividly depicts the events, people, programs, & companies that made television & radio dominant forms of communication. This edition includes coverage of the technologies that have emerged over the past decade & discusses the profound impact they have had on the broadcasting industry in political, social, & economic spheres. The industry has been completely revolutionized with the advent of YouTube, podcasting, iphones, etc., and the authors discuss the impact on broadcasting. New sidebars scattered throughout the book showcase the intersections of broadcast history, & colors these events through a social, cultural, & political lens.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780240812366
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/16/2010
Pages:	388
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Robert L. Hilliard, Ph.D., is Professor of Media Arts and former Dean of Graduate Studies at Emerson College. He was Chief of the Educational/Public Broadcasting Branch of the F.C.C., Chair of the Federal Interagency Media Committee, and a former broadcasting writer and producer. Among his 25 books on the media is the classic Writing for Television, Radio, and New Media, now in its 7th edition. With Michael C. Keith he coauthored Global Broadcasting Systems and Waves of Rancor, which was named by President Clinton to his 1999 yearly reading list of 12 books. Hilliard's latest book is Media, Education, and America's Counter-Culture Revolution.
Michael C. Keith, Ph.D., ranks among the most prolific authors on the subject of broadcast media, in particular radio. He is a member of the Communication Department at Boston College and is author of over twenty books, including Voices in the Purple Haze, Signals in the Air, Talking Radio, Radio Cultures, and Sounds in the Dark. With Robert Hilliard he has co-authored The Broadcast Century and Beyond, Waves of Rancor, Dirty Discourse, Global Broadcasting Systems, and The Hidden Screen. With Christopher Sterling he co-authored Sounds of Change: FM Broadcasting in America. In addition, he is the author of numerous journal articles and has served in a number of editorial positions. He is the past Chair of Education for the Museum of Broadcast Communications, the inaugural chair of the Broadcast Education Association's Radio Division, and a former broadcaster. He is the recipient of several honors, including the Distinguished Scholar Award given by the Broadcast Education Association in 2008, and the Stanton Fellow Award given by the International Radio Television Society. He is the author of a critically acclaimed memoir, The Next Better Place: A Father and Son on the Road (Algonquin Press), in 2003. Visit the author's website: www.michaelckeith.com.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

In the Beginning ...Genesis to 1920 1

The Roaring '20s Promise, Chaos, and Controls 21

The Terrible '30s Profit Amid Depression 61

The Furious '40s War and Recovery-Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying ... Transition to TV 91

The Fearful '50s Broadcasting and Blacklisting-A Decade of Shame 123

The Soaring '60s Awakening, Rebellion, and the Moon 163

The Shifting '70s Q and A and Jiggle 201

The Techno-Edged '80s Teflon, Tinsel, and Me 233

The Cyber '90s Toward a New Century 261

The New Century: The 2000s Webs and Digits 311

Further Reading 353

Index 359

Editorial Reviews

"A masterwork that seamlessly weaves an array of complex elements into the story - elements such as entrepreneurship, technological developments, government regulation, patent wars, advertising, news, programming innovations, and celebrities.. The authors are to be commended for their year-by-year chronological approachand for smoothly incorporating big-picture issues, concrete examples and social contest into that chronological framework. Students, therefore, get a strong sense of the when along with plenty of the so what.. The book is absolutely packed with seemingly minor historical tidbits that, actually, can be used as springboards for discussions of major current issues - for example, the inculcation of advertising messages into programming content, something prevalent through the history of broadcasting in blatant ways (The Philco Hour, The Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra)."--American Journalism

"This is one of the most clearly written and insightful discussions of the development of electronic media in America. The authors not only provide historical accuracy, but they discuss the multiple challenges facing traditional broadcast outlets in the digital age.
--Professor Donald Fishman, Boston College

"A valuable chronological approach to the ever growing role and impact of American radio, television, cable, satellite and Internet media, this is an entertaining and informative volume that brings more than a hundred years of development to life.
--Professor Christopher Sterling, George Washington University

From the Publisher