This powerful history of broadcasting in the United States goes beyond traditional accounts to explore the field's important social, political, and cultural ramifications. It examines how broadcasting has been organized as a business throughout much of the 20th century, and focuses on the aesthetics of programming over the years.

Surveys four key broadcasting periods from 1921 to 1996, drawing on a range of new sources to examine recent changes in the field, including coverage of the recent impact of cable TV and home video

Includes new data from collections at the Library of Congress and the Library of American Broadcasting

Ideal for anyone seeking a readable history of the field, offering the most current coverage available

List of Illustrations

Preface: Why a History of Broadcasting in the USA?

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Broadcasting's Beginning: The Big Bang

Part I: The Network Radio Era, 1921-1950

 1. Industrial Innovation and Diffusion: The Radio Networks

 2. Radio's Social, Cultural, and Political Impact: The First Mass Medium

 3. The Development of a New Aesthetic: Sounds

Part II: Transition, 1945-1957

 4. TV Replaces Radio in the Living Room

 5. Radio Reinvents Itself: Top 40 and Beyond

Part III: Network Television Dominates, 1958-1982

 6. CBS, NBC, and ABC Covering the USA

 7. Network TV's Social, Cultural, and Political Impact

 8. The Genre Machine: From Maverick to M*A*S*H

Part IV: Contemporary History, 1982-1996

 9. Radio: The FM Era

 10. Television: Remote Control Paradise

Epilogue: Still a Broadcasting Nation: 1996 and into the Future

Appendix: Sorry, Wrong Number

Index