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History of Radio to the Golden Age
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Radio Act of 1912
The Radio Act of 1912 was passed by congress as the first federal legislation on radio transmissions in the United States. Due to the Titanic tragedy, the act required employed radio users to listen for signals of distress for any ship in the US waters and obtain a license. The Radio Act was also the first to create laws that moderate the role of radio broadcasters. (August 1912: Federal Regulation of U.S. Airwaves Begins, n.d.) -
Creation of RCA
The Radio Corporation of America was founded in 1919. American Marconi was responsible for communications within the United States Navy, and was reorganized to create RCA. The American Navy approached General Electric (G.E.) to purchase American Marconi in order to form a monopoly in radio. (A Visual Memoir of RCA, n.d.) -
Radio Act of 1927
The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was established due to the Radio Act of 1927. The FRC was never able to become a lasting federal agency. However, it created critical policies regarding the licensing and broadcasting of radio companies, and was tasked to ensure no radio station was censored but the FRC could punish offensive radio stations. The FRC was also responsible for assigning frequencies to broadcasters, and set up areas in which all radio signals could be picked up. (Gobetz, 2023) -
The First TV Station in the U.S.
Charles Francis Jenkins invented the first television station, called W3XK, to receive a license in the United States. The station had its first broadcast on July 2, 1928 outside of Washington, D.C., and it would air "radio movies" to the public five nights during the week. Eventually, W3XK was acquired by RCA which stunted the development and growth of television entirely. (Deffree, 2019) -
Introduction of TV to the Public
The World Fair of 1939 premiered the first television to the public. This marked the first time that television was accessible to the general public of the United States. Following this, in 1953 color television was invented by RCA and it was adopted as the federal standard of televisions across the U.S. The standard is still in use today. (Color Television, n.d.) -
The Invention of Cable TV
Cable television was created in 1948, and by the early 50's it was in millions of households around America. The purpose of its invention was to deliver off-air programming to homes that would not get it. By the mid 50's some of the first television programs were aired like "I Love Lucy" and "Gunsmoke." Advertising and television commercials were also becoming widely popular for shows around this time.
(The Cable History Timeline, n.d.)