User:Mg9901/History of radio

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In my article I identified something that should be added in the 20th century section of the article dealing with the rise of radio in America which can go along with all the news of the rise of radio in other countries. I am citing from Britannica's article on radio which states, Broadcasting got an important boost in the massive American market when 30 radio stations went live in different cities from 1920-1921 .

In an 1864 presentation, published in 1865, James Clerk Maxwell proposed theories of electromagnetism, with mathematical proofs, that showed that light and predicted that radio and x-rays were all types of electromagnetic waves propagating through free space. In 1886–88 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz conducted a series of experiments that proved the existence of Maxwell's electromagnetic waves, using a frequency in what would later be called the radiospectrum. Many individuals—inventors, engineers, developers and businessmen—constructed systems based on their own understanding of these and other phenomena, some predating Maxwell and Hertz's discoveries. Thus "wireless telegraphy" and radio wave-based systems can be attributed to multiple "inventors". Development from a laboratory demonstration to a commercial entity spanned several decades and required the efforts of many practitioners.

In 1878, David E. Hughes noticed that sparks could be heard in a telephone receiver when experimenting with his carbon microphone. He developed this carbon-based detector further and eventually could detect signals over a few hundred yards. He demonstrated his discovery to the Royal Society in 1880, but was told it was merely induction, and therefore abandoned further research. Thomas Edison came across the electromagnetic phenomenon while experimenting with a telegraph at Menlo Park. He noted an unexplained transmission effect while experimenting with a telegraph. He referred to this as etheric force in an announcement on November 28, 1875. Elihu Thomson published his findings on Edison's new "force", again attributing it to induction, an explanation that Edison accepted. Edison would go on the next year to take out U.S. Patent 465,971 on a system of electrical wireless communication between ships based on electrostatic coupling using the water and elevated terminals. Although this was not a radio system, Edison would sell his patent rights to his friend Guglielmo Marconi at the Marconi Company in 1903, rather than another interested party who might end up working against Marconi's interests.

21st Century History

The internet has continued evolve in the 21st century. According to an article on PBS.org 95 percent of Americans listen to radio at least once a week. Radio in the 21st century has had staying power. Also according to a timeline on WCBN's website radio. Something can be said about radio both gaining traction and losing a bit through some new media. In the 21st century radio has tried to figure out ways to enact their radio initiatives. According to Taylor and Francis Online based on current numbers in the 21st century there has been a consideration by the US's model of lister-sponsorship as a viable "third-way" for more community radio in this century. This has been seen more in current radio with more people in the community creating their own forms of radio. This leads to the rise of podcasting in the 21st century. Podcasting is radio but prerecorded, edited then reproduced adding a lot of extra sound to making an overall bigger production.

Podcasting

Podcasting first came around in 2004, where the format use to go by the term audio blogging. The podcasts' content includes interviews, at least one host, and multiple recurring guests continually coming back similarly to any other TV or radio show. Also according a survey conducted by NCBI most podcasts that are 15-30 minutes for a typically formatted podcast.

The graph from NCBI that shows what the preferred length of podcasts are for audiences

According to Sciencedirect.com there is a belief that podcasting could be the future of education. They say based on several studies that there are several positive effects on students in terms of classroom environment as well as opening up students to different new forms of teaching.

Podcasts continue to grow in today's society. In a study conducted by Podcast Insights from as recent as April 2021 there are 2,000,000 different podcasts and 48,000,000 podcast episodes to go along with those shows. Another point from this article is that 75% of American households are now familiar with the term podcasting, and 55% have tuned in to at least one podcast. The main reason podcasting gets to the level it is at now is its connection to social media platforms. According to the same article from Podcast Insights 94% of people who listen to podcasts are most likely to be active on all social media platforms.

Regulations of radio stations in the U.S

Wireless Ship Act of 1910

Radio technology was first used for ships to communicate at sea. To ensure safety, the Wireless Ship Act of 1910 marks the first time the U.S. government implies regulations on radio systems on ships. This act requires ships to have a radio system with a professional operator if they want to travel more than 200 miles offshore or have more than 50 people on board. However, this act had many flaws including the competition of radio operators including the two majors company (British and American Marconi). They tended to delay communication for ships that used their competitor's system. This yields the tragic incident of the sink of the Titanic in 1912.

Radio Act of 1912

In 1912, the sinking of the Titanic due to delayed emergency signals. This happened due to many uncontrolled waves from different radio stations that interfered with the emergency signal from the ship.  After this tragedy, the government passed on the Radio Act of 1912 to prevent the story to repeat itself in the future. In this act, the state took control of the waves spectrum, separating between a regular signal versus emergency signals from ships.

The Radio Act of 1927

The Radio Act of 1927 gave the Federal Radio Commission the power to grant and deny licenses, and to assign frequencies and power levels for each licensee. In 1928 it began requiring licenses of existing stations and setting controls on who could broadcast from where on what frequency and at what power. Some stations could not obtain a license and ceased operations. In section 29, the Radio Act of 1927 mentioned that the content of the broadcast should be freely present, and the government cannot interfere with this.

The Communications Act of 1934

The introduction of the Communications Act of 1934 led to the establishment of the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC). The FCC's responsibility is to control the industry including "telephone, telegraph, and radio communications." Under this Act, all carriers have to keep records of authorized interference and unauthorized interference. This Act also supports the President in time of war. If the government needs to use the communication facilities in time of war, they are allowed to.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first significant overhaul in over 60 years amending the work of the The Communications Act of 1934. Coming only two dozen years after the breakup of AT&T, the act sets out to move telecommunications into a state of competition with their markets and the networks they are apart of. Up to this point the effects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 have been seen, but some of the changes the Act set out to fix are still ongoing problems, such as being unable to create an open competitive market.