TD1_01 Opportunity Lost
LegendarySurfer
control during World War I, for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship
communications. Radio technology was used in detection of submarines,
and by the U.S. Signal Corps in France. 5700 ships were equipped with
wireless telegraphy worldwide. When the war was over, the government
again encouraged America's corporations to take charge of the medium's
technology. General Electric, AT&T and United Fruit joined forces to
form the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919. Soon after World
War I, for the first time, American business essentially took control
of United States' aural communication.
"This was an opportunity lost," Radio historian Schubert wrote. "With
little thought, the American government had sacrificed its national
radio spectrum to big business. While the government retained
licensing rights, the gift of the medium to circling corporations set
an uneasy precedent for the future use of communications in America.
Rather than treat radio as a precious medium uniquely able to inform
and unite the public, the government pawned it off as a commodity."
"Although there was concern that amateur radio stations would not be
allowed to return to the airwaves after the war," Charles Taussig
wrote in The Book of Radio, "in 1919 the wartime restrictions were
ended. And the next few years would see tremendous strides, as
amateurs adopted vacuum-tube technology and began to explore
transmitting on shortwave frequencies, which resulted in significant
increases in range and reliability." Significantly, along with the
spark transmitters being replaced by vacuum tube oscillators, amateurs
began switching from CW (code) to phone operation.
"Once the radio industry finally became profitable," Taussig
continued, "major corporations - including the American Telephone &
Telegraph Company, General Electric, and Westinghouse - moved into the
field. Meanwhile, in 1919, due to pressure from the U.S. government,
American Enrico Marconi's assets were sold to General Electric, which
used them to form the Radio Corporation of America."
In the beginning, a radio wave was magic to most people. Although
humans had already been introduced to voices which ran miles across
telephone wires in the 1800's, the thought that those same voices
could travel through space, across the air - termed the "aether" back
then - was an amazing concept for the 1900's. While business interests
scrambled to buy and sell the late 19th-century invention, countless
amateurs treated the radio wave almost as a mystical medium. To these
amateurs, radio could transmit voices across land or sea so that
people could meet one another in the first real virtual medium. It
seemed as though radio could be an instrument to bring the world
together, make countries into neighborhoods and neighbors into
friends. The ham vision of radio was altruistic, not commercial.
The United States of America and the rest of the "free" world thrive
on commerce and consumerism. Profit is the name of the game and
altruism falls far down the list. There really was little hope for
radio to become anything more than another commercial product/service,
especially considering the industrial boom time propelling Western
countries at the time. Almost immediately, business interests shook
the wonder away from radio in an effort to make money out of its
waves.
"Led by Westinghouse's 1920 and 1921 establishment," Charles William
Taussig wrote, "of four well-financed stations - located in or near
Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago and New York City - there was a growing
sense of excitement as broadcasting activities became more organized.
In December, 1921, the Department of Commerce issued regulations
formally establishing a broadcast service. Then, in early 1922, a
"broadcasting boom" occurred, as a sometimes chaotic mix of stations,
sponsored by a wide range of business, organizations and individuals,
sprang up, numbering over 500 by the end of the year."
In 1920, Westinghouse employee Frank Conrad began to experimentally
broadcast music over his garage radio set in Pittsburgh. "Numerous
radio amateurs in the area contacted Conrad, told him that they
listened to his regular radio sound checks and even suggested music to
play. When Westinghouse became aware of Conrad's project, the company
realized the potential of radio broadcasting to help sell the radio
materials it produced. Westinghouse abruptly moved his operations to
its plant and applied to the Commerce Department for a license to
broadcast. The Department licensed America's first commercial
broadcast license to Westinghouse on October 27, 1920, and assigned it
the call letters KDKA. Hundreds of listeners tuned into the station
that November to hear the Presidential election results over KDKA...
American broadcast radio was born so that Westinghouse could sell
sets."