Points on the Dial: Golden Age Radio Beyond the Networks. Alexander Russo. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010. 292 pp.
The Golden Age of Radio, which lasted from 1930 until 1948, implies images of a communal listening experience both in individual homes and on a national level. Families gathered around the floor model radio in the living room after dinner, young children on their parents’ laps and older children camped out on the floor while they munched popcorn, focusing their attention on network-sponsored radio dramas, variety shows, and music programs. These network offerings brought the same entertainment to people across America simultaneously, creating a collective and unifying experience. However, radio’s Golden Age was much more complex. In Points on the Dial, Alexander Russo, an assistant professor of media studies at Catholic University, challenges our assumptions about radio programming, production, and use.
One assumption is that the national networks “displaced local radio in the late 1920s and dominated until it faced its own decimation by television.” The networks discovered early on that sponsors wanted to purchase airtime only in the areas they found useful, which led to the creation of split networks. Regional networks, like the Dixie Network, Yankee Network, and the League of Wisconsin Radio Stations, Inc., surfaced in the early 1930s and reached geographical areas that weren’t covered by the national networks. At this same time, “local programs accounted for between 18 and 71 percent of those aired by stations.”
Russo counters the popular belief that national networks dominated their affiliates through his case study of John Shepard III and his Yankee and Colonial regional networks. In 1936, CBS chose to end its affiliation with Boston station WNAC and Shepard because of his domination of the Columbia Broadcasting System in New England. Instead, the network chose a lower-powered Boston station with a goal of controlling the affiliates in that region and ending Shepard’s autonomy. The regional networks played a significant role in that they created programming that catered to regional audiences, while at the same time developing “idealized definitions of regional audiences to sell to national, regional and local sponsors.” Shepard also incorporated product placement into his programs by integrating brand names, such as recipes on “The Gretchen McMullen Household Hour.”
Another common assumption of the Golden Age of Radio is that audiences would not embrace recorded programming. At this time, live network programming was distributed through AT&T landlines. Sound-on-disc technology, developed in 1925 by engineers at the AT&T research arm Western Electric, allowed for the creation of broadcast-quality transcription discs, which held fifteen minutes of programming. This technology faced great opposition from the networks, resulting in a Federal Radio Commission ruling. Transcription discs, which were not available through retail outlets, required the same production process as live broadcasts, thus making them a “connection technology rather than a recording technology.” As early as 1934, sound-on-disc transcriptions provided 25% of total station programming, compromising the assumed national unity of live programs. Advertising agencies promoted transcription discs to their clients, as the recorded programs offered many advantages over live broadcasts, including the opportunity for performers to practice, resulting in a higher-quality product, the ability to preview the program, and the fact that this programming reached audiences in areas that did not have network coverage.
Russo also discusses the many ways listeners consumed radio. Technological evolution changed the context of the audience, which required that broadcasters create alternative forms of programming. Spot-broadcasting allowed broadcasters and advertisers to reach a niche audience as listening became less communal, less focused, and more individualized. The niche audiences particularly appealed to smaller advertisers who, in many cases, could not afford the minimum basic purchase rates of the networks. Car radios and midget sets made on-the-go listening possible, and programmers created new dayparts such as drive-time to accommodate that need. By the end of the Golden Age of Radio, American homes had multiple radios, which created the need for an even wider variety of programming.
In six chapters, Russo provides a comprehensive history of Radio’s Golden Age. His well-documented exploration is particularly enhanced by the case studies of radio pioneers and pioneering technology. Most of all, he provides answers to lingering questions about niche audiences, programming availability in hard-to-reach areas, and the survival of early broadcast programming.
Although early supporters of American broadcasting defined radio as commercial, national, and networked, Russo’s Points on the Dial illustrates that radio in its early days was not a monolithic experience. Russo’s work enhances our understanding of the development of American mass media, particularly as it pertains to programming and advertising, and makes a valuable contribution to the field of broadcast history.
TREVY A. MCDONALD
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill