Digital Radio in Brazil: Indecision and Impasse After a Ten-Year Discussion

Government and radio broadcasting stations have been debating the model of digital transmission to be adopted in Brazil, without having come to a consensus. The impasse is related to the technological characteristics of the available systems (IBOC, DRM, and DAB) that are not integrally adaptable to the model of radio broadcasting, to the regulatory laws, and to the rules of the radio market in the country. Tests done with IBOC reveal that the digital system does not provide the same coverage as a quality analogical AM radio. Other aspects are the technical conditions of the Brazilian broadcasting stations and their adaptability to a digital system: 37% of them still function with valve transmitters, most of them being between AM commercial and public radio stations. As they are broadcasting stations with few resources for investment in transistorized equipment, it will be necessary to create public policies of incentive for digitalization, which would collaborate toward the sustainability of the sector. The present study presents data from a sample of 750 stations, which corresponds to 96.45% of the profile of the Brazilian radio market, and integrates the data with national research.     

Musique as Opposed to Music: Background and Impact of Quotas for French Songs on French Radio

In 1996 French radio stations began complying with loi Carignon that sets a minimum quota of 40% of music time for French-language chansons. The law represents a departure from previous voluntary efforts to promote French-language music in broadcasting, but I argue that it is an example of political continuity in the protectionist tendencies discernible in French media policy. This article explores the reasons for the creation of the law, including political factors, career desires, and French media and cultural policies.     

Christian Radio in a New Millennium

There is no segment of the broadcasting industry growing as rapidly as Christian Radio has since 1990. The number of radio stations with Christian formats has nearly tripled in this time frame, surpassing all other formats. This remarkable growth is due to a combination of factors, including changes in FCC channel allocation and licensing policies, innovations in software to identify available frequencies and plot coverage areas, the popularity of Contemporary Christian Music, the growth of Evangelical Christianity and conservative political organizations, and the dedicated efforts of many broadcasters who want Christian Radio to happen now.     

Historical Constitution of Public Radio Stations in Brazil

Educational, state, cultural, and university radio stations have already developed over more than 70 years of history in Brazilian radio broadcasting. Currently, there are hundreds of stations transmitting across the country, from the North to the South. Some of them—that in the 1990s included 100 broadcasting stations and among these, the oldest and nationally referenced—up to this decade operated and were referenced as a component of the educational radio system. Mainly from this period on, most of these stations began to call themselves public. And, especially due to their programming, they have been attempting to define themselves within the profile of public radio stations. The purpose of this article is to uncover the historical construction of this group of radio broadcasting stations, by means of a timeframe, from the advent of the non-commercial segment in the 1930s until today. It reconstructs referential models and presents main threads and features of the programming of these stations throughout these seven decades. In this way, it will also evince how Brazil is constructing its model of public radio.     

FCC enforcement difficulties with unlicensed micro radio

The purpose of this study is to analyze Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulatory and enforcement strategies concerning unlicensed micro broadcasting. Micro radio stations in the United States have increased markedly since 1994. Employing document analysis, observations, and interviews, the FCC's regulatory and enforcement difficulties associated with micro radio activities are identified. Results indicate that FCC's efforts to restrict access to micro broadcasting technology have been stymied by the grassroots efforts of micro radio stations.     

A national survey of NAB member stations' support of broadcasting education

In the Spring of 1962 the Journal of Broadcasting published a “Directory of Scholarships for Students of Broadcasting” an amalgamation of compilations by Gordon Greb (for the Council on Radio‐Television Journalism of the Association for Education in Journalism and the Radio‐Television News Directors Association) and Sidney Kraus (for the Association for Professional Broadcasting Education). This directory, although listing scholarships worth more than a quarter million dollars, named fewer than 30 as coming from broadcasting stations, group ownership, or state broadcaster associations. In the compilation that follows, even though it is restricted to NAB member stations, more than 90 stations report granting scholarships to students of broadcasting. Surely, this represents a vast increase in the amount of student aid and recognition, and not merely underreporting on the earlier survey.

The following study had its genesis in a discussion between Dr. Kraus and Howard Bell, then vice‐president for Planning and Development and Assistant to the President of the National Association of Broadcasters and Executive Secretary of the Association for Professional Broadcasting Education (now Director of the NAB Code Authority). The NAB sent the questionnaires to its membership; Dr. Kraus compiled the results. Although Dr. Kraus and his associates made several checks on the data, it is possible that some errors remain, for which the Journal apologizes in advance. The following data apply to NAB member stations as of early 1963, and do not of course detail the financial support given broadcasting students by all of America's broadcasting stations. Some changes in format were made by the Journal staff, and some minor data (notably the number of stations responding from certain states and the call letters of stations approached by schools for scholarships in some states) are presently unavailable due to the change in location by Dr. Kraus from Bloomington, Indiana (where he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio and Television at Indiana University) to Chicago (where he recently assumed the title of Assistant to the President of Roosevelt University).     

The local television director: Part II of a continuing study

Leveling‐off of construction of new TV stations and transfer from live to film operations at both network and local station levels has occasioned considerable concern on the part of students and teachers of broadcasting. The question of the practical value of university broadcasting instruction can be answered best by studying station practice, and the market for the university‐trained product.     

Public Service Broadcasting in the United States

In the past few years, American public broadcasting has faced severe pressures from conservative politicians, the challenge of preparing for new technologies, and fickle audiences. Yet it may be as well-off today as it ever has been, in part because public broadcasting has always been on the margins of American broadcasting. It has been in more parlous circumstances and in fact has certain advantages at this point. Public broadcasting in the United States is not essentially a public service broadcaster, although it sometimes acts as one. It thus has a certain flexibility in a time of great change. American public broadcasting is not a unified structure, but an ad hoc assemblage of stations united both by the fluctuating patronage of the institutions that fund them and in their cultivating the capricious support of the audiences they serve.     

电视体育节目特点探析

随着体育事业和电视传播事业的发展,电视体育节目的播出量越来越大,电视体育节目对整个体育事业的发展起到了很大的促进作用,做出了不可磨灭的贡献。由于电视体育节目在我国的发展历史只有短短的二十多年,还处于摸索阶段,因而对电视体育节目进行分析研究,有助于找出电视体育节目的特点,从而使各电视台办好体育节目,满足人民群众不断增长的体育欣赏水平的需要。     

Political party use of radio and television in the 1960 campaign

Although only about 1% of all broadcast revenues in 1960 could be attributed to time purchased for the Presidential election campaign, the total (close to $14 million) was enough to put a very‐large dent into political party treasuries. At the same time, broadcasting stations and networks reaped a quadrennial bonanza. The following article describes and discusses the trends in party expenditures for political broadcasting, as well as the regional distribution of the amount of broadcasting time purchased by the two major parties. It is primarily an analysis of the Federal Communications Commission's 1960 Survey of Political Broadcasting.     

Part of imperial communications

From 1934 to 1941, three British-governed radio stations were established in the Middle East: Egyptian State Broadcasting (ESB) in Cairo (1934), the Palestine Broadcasting Service (PBS) in Jerusalem (1936), and the Near East Broadcasting Service (NEBS) in Jaffa (1941). These three stations were modeled on the BBC and run as colonial or imperial stations—but they were also considered national stations. As a result, they operated as hybrid entities with overlapping and sometimes conflicting mandates. Through the three case studies—a contentious hire at the ESB, the PBS' ‘Jerusalem Direct News Service’, and the NEBS' Islamic broadcasts—this article charts the evolving relationship between Great Britain and its Arab-world radio stations, examining these three stations in tandem tension between national and regional broadcasting mandates, as well as the challenge that managing each station raised for British officials in the UK and in-country. It moves away from a focus on the disembodied spheres of ideology and propaganda, and toward the messy administrative decisions that reflected British officials' on-the-ground efforts to navigate the administrative control and programming decisions in the perplexing world of semi-independent radio broadcasting stations in the Middle East. It closes by noting that while UK-based British officials saw these three stations as operating under the aegis of British governance and on the model of the BBC, the ESB and the PBS, in particular, reflected and projected not a British imperial identity but an Egyptian and a Palestinian nationalist one.     

The new competitive environment of radio broadcasting in the Nordic countries: A short history of deregulation and analysis

The new competitive environment of radio broadcasting in the Nordic countries consists of three sectors: (1) public service radio channels, (2) commercial radio stations and networks, and (3) community radio. Commercial radio represents the latest phase in a long process of transformation that started with decentralization inside the national broadcasting corporations in the 1960s and continued with introduction of noncommercial forms of local and community radio since the late 1970s. In the 1990s, commercial radio represents a hegemonic cultural form whose values and meanings penetrate to all sectors of radio. As a response to commercialization, the public service broadcasting tradition is undergoing a serious rearticulation. In contrast with the radical liberalism of the 1980s, there seems to be a growing political will to safeguard a balanced dualism of noncommercial and commercial forms of broadcasting.     

The TV News Scheduling Game: When the Face of the Newscaster Matters

From the late 1920s, all radio broadcasting in the United Kingdom was undertaken by a public sector broadcaster—the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Television was also the exclusive preserve of the BBC until the mid-1950s, when advertiser-supported commercial stations came into existence. This form of competition for audiences, but not for finance, between two broadcasting sectors—called by some a 'comfortable duopoly'—persisted until the late 1980s when the government permitted competitive entry by cable and satellite operators, introduced competition for advertising revenue between terrestrial stations, and placed commercial television broadcasting on a more competitive footing by introducing tendering for franchises. As these changes have occurred, the BBC has maintained its traditional system of regulation and has continued to operate under a Royal Charter. Although the expiry of the current Charter at the end of 1996 has provoked a debate about the role of the BBC, the government has stated its intention to renew the Charter for another 10 years. It seems likely that, until the year 2002 at least, the current system of regulating and financing public Service broadcasting in the United Kingdom will remain intact. However, the proliferation of channels represents a threat to the BBC's audience base. There may also be difficulties in combining within the same organization a public service mission and highly commercial activities, undertaken in a very competitive world market.     

“Touching the sentiments of everyone”;: Nationalism and state broadcasting in thirties Mexico

This paper provides a historical perspective on the intersection of media, popular culture, and nationalism through a study of the broadcasting policies and programs of one of Mexico's earliest government radio stations. This study analyzes the musical programs that formed the centerpiece of government radio programming in order to evaluate the racial and class ideologies imbedded in the nationalist discourse of state broadcasters. By viewing these government programs through the lens of a broader literature on nationalism in the Third World and among diasporic communities, it is possible to identify a fundamental tension in Mexico's official nationalism between a search for the roots of an “authentic”; ethnic identity, and a need to position Mexican culture within the constellation of Western “civilization.”; Finally, this paper investigates audience reactions to state broadcasts in order to explore the meaning of early broadcast nationalism for Mexico's radio listeners.     

Public Radio at a Crossroads: Emerging Trends in U.S. Public Media

While useful in establishing U.S. public media, the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 is an imperfect instrument for moving public radio to a secure future. Policies governing public broadcasting are insufficient to address the economic, political, social, and technological changes upending media organizations, both commercial and non-commercial. The urgent need is for more flexible structural arrangements as public radio and public television stations merge, partner with non-profit media entities, and seek funding that builds on the strength of the local public radio network as well as responds to the demand for imaginative, on-demand content from national networks.     

A Sales Floor in the Sky: Philadelphia Department Stores and the Radio Boom of the 1920s

Between 1920 and 1922, the number of radio stations in the United States mushroomed from a handful to almost 600. Department stores operated 30 of these stations, using the airwaves to stimulate the sale of receivers, to advertise the store, and to promote merchandise. This research analyzes the phenomenon of department store radio stations, with a particular focus on Philadelphia. In contrast to historical accounts of radio that stress the dramatic commercialization of the industry in the late 20s, this research argues that advertising has always been a defining element of the American approach to broadcasting.     

Regulating the Radio Pirates: Rethinking the Control of Offshore Broadcasting Stations Through a Maritime Perspective

Offshore broadcasting pirates, transmitting radio shows from international waters back into the borders of nation-states, have been largely examined from a media-communications perspective. Drawing on pirate stations broadcasting into Britain I argue that new insights into the regulation of this phenomenon can be formed if it is considered not only as a media-communications venture, but likewise a maritime one. Following the Marine &c. Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967, Section 42 of the Broadcasting Act 1990, and the surveillance missions which ensued, I contend that these were not only aerial strategies designed to deal with an aerial problem (that of broadcasting), but also sea-based strategies, designed to deal with a maritime problem (that of broadcasting from ships and forts at sea). I thus propose re-thinking the ways in which successive British administrations regulated the radio pirates, paving the way for an alternative understanding of this phenomenon in media history.     

KVOS in the Local,Public Interest: Early Broadcasting and the Constitution of the Local

This article contributes to scholarly literature on local stations in early radio broadcasting history. Taking KVOS in Bellingham, WA as a case study, it attends to how regional geography in conjunction with station operators, broadcasting policy, and audiences helped to define localism in relation to broader national, regional, and international identities forming at the beginnings of early radio and between 1930–1953. KVOS’ history demonstrates how radio was always bound up with the production of locality and how local identity was constituted in and through its relation to broader collective sensibilities taking shape at the time.