Examining work by novelists, filmmakers, TV producers and songwriters, this book uncovers the manner in which the radio – and the act of listening – has been written about for the past 100 years. Ever since the first public wireless broadcasts, people have been writing about the radio: often negatively, sometimes full of praise, but always with an eye and an ear to explain and offer an opinion about what they think they have heard. Novelists including Graham Greene, Agatha Christie, Evelyn Waugh, and James Joyce wrote about characters listening to this new medium with mixtures of delight, frustration, and despair. Clint Eastwood frightened moviegoers half to death in Play Misty for Me, but Lou Reed's 'Rock & Roll' said listening to a New York station had saved Jenny's life. Frasier showed the urbane side of broadcasting, whilst Good Morning, Vietnam exploded from the cinema screen with a raw energy all of its own. Queen thought that all the audience heard was 'ga ga', even as The Buggles said video had killed the radio star and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers lamented 'The Last DJ'. This book explores the cultural fascination with radio; the act of listening as a cultural expression – focusing on fiction, films and songs about radio. Martin Cooper, a broadcaster and academic, uses these movies, TV shows, songs, novels and more to tell a story of listening to the radio – as created by these contemporary writers, filmmakers, and musicians.

"Top 40" was the preeminent American radio format of the 1950s and 1960s. Although several radio station group owners offered their own versions of the format, the AM stations owned by Todd Storz and his father were acknowledged as the principal developers of Top 40 radio, and the prime movers in making it a nationwide ratings and revenue success. The Storz Stations in St. Louis, Omaha, New Orleans, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Miami are profiled in this book, as are various Storz air personalities and executives. A detailed chapter examines the unique "Storz Station sound," revealing the complexity of what detractors portrayed as a simplistic format. Another covers Storz advertising in radio trade magazines, which cemented the company's image as the format's most successful station group and Top 40 as the dominant programming of the day. There are extensive quotations from the memoirs of several of the founders of the format.

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The book brings together media scholars and practitioners to deliberate on the role and influence of radio broadcasting in South Africa over the past 100 years. The publication will add to the existing body of knowledge on radio in this context by being among one of the few to consider radio broadcasting in South Africa. Essentially, the book will make a distinct contribution by providing the following: a historical account of the development of the sector, an in-depth look at some of the key people and institutions that have shaped the sector, and a critique of the medium’s role in community-building and culture making among others. While the book will provide relevant theoretical frameworks, it also aims to include the voices of media practitioners who can reflect on the importance of this medium from a more realistic perspective. Volume 1 focuses on South African radio stations and broadcasters in the past and present.

Produced in association with the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, the Encyclopedia of Radio includes more than 600 entries covering major countries and regions of the world as well as specific programs and people, networks and organizations, regulation and policies, audience research, and radio's technology. This encyclopedic work will be the first broadly conceived reference source on a medium that is now nearly eighty years old, with essays that provide essential information on the subject as well as comment on the significance of the particular person, organization, or topic being examined.

This book critically analyses the important role of radio in public life in post-apartheid South Africa. As the most widespread and popular form of communication in the country, radio occupies an essential space in the deliberation and the construction of public opinion in South Africa. From just a few state-controlled stations during the apartheid era, there are now more than 100 radio stations, reaching vast swathes of the population and providing an important space for citizens to air their views and take part in significant socio-economic and political issues of the country. The various contributors to this book demonstrate that whilst print and television media often serve elite interests and audiences, the low cost and flexibility of radio has helped it to create a ‘common’ space for national dialogue and deliberation. The book also investigates the ways in which digital technologies have enhanced the consumption of radio and produced a sense of imagined community for citizens, including those in marginalised communities and rural areas. This book will be of interest to researchers with an interest in media, politics and culture in South Africa specifically, as well as those with an interest in broadcast media more generally.

Publisher Description

Those Great Old-Time Radio Years takes the listener on a memorable ride from the invention of the radio into its nostalgic Golden Age when the author brings back memories of programs that developed a listeners power of imagination before television made its debut. The book is comprised of an Introduction and eleven chapters, each headed by a picture that aptly pertains to it. The eleven chapters cover the following subjects: (1) The Golden Age of Radio; (2) Adventure, Mystery, and Suspense; (3) Broadcasting: News, Sports, Gossip and Disc Jockeys; (4) Childrens Programs; (5) Comedy and Variety; (6) Music; (7) Quiz and Panel; (8) Sitcom; (9) Soap Opera; (10) Theater; and (11) Western.