Sterling & Kitross – Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting

Christopher H. Sterling and John Michael Kitross – Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting, third edition

Since I spent many years behind a microphone, I lived through some of the changes outlined in this book.

This [third] edition’s purpose is to understand how the broadcasting industry has evolved to what it is today. When the first edition of Stay Tuned was published nearly a quarter of a century ago, the broadcasting industry was relatively simple and placid. The second edition–published a dozen years later–reflects the technological, organizational, economic, and legal developments that started to change the Industry. To bring this account of broadcasting history up to 2001, this new edition includes:

* A new chapter describing historical developments from 1988 until the present

* A substantially expanded bibliography

* Selected Further Readings for each chapter in an alphabetical format

* Updated and reorganized historical tables, and

* Several new historical tables on topics from public television programming to the relationship of television to presidential elections.

With these changes, this enhanced edition provides a thorough review of broadcasting history in the United States, from radio through to cable and the internet.

From the preface to the third edition: “Broadcasting–if, indeed, the term “broadcasting” is still a valid label for the subject matter of this book–isn’t what it used to be. In some respects, it is better, in some worse than it was in decades past–but it certainly is different and more complex.

“Nearly a quarter of a century ago, when the first edition of Stay Tuned was published, the broadcasting industry was relatively simple and placid. The second edition, published a dozen years later, reflected the technological, organizational, economic, and legal developments that then had started to change the industry. Today, it is almost an entirely new ballgame. Keeping up is a major task. To understand the game’s unwritten rules, it is more important than ever to understand how the broadcasting industry has evolved to what it is today. That is the purpose of this new edition of Stay Tuned….

“While predicting the future is even more problematic than interpreting the past, it is an impossible task unless one understands both the present and how it evolved from the past. For example, will today’s new technologies and programming, providing hundreds rather than only scores of content choices every minute, ultimately be beneficial or harmful to society? Will the raging growth of deregulation-spawned concentration of control of broadcast outlets remove the last vestiges of localism? Will our growing dependence on space communication satellites render us more vulnerable to accidental sundering of our communications connections? What will be the effect of replacing the ‘public interest, convenience, and necessity’ licensing standard with auctions and lotteries? Stay tuned!”

Contents:

Alternate Contents (Topical)

List of Boxed Features, Illustrations, and Tables

Preface to the Third Edition (2002)

Preface to the Second Edition (1990)

Preface to the First Edition (1978)

About the Authors

1 The Context of Broadcasting

2 The Prehistory of Broadcasting (to 1919)

3 The Beginnings of Broadcasting (1920-1926)

4 The Coming of Commercialism (1926-1933)

5 Radio’s Golden Age (1934-1941)

6 Radio Goes to War (1941-1945)

7 Era of Great Change (1945-1952)

8 The Age of Television (1952-1960)

9 Accommodation and Adjustment (1961-1976)

10 Challenge and Competition (1976-1988)

11 Change and Evolution (1988-2001)

12 Lessons from the Past for the Future

Appendix A: A Short Chronology of American Broadcasting

Appendix B: Glossary

Appendix C: Historical Statistics on Broadcasting

Appendix D: Selected Bibliography

Author Index

Subject Index

Format: PDF

Length: 976 pages

Published: 2002 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

ISBN: 0805826246