OFF TOPIC Radio comments...

From: Bill Pechter <pechter_at_monmouth.com>
Date: Fri Jan 8 10:11:37 1999

OT followup follows...
>
> At the risk of turning off our new list member I'll throw my USD $0.02
> into the fray. Commercial vs non-commercial broadcasting was a hot
> topic back in the early 1920's when broadcasting first began on a
> large scale in the U.S. Many people were opposed to crass commercials
> for toothpaste, etc flooding the airwaves and wanted an alternative
> which would have took the form of a use tax as in England.
>
> Interesting but true, one of the first if not the first radio stations
> that was supported by commercials was WEAF in New York city, one of
> several commercial stations owned by Ma Bell (AT&T). The chain of
> stations owned by AT&T were sold to RCA to become NBC in 1926
> following anti-trust suit threats and corporate fighting. AT&T and RCA
> basically had come to a 'gentleman's agreement.'
>
> Marty

Correct me if I'm wrong anywhere.

WEAF became WNBC, the flagship of the now defunct NBC radio network.
The network was sold of by General Electric ( -- who was stopped from
buying RCA in the '30's by anti-trust issues -- ) to Westwood One
which has now been partnering with Westinghouse (now the owner of CBS).

WNBC was purchased by Infinity Broadcasting (is now a part of CBS Radio)
which puts two historic radio competitors under one roof.

Of course ABC was spun off from NBC which had both the RED and BLUE networks
at one time...

Bill
Received on Fri Jan 08 1999 - 10:11:37 GMT