The Fourth Estate in America: The Elder Sister of Television

Radio quickly broke the press`s monopoly on the media market and introduced a new quality in connecting reporters with society. The speed of information transfer, direct communication, greater persuasive power, and above all, the magic of the spoken word made radio the undisputed queen of the following decades.

By 1928, the United States had three national radio networks, two of which were managed by NBC (National Broadcasting Company), and one by CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System). Radio attracted listeners with excellent entertainment programs and live reports from the scene. These captured special attention during the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt discovered and used the power of radio—his "fireside chats," in which he informed the nation about efforts to control economic problems or war progress, became a hallmark of American radio and established a new way for leaders to communicate with the public. After 1945, radio began to lose popularity as television entered the media scene.

Radio broadcasters had to adapt to the new situation—they quickly found a way to fill the gap left by the masses of listeners captivated by television. Since they couldn’t compete with TV in terms of visual effects and drama, they shifted to a music-news format. When car manufacturers began offering built-in radios as standard in the 1950s, the "elder sister" regained favor. After all, what could be more enjoyable than listening to news and favorite hits while stuck in traffic on the way to work?


Interestingly, radio didn’t change significantly in the first half-century of its existence. Traditional AM radio, with relatively poor sound quality but broader signal range, served Americans until the 1970s. Only then did music stations experience a true FM boom. Inventions like the "Walkman" popularized the new sound quality. This led to a split among broadcasters: FM dominated music stations, while those focusing on news (the so-called talk radio) remained on AM.

This format has enjoyed great popularity in the U.S. for 25 years—today, over 1,000 of the 10,000 commercial stations give listeners a chance to hear opinions from celebrity guests or experts and to call in and share their own views. In recent years, both AM and FM radio have gone through a transformation. To retain listeners, broadcasters often choose to specialize. Thus, in the U.S., we have the "big five hot topics":

• country music
• adult programming
• top 40
• religion
• oldies.

In a world dominated by media led by television, radio continues to fight for its audience—and achieves some success. In the U.S., 99% of households have at least one radio—on average, there are five radios per home! At any given moment, over 80% of Americans are listening to the radio! Over the past decade, radio revenue has increased from $8.4 billion to $17 billion!

The number of commercial stations across the U.S. has steadily grown. Currently, there are about 4,793 AM and 5,662 FM stations, though it’s hard to determine how many might appear or disappear in the coming weeks. In the public radio sector, turnover isn’t as noticeable. In recent years, the number of these stations has remained steady at 1,460. Most operate for educational purposes at universities or other institutions, funded by grants (public or private), subscriptions, or endorsements. Their activities are overseen by NPR (National Public Radio), a network that connects all non-commercial stations and ensures their access to information and priority in content creation. Public radio in the United States (including NPR and Public Radio International) reaches over 20 million Americans daily.

The magic of radio has enchanted people worldwide for years. Hundreds of programs have their loyal listeners who tune in daily, weekly, to listen to the "wooden box" (although today that term is quite outdated). Yet, something wields greater power over us—television.

Read all articles in the series The Fourth Estate in America.