ABSTRACT
Perhaps the victim of its own success, radio is so omnipresent that it is easy to take for granted. Despite the domination of television in the last half-century, radio still ranks high as an immediate, informative and credible medium. The early days of radio transmission were built around a common carrier concept—receivers were used much like telephones. Advertising had become the new mantra for aspiring radio programmers. Sponsors not only purchased spot time on network and local productions in the late 1920s, but they also created their own shows and bought time to air them. By the early 1930s, just two decades after its inception, broadcast radio had evolved into a major facet of American life. Programming in the 1930s and '40s was creative, vibrant, diverse. Besides entertainment, radio served to link Americans to their political leaders and news events in a way that had never been possible.
