Deck 2: From Radio to Television

Question 1

One technical antecedent for America's broadcasting system is

A)urbanization.
B)railroads.
C)records.
D)telegraphy.
E)national newspapers.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Who first proved James Clerk Maxwell's theory about the existence of sound waves?

A)Lee de Forest
B)Heinrich Hertz
C)Guglielmo Marconi
D)Samuel Morse
E)Reginald Fessenden

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Marconi first offered his wireless invention to the __________ government, which declined his offer.

A)American
B)Canadian
C)German
D)Italian
E)British

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Wireless communication was most widely used at first by the __________ industry.

A)manufacturing
B)railroad
C)telegraph
D)telephone
E)maritime shipping

Question 5

After World War I, wireless' development was dominated by

A)big businesses.
B)inventors and entrepreneurs.
C)local and state governments.
D)the shipping industry.
E)railroads.

Question 6

The person who made the first known radiotelephone transmission (or broadcast) is

A)Reginald Fessenden.
B)Lee de Forest.
C)Guglielmo Marconi.
D)David Sarnoff.
E)Edwin Armstrong.

Question 7

Which branch of the military wanted to make radio a permanent government monopoly?

A)The Army
B)The Coast Guard
C)The Marines
D)The Navy
E)The Army Air Corps (now the Air Force)

Question 8

RCA was founded initially to

A)run the American system of broadcasting.
B)operate communications during World War I.
C)mass-produce radio receivers.
D)teach amateur operators how to operate radio stations.
E)operate an American wireless telegraphy business.

Question 9

American Marconi's assets became the foundation for

A)RCA.
B)AT&T.
C)General Electric.
D)Western Union.
E)Western Electric.

Question 10

When AT&T began station WEAF in 1922, how did it expect to make a profit?

A)By imposing a tax on all radio receivers.
B)Through manufacturing five-minute ads.
C)By selling radio receivers.
D)By imposing a separate surcharge on all those who used the telephone.
E)By imposing a toll on those who sent a message on WEAF.

Question 11

Both "toll" and "chain" broadcasting were initially associated with

A)AT&T.
B)General Electric.
C)RCA.
D)Westinghouse.
E)NBC.

Question 12

During the early years of American broadcasting, radio advertising was

A)prohibited by order of the Secretary of Commerce.
B)quickly adopted as an important source of financial support.
C)largely limited to "institutional" advertising, dignified mentions of brand name, price, and retail outlet.
D)filled with crass announcements of sponsors' products.
E)banned by broadcasters themselves.

Question 13

As conflicts arose between the "telephone" and the "radio" groups, the latter formed a network by using

A)submarine cables.
B)microwave relays.
C)fiber-optic cables.
D)Western Union's telegraph lines.
E)local telephone lines.

Question 14

The first company organized solely and specifically to operate a broadcasting network was

A)ABC.
B)CBS.
C)NBC.
D)Mutual.
E)RCA.

Question 15

The man responsible for designing a unique arrangement between his network and its affiliate radio stations (including free sustaining services) was

A)Frank Conrad.
B)Reginald Fessenden.
C)William Paley.
D)David Sarnoff.
E)Lee De Forest.

Question 16

In the mid-1920s as a series of radio conferences proposed federal government regulation of radio, what was the reaction of most broadcasters?

A)Strong opposition
B)Mild opposition
C)Indifference
D)Mild acceptance
E)Strong acceptance

Question 17

The Radio Act of 1927 did all of the following EXCEPT

A)adopt most recommendations of Hoover's Fourth Radio Conference.
B)provide what most broadcasters wanted.
C)establish the Federal Radio Commission.
D)require radio station operation in the public interest, convenience, or necessity.
E)reduce the number of stations operating at night.

Question 18

FCC chain regulations of 1941 were designed to

A)relax FCC network regulation.
B)ensure compliance between affiliate stations and the networks.
C)limit network control over their affiliate stations.
D)strengthen contracts between networks and their affiliates.
E)eliminate the Press-Radio Bureau.

Question 19

The first nationally popular radio network series was

A)Amos 'n' Andy.
B)Edgar Bergen's Comedy Hour.
C)Ma Perkins.
D)The Jack Benny Show.
E)Fibber McGee and Molly.

Question 20

Which organization was created to challenge the ASCAP music monopoly?

A)FCC
B)Press-Radio Bureau
C)BMI
D)Ampex
E)FRC

Question 21

The network that set radio's standard for journalism in its coverage during World War II was

A)NBC Blue.
B)NBC Red.
C)ABC.
D)CBS.
E)Mutual.

Question 22

Who invented the image dissector?

A)Lee de Forest
B)Philo T.Farnsworth
C)Reginald Fessenden
D)Vladimir Zworykin
E)Edwin Armstrong

Question 23

RCA's television demonstration at the 1939 New York World's Fair was significant because

A)it introduced regular transcontinental television broadcasting.
B)The FCC agreed to technical standards for commercial operations.
C)it demonstrated the current 525-lines-per-frame system of interlace scanning.
D)it proved that mechanical television produced the same quality picture as did electronic television.
E)it was the first demonstration of modern television to most Americans.

Question 24

Why didn't television begin to grow immediately after World War II?

A)Investors were cautious about building expensive TV stations while others believed development should wait until TV color standards were adopted.
B)There were so many applicants for television stations that the FCC had to determine a method of allocating channels.
C)Radio station owners were competing for the same TV channels in the same markets.
D)TV sets were too expensive.
E)Manufacturers glutted the consumer market with war surplus television sets.

Question 25

All of the following were part of the FCC's Sixth Report and Order EXCEPT

A)technical specifications for color television.
B)a nationwide pattern of channel allocations.
C)addition of the UHF band to television broadcasting.
D)channels reserved for noncommercial use.
E)assignment of channels to specific markets.

Question 26

In terms of transmission and reception, UHF television stations had __________ VHF television stations.

A)fewer problems than
B)the same types of problems as
C)different problems from
D)more problems than
E)no problems compared to

Question 27

The color television system compatible with existing black-and-white television receivers was developed by

A)CBS laboratories.
B)General Electric.
C)NTSC.
D)AT&T.
E)RCA.

Question 28

Television's live decade, often called its "golden age," ended around

A)1952.
B)1957.
C)1964.
D)1968.
E)1971.

Question 29

Among many important ideas instituted by Sylvester "Pat" Weaver are all of the following EXCEPT

A)spectaculars.
B)participating sponsorship.
C)program production with Disney Studios.
D)the Today program.
E)The Tonight Show.

Question 30

It would be safe to say that radio was saved in the 1950s by

A)advertisers.
B)country music.
C)the networks.
D)talk shows.
E)rock and roll.

Question 31

Edwin Armstrong is most closely associated with

A)Audion.
B)mechanical scanning for television.
C)electronic scanning for television.
D)early AM radio.
E)FM radio.

Question 32

The FCC's nonduplication rule assisted expansion of

A)AM radio.
B)FM radio.
C)VHF television.
D)UHF television.
E)cable television.

Question 33

Urban concentration, education, rising literacy, and more leisure time helped transform newspapers into a mass medium.

Question 34

Underwater cables and telegraphy did little to develop the news wire services.

Question 35

James Clerk Maxwell proved Hertz's theory by generating and detecting radio energy and measuring its wavelength.

Question 36

Maritime tragedies such as the Titanic sinking set a precedent for regarding radio as having a special public responsibility.

Question 37

Among the earliest of radio "broadcasts" was Reginald Fessenden's 1906 Christmas broadcast.

Question 38

Despite many other claims based on earlier experiments, demonstrations, or temporary operations, KDKA qualifies as the oldest, continuously operating U.S.radio station.

Question 39

KDKA and WJZ pioneered toll broadcasting.

Question 40

David Sarnoff pioneered innovative network/affiliate contracts that became standard practices for years.

Question 41

In the 1920s Herbert Hoover called four radio conferences in an attempt to get broadcasters to regulate themselves.

Question 42

Audiences relied on radio during the Great Depression to distract them from daily struggles of survival.

Question 43

NBC's Blue Network became ABC.

Question 44

In 1931, NBC began regular broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera and hired Arturo Toscannini in the late 1930s to head the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

Question 45

In 1946 ABC dropped its recording ban to lure Bing Crosby away from NBC.

Question 46

During World War II, radio's public stature declined through its poor reporting from various battlefronts.

Question 47

Norman Corwin and Arch Oboler won fame as battlefield correspondents during World War II.

Question 48

Technical standards and unsophisticated technology delayed the development of television until the 1940s.

Question 49

Vladimir Zworykin invented the iconoscope in 1923.

Question 50

The television "freeze" of 1948 to 1952 hurt television's growth.

Question 51

The FCC's Sixth Report and Order effectively limited television to three networks, because too few cities had been allotted more than three channels with equal coverage potential.

Question 52

When television became popular in the 1950s, Hollywood immediately embraced it as another means of distributing its productions.

Question 53

In 1955 CBS achieved a number-one place in television ratings, a rank it held for 21 years.

Question 54

Rock and roll music and top-40 programming saved radio.

Question 55

Edwin Armstrong invented FM, which was approved by the FCC in 1941 but saw only limited growth until the 1960s.

Question 56

The nonduplication rules required AM/FM owners to program FM stations independently of AM stations.

Question 57

List and explain at least three preconditions leading to radio broadcasting.

Question 58

How did big business influence development of radio broadcasting?

Question 59

Contrast the claims of Fessenden and de Forest to "fathering" broadcasting.

Question 60

List five criteria qualifying KDKA as the oldest U.S.radio broadcasting station.

Question 61

Outline the rights of AT&T and the Radio Group in the 1926 cross-licensing agreements.

Question 62

What role did government play in radio's regulation from 1910 to 1934?

Question 63

Describe radio's role during World War II.

Question 64

How did technological developments influence television's development?

Question 65

Outline the major rules affecting television in the Sixth Report and Order.

Question 66

Describe changes in radio programming from the 1930s to the 1960s.