A Brief History of Broadcast Communication

It's now clear that we're on the cusp of the next great communications revolution with the convergence of radio, television, and the Internet, which is revolutionary by nature but only beginning to reveal its impact.

Although early pioneers of radio experimented with broadcasting music and voice over radio waves in the early 1900s, the radio boom truly began in the 1920s. By the 1930s, radio began to reshape the dissemination of news around the world, from political campaigns to sporting events. The dramatic rise in popularity was also attributed to the war, with people everywhere glued to their radios seeking the most up-to-date information.

Throughout its history, the radio communications industry saw a number of important broadcasters, from influential reporters like Walter Winchell to insatiable disk jockeys like Wolfman Jack. They helped pioneer its format and expand its impact on worldwide audiences.

Yet as powerful as radio became, it paled in comparison to the paradigm shift brought about by a new invention: Television. In fact, television may be the most significant communications invention to date, the only other contender being the Internet. Vlog It! represents a powerful combination of the two.

Inventors first arrived at the possibilities of television even before the turn of the century. Television wasn't generally available to the public until around 1946, and the television boom occurred between 1949, when 940,000 households had a set, and 1953, when the number soared to 20 million according to some sources.

Because Television can encapsulate imagery as well as sound, it forced a number of shifts in the way broadcast communications were created. Appearance began to matter as much as substance. In view of the proverb "a picture is worth a thousand words," television has irrevocably established that humans are mystically attracted to the visual message. It was largely this effect that shifted politics, entertainment, and even the news further than we might have imagined.

The first color broadcasts began around 1953. Soon thereafter the first "recorders" were available to the networks, providing an option to capturing television on film. The first home video recorder then appeared in 1963—for a whopping $30,000! By electronically mixing video and eventually adding special effects, the networks could finally eliminate the need to splice film together.

Early special effects began with simple transitions, which combined part of one image with part of another, as well as a technique called chroma key, which used color variations to control the mixing. Amazingly, some of the earliest split screen effects actually relied on mirrors being placed in front of the camera to partially split the view to an alternate scene in another part of the studio. Primitive digital video effects (DVEs), which began to appear in the early 1970s, required specialized equipment costing more than most cars did. More sophisticated DVE capabilities such as digital zoom, rotation, perspective and curves did not become possible until later still. By the early 1990s producers began pushing the envelope with chroma key effects (green screen) to create virtual set environments built from computer images.

Over the years we've seen a wide range of programming styles and classic formats that have stood the test of time, including "Howdy Doody," "Meet the Press," "The Ed Sullivan Show," "I Love Lucy," and "Sesame Street." Some shows were created to entertain, some to inform, and some to educate. We've seen hysterical skits from "The Ernie Kovacs Show" to "Saturday Night Live," and we've witnessed unforgettable events like the Kennedy assassination and the September 11 attack on America. And then there is the profound impact of televised words from our world leaders, heroes, and great thinkers. Whether it's a rant, praise, proposal, or prayer; regardless of good news or bad, television has brought countless thoughts and ideas into our homes that have changed our opinions, our knowledge, and even our lives.

Television has forever altered our society, but here at Serious Magic, we don't believe TV has yet reached its full potential to inform, educate, entertain, and enrich our lives. To reach its full potential, we believe that the power to make television (or TV-like programs) must be in the hands of millions of people, not just a few thousand broadcasters and video producers. We believe that the most exciting events in the evolution of TV are just ahead of us.

Perhaps someday Vlog It! will be remembered as a major step forward in democratizing the tools of television. That would be nice, but it's not the important thing. The only thing that's really important is what you do with this tool. The power to communicate with the visual impact of network television is an amazing thing. Use it wisely—and try to have a little fun along the way.



Historical information is provided for general reference. Some dates and events were approximated based on information from a variety of sources including articles from "Radio and Television," www.historychannel.com, and The Age of Videography: Twenty Years That Changed The Way We See Ourselves, edited by Brian McKernan (Miller Freeman PSN, Inc. 1996).