4 Big Ideas in Chapter 5 about Radio
1) Italian inventor and promoter named Guglielemo Marconi was the first person to deliever radio broadcasting- the unrestricted transmission of a signal to numerous recievers- to the world. Marconi's original intent was to develop technology that would allow telegraph messages to be sent over long distances without the need of costly networks of cables. American entrepenaurs quickly saw incredible potention of radio to reach mass audiences over large areas. Yet it would take development funding from the U.S. military during World War I to make radio broadcasting viable, and the results would have a sweeping impact on both U.S. culuture and the record industry.
2) Through the Radio Act of 1927, the Federal Radio Commission, the predessecor to today's Federal Communication Commission, enacted radio broadcast regulations that favored the large networks and nearly drove small radio stations into extinction. By the late 1930s, radiobroadcasts of recorded music made its comback to network radio as stricter copy-right and licensing laws were passed to ensure that artists were able to recieve royalties on their work.
3)Edwin Howard Armstrong creates a better radio format, frequency modulation or FM radio as we call it today. Armstong's FM radio circuitry produced crystal-clear reception which was never possible with AM, and set the new standard for quality radio broadcasting that would remain unchanllenged until the advent of digital radio. Sarnoff's refusal to back Armstrong's FM radio technology turned the two former friends into bitter business rivals forever, and Armstrong decided to  develop and market FM on his own. Within a few years, more then a half million FM sets could be found in U.S. homes, and Armstrong's broadcasting group, the Yankee Network, provided FM signals to all of them.
4)Commercial Satellite radio was developed in the early 200s, in response to the growing number of music consumers, especially young people, who were dissatisfied with traditional music stations and their stale playlists d, dominated by a handful of mega-artists, as well as in effort to expand upon the sucess of talk radio. Satellite radio hoped to capitalize on the desire of U.S. listeners for greater diversity in radio programming by offering hundreds of channels of commercial-free music and talk in many, including channels dedicated to specific sub-genres. Siruis XM radio provides listeners with interruption free, clear sounding entertainment made available via special satellite radio recievers nearly anywhere around the wolrd. While the concept of satellite radio is appealing to consumers, the growth of Internet radio and the progress and proliferation of multimedia smartphones have held back the number of subscriptions to satellite radio. This industry continues to struggle to remain a financially viable business, with indications in early 2009 that Sirius XM was heading toward bankruptcy.