Broadcasting and Mass Media
The rise of radio and television broadcasting and the mass-communication systems that addressed large, dispersed audiences in the twentieth century.
Definition
Broadcasting is the transmission of audio or audiovisual content from a central source to a large, dispersed audience; mass media are the institutions and technologies that produce and distribute communication to such audiences.
Scope
This topic covers the emergence and institutionalization of broadcasting, the contrast between public-service and commercial models, and the cultural role of radio and television in national life. It includes Williams's analysis of broadcasting as 'flow' and a planned cultural form, and social histories of how broadcasting shaped daily routines, publics, and identities.
Core questions
- How did broadcasting institutions and models develop in different countries?
- What distinguishes public-service from commercial broadcasting?
- How did radio and television reshape everyday life and national culture?
- What is meant by broadcasting as 'flow' and as a planned cultural form?
Key concepts
- Broadcasting
- Flow
- Public-service broadcasting
- Mass audience
- Programming
Key theories
- Television as flow and cultural form
- Williams's argument that television is experienced as a planned sequence or 'flow' of programming, a cultural form shaped by institutional and commercial choices rather than the technology alone.
- Broadcasting and the dailiness of public life
- Scannell and Cardiff's social history showing how broadcasting structured daily routines and created new forms of shared public time and sociability.
- Radio and the construction of identity
- Hilmes's analysis of how American radio shaped national, gendered, and racial identities through its programming and address.
History
Radio broadcasting was established in the 1920s, followed by television at mid-century, organized through divergent public-service and commercial models. Scholars such as Williams, Scannell, and Hilmes have shown how these institutions shaped national cultures, daily life, and identities, making broadcasting a central chapter in the history of mass media.
Debates
- Public service versus commercial models
- Whether broadcasting is best organized as a public service oriented to citizenship or as a commercial enterprise oriented to audiences as markets.
Key figures
- Raymond Williams
- Paddy Scannell
- Michele Hilmes
- Asa Briggs
Related topics
Seminal works
- williams1974
- scannell1991
- hilmes1997
- briggsburke2009
Frequently asked questions
- What does Williams mean by television 'flow'?
- That broadcasting is experienced not as discrete programs but as a continuous, planned sequence of items, a cultural form engineered by broadcasters.
- How do public-service and commercial broadcasting differ?
- Public-service broadcasting is funded and mandated to serve citizens and cultural goals, while commercial broadcasting is funded by advertising and oriented to capturing audiences as markets.