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Portal:Radio/Selected article/1

Old-Time Radio (OTR) and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming lasting from commercial radio's introduction in the early 1920s to its replacement in the late 1950s and early 1960s by television as the dominant home entertainment medium. During this period, when radio was dominant and the airwaves were filled with a variety of radio formats and genres, people regularly tuned in to their favorite radio programs. In fact, according to a 1947 C. E. Hooper survey, 82 out of 100 Americans were found to be radio listeners. The end of this period coincided with music radio becoming the dominant radio form and is often marked by the final CBS broadcasts of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar on September 30, 1962.

Radio content in the Golden Age of Radio had its origins in audio theatre. Audio theatre began in the 1880s and 1890s with audio recordings of musical acts and other vaudeville. These were sent to people by means of telephone and, later, through phonograph cylinders and discs. Visual elements, such as effects and sight gags, were adapted to have sound equivalents. In additions, visual objects and scenery were converted to have audio descriptions.

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Portal:Radio/Selected article/2

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible electromagnetic radiation. Also, the "electromagnetic spectrum" (usually just spectrum) of an object is the range of electromagnetic radiation that it emits, reflects, or transmits.

The electromagnetic spectrum, extends from the frequencies used in electric power grids (at the long-wavelength end) to gamma radiation (at the short-wavelength end), covering wavelengths from thousands of kilometres down to fractions of the size of an atom. It is commonly said that EM waves beyond these limits are uncommon, although this is not actually true. The 22-year sunspot cycle, for instance, produces radiation with a period of 22 years, or a frequency of 1.4*10⁻⁹ Hz. At the other extreme, photons of arbitrarily high frequency may be produced by colliding electrons with positrons at appropriate energy. 10²⁴ Hz photons can be produced today with man-made accelerators. In our universe the short wavelength limit is likely to be the Planck length, and the long wavelength limit is the size of the universe itself (see physical cosmology), though in principle the spectrum is infinite.

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Portal:Radio/Selected article/3 The Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. Of the four national networks of American radio's classic era, Mutual had for decades the largest number of affiliates but the least certain financial position. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow. For many years, it was the national broadcaster for baseball's All-Star Game and World Series and Notre Dame football. From the mid-1930s and for decades after, Mutual ran a highly respected news service accompanied by a variety of popular commentary shows. Toward the end of its run as a major programmer, it introduced the country to Larry King.

For the first eighteen years of its existence, MBS was owned and operated as a cooperative, setting the network apart from its competitors: Mutual's members shared their own original programming, transmission and promotion expenses, and advertising revenues. By late 1936, the Mutual Broadcasting System had affiliates from coast to coast. Its business structure would change after General Tire assumed majority ownership in 1952 through a series of regional and individual station acquisitions.

Once General Tire sold the network in 1957, Mutual's ownership was largely disconnected from the stations it served, leading to a more conventional, top-down model of program production and distribution. Not long after the sale, one of the network's new executive teams was charged with accepting money to use Mutual as a vehicle for foreign propaganda. The network was severely damaged, but soon rebounded. Mutual changed hands frequently in succeeding years—even leaving aside larger-scale acquisitions and mergers, its final direct corporate parent, Westwood One, which purchased it in 1985, was the seventh in a string of new owners that followed General Tire.

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Portal:Radio/Selected article/4 The Blue Network was the on-air name of an American radio production and distribution service from 1942 to 1945, which traced its formal origins back to 1927. It was born of a divestiture, arising from anti-trust litigation, of one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Company, and is the direct predecessor of ABC.

The Blue Network can, in one sense, date itself to 1923, when the Radio Corporation of America acquired WJZ, Newark from Westinghouse (which had created the station in 1921 and moved it to New York City in May of that year. When RCA commenced operations of WRC, Washington on August 1, 1923, the root of a network was born, though it did not operate under the name by which it would later become known...

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Portal:Radio/Selected article/5 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy radio series written by Douglas Adams (with some material in the first series provided by John Lloyd). It was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was soon afterwards broadcast on global short wave radio on the BBC World Service, in 1978. Broadcasting by National Public Radio (one of their first to occur in stereo) in the United States followed in March, 1981, with a repeat broadcast in September. The following year, 1982, the BBC series was carried by CBC Radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

A pilot programme was commissioned in March 1977, and was recorded by the end of the following June. A second series was commissioned in 1979, and this was transmitted in 1980. Episodes of the first series were specially re-recorded for release on LP records and cassettes. After the 1980 transmissions of the second radio series, the first series was adapted for television; it included some material originally written by Adams for stage adaptations and the aforementioned LP adaptation. This in turn was followed by five novels, a computer game, and adaptations into three series of comic books.

Adams considered writing a third radio series, to be based on his novel Life, the Universe and Everything, in 1993 but the project did not begin for another ten years, after Adams's death. Dirk Maggs, with whom Adams had discussed the new series in 1993, 1997 and 2000, eventually directed and co-produced radio series adaptations of that novel, as well as So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless. These became the third, fourth and fifth radio series. The third series was recorded in 2003 and transmitted in September and October 2004, and the fourth and fifth series were recorded in late 2004 and early 2005 and transmitted in May and June 2005. Recordings of all five series have been released on audio cassette and compact disc, and the third series was released on DVD in 2006, after being "delayed" more than once.

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Portal:Radio/Selected article/6 Amateur radio or ham radio is a hobby that is practised by over 16,000 licensed users in India. Licences are granted by the Wireless and Planning and Coordination Wing (WPC), a branch of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. In addition, the WPC allocates frequency spectrum in India. The Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 lists five licence categories:

To obtain a licence in the first four categories, candidates must pass the Amateur Station Operator's Certificate examination conducted by the WPC. This exam is held monthly in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, every two months in Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Hyderabad, and every four months in some smaller cities. The examination consists of two 50-mark written sections: Radio theory and practice, Regulations; and a practical test consisting of a demonstration of Morse code proficiency in sending and receiving. After passing the examination, the candidate must clear a police interview. After clearance, the WPC grants the licence along with the user-chosen call sign. This procedure can take up to one year. This licence is valid for up to five years.

Each licence category has certain privileges allotted to it, including the allotment of frequencies, output power, and the emission modes. This article list the various frequencies allotted to various classes, and the corresponding emission modes and input DC power.

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