High Hopes for Radio Podcast: Radio Markets

High Hopes for Radio Podcast: Radio Markets

Newspaper owned radio station markets in Los Angeles and San Diego

This podcast discusses why many of the newspapers in Los Angeles and San Diego became interested in owning broadcast stations.

Linda Mathews

Linda Mathews

May 10, 2018

MP3

English

audio podcast

1920 - 1924

California was at the forefront of the radio craze. According to the “Radio Broadcasting Stations” list created by the Radio Digest Illustrated in their inaugural issue, the state had twenty-six licensed broadcast stations in mid-April of 1922. This was twice as many as any other state. In May of 1922, the Los Angeles Times boasted that, “Los Angeles today has more broadcasting stations than the entire state of New York and a greater number than any city or county in the United States.” By June of 1922, the Los Angeles Times boasted that there were 67 radio stations operating in the sixth radio district. Newspapers in Los Angeles and San Diego embraced the new medium of radio wholeheartedly. By the end of 1922, most of the major newspapers in Los Angeles and San Diego were associated with or owned a radio station. In Los Angeles four newspapers owned or jointly operated radio stations: The Los Angeles Times (KHJ), the Los Angeles Herald (KOG), the Los Angeles Examiner (KWH and KFI), and the Los Angeles Express (KNX). In San Diego three newspapers had radio stations: The San Diego Union (KDPT), the San Diego Tribune (KDPT) and the San Diego Sun (KON). In the Los Angeles and San Diego markets, almost 30% of the broadcast stations were associated with newspapers in some way. The national average in 1922 for newspaper controlled radio stations was about 10%.
So why had so many newspapers decided to operate radio stations? In Sound Business: Newspapers, Radio, and the Politics of New Media, Michael Stamm argued that newspapers used the “new medium” of radio to create the first multimedia corporations. Newspapers presented their association with radio broadcast stations as part of their “commitment to public service” in their communities. Their radio stations assured their listeners that the programming they were providing was for the public good rather than for profit. In the early 1920s, newspaper publishers were coming under criticism for censorship of news during World War I. As a result, newspapers promoted the idea that listeners would be able to hear public officials uncensored. Newspapers strove to create a unique presence for themselves in a very crowded landscape by providing live broadcasts of opera, plays, children’s programming, sports events, and political speeches. Through their radio stations, newspapers could gain a much larger audience because their signal could travel to neighboring cities and even neighboring states. Historian Randall Patnode explained that newspapers saw several opportunities to shape the new medium to meet the newspaper’s need. He identified these opportunities as generating goodwill for the newspaper, providing information about radio, and selling advertising space to radio equipment manufacturers. In the February 1924 issue of Radio Broadcast, Winfield Barton explored the reasons why newspapers chose to broadcast over radio and why some newspapers had abandoned radio programming. He found that even though radio broadcasting was a major expense for a newspaper, many chose to stay in broadcasting because of the “good will” the programming created for the newspaper and because of the indirect advertising the radio station creates for the newspaper. Owners of newspapers associated with radio stations were active in the National Radio Conferences chaired by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. These corporations were influential in the creation of new broadcasting policies that protected the First Amendment rights. Historian Michael Stamm posited that newspapers became involved in radio broadcasting because they truly believed that “they were uniquely qualified to be good broadcasters.”
Not all newspapers jumped on the radio bandwagon. Stamm explained that the adoption of radio was different than the adoption of previous technologies in that radio had the potential to take over control of how information was provided. Many newspaper publishers feared that radio would cause a loss of readership for their paper if they gave their news away for free. Another concern expressed by newspaper owners was how radio would eventually pay for itself. Many in the industry including the Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover opposed direct advertising over the air. As program sponsorship became more common in 1923 and 1924, newspapers increasingly felt that the publishing of the sponsor’s names in the radio listings was giving those sponsors free advertising. Thus the “good will” that the newspapers tried to create by listing the radio programs was now resulting in a loss of revenue. In 1925 the American Newspaper Publishers Association called for a ban on sponsor’s names in radio listings. Most newspapers supported the ban, but the Los Angeles Examiner/Los Angeles Herald station, KFI, refused to comply, claiming that refusal to print their radio listing was a violation of copyright. By 1926, many of the newspaper owned radio stations were no longer broadcasting due to the high costs involved and the lack of revenue. Historian Randall Patnode commented that “in adopting new technology, newspapers - perhaps imprudently - gave away their most valuable asset: their editorial space.”