Television and Radio History: A Resource Bibliography

Encyclopedias | Statistical Sources | Search Engine | DVD/VHS Sources

This resource bibliography provides information to support and is recommended for use by students in

COMM 386

Quick Links

Communications & Media Studies Databases

Encyclopedias and Quick Background Sources

Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, Luther F. Sies
This encyclopedia provides an alphabetical catalog of every major radio show during the stipulated period, with entries including actors and actresses, broadcast times and stations. Similarly, there are brief entries for all writers, producers and radio personalities, including actors, newscasters, DJs and vocalists.

Encyclopedia of American Television : Broadcast Programming Post WWII to 2000, Ronald W. Lackman
This unique volume catalogs every television program on a major network from 1945 to the end of the century. Entries include original airdates and network, plot synopsis, and brief analysis. Also includes brief entries on television personalities, writers and producers.

A History of Early Television, Stephen Herbert
A 3-volume set that covers everything you could possibly want to know about the development of television - complete with illustrations.

Library of American Broadcasting : Keeping the Past for the Future
"This site is the online, searchable companion to the Library of American Broadcasting collection at the University of Maryland Libraries. [...] Although the site includes example files from a few of the audio and image collections and an excellent online exhibit of materials on women in broadcasting history, the bulk of the material in the print collection is not available online. But this Web site is an excellent, easy-to-use resource for researchers interested in locating rare primary source materials on the history of broadcasting." (American Library Association, Choice reviews)

Television's Future
This CQ Researcher issue examines the question "Will TV remain the dominant mass medium?".

History of Communications
This Federal Communications Commission Web site divides communications history into 3 areas:

Watching TV : Six Decades of American Television, Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik
Beginning in 1944 and concluding in 2003, this book gives a season by season account of the television programs, news, and events that shape the narrative arc of television history. Although each chapter is written in a traditional prose format, running plot synopses of popular shows, Nielsen ratings and stylistic trends are all included.

Encyclopedia of New Media : An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology, Steve Jones, editor
Cataloging emerging technologies and cultural topics, this contemporary encyclopedia includes entries on Amazon.com, MP3, PDA, and a host of other progeny from the digital revolution. The volume also includes biographical sketches of influential software developers and media-oriented thinkers.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast, editors
Concerned exclusively with popular culture, this encyclopedia offers an alphabetical catalog of American song, literature, film, politics, vernacular, news and broadcasting throughout the Twentieth Century.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio, Christopher H. Sterling, editor; Michael Keith, consulting editor
This encyclopedia covers all of radio history, including: biographies of radio personalities, writers and producers; descriptions of broadcast genres and programs; and histories of international radio.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television, Horace Newcomb, editor
1^st edition available online
This encyclopedia is similar in design to the Encyclopedia of Radio (see above), the three volumes cover television history from its inception to the mid-1990s. Entries include: descriptions of individual programs and genres; biographies of television personalities, writers and producers; network histories; and international television.

A History of Broadcasting in the United States, Erik Barnouw
Barnouw's three volume history of broadcasting is one of the definitive texts in the field. This text provides social and historical insight into the technological development of television and radio in early- and mid-modern America.

Stay Tuned : A History of American Broadcasting, Christopher H. Sterling and John Michael Kittross
Providing a comprehensive history of American broadcasting, this volume displays a particular emphasis on the technologies that transformed social movements and the social movements that required new technologies. Also includes sections on changes in federal regulations for communication industries, early broadcasting history and the concept of "mass communication".

Television: History, J.L. Baughman (article from the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
In the two decades after World War II, television became the most popular mass medium throughout most of the world. The USA developed the most successful commercial model, but despite its global influence, U.S. television underwent several transformations between 1950 and 2000. Initially, national networks, in combination with major advertisers, dominated the medium. Viewers chose from a limited number of channels, most of which were affiliated with a network. But beginning in the 1980s, cable and other new technologies began to undermine the networks' hegemony if not the very concept of mass audiences for TV programming.

Statistical Sources to Compare and Contrast

Kagan's Media Trends, Paul Kagan Associates
Collects data describing trends in media consumption including yearly growth of television stations, box office results, revenue of digital cable, media mergers, internet usage, etc. Covers all facets of digital media, including emerging technologies, and provides analysis for most data sets.

Social Trends and Indicators USA, Arsen J. Darnay, managing editor
Each volume in this four volume set: Health and Sickness, Crime and Justice, Community and Education, and Work and Leisure, reflects an important sector of American social life. Approached with an encyclopedic range of topic, each volume assesses the contemporary state of its subject through a series of data sets and extensive analysis.

Search Engine

Yahoo! News Directory : History of Broadcasting (Radio)

DVD/VHS Sources

Dawn of the eye
This six-part series traces the evolution of film and television broadcast journalism and their impact on the perception of world events, profiling major journalists and newscasters such as Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, and Walter Cronkite.

New Vistas for Television [Public policy issues in the 1950s-1960s]
Host: Eleanor Roosevelt, co-host: Marya Mannes, Interviewees: Newton Minow (Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission), John F. White (president of the National Education Television and Radio Center), Irving Gitlin (executive producer, Creative Projects, NBC).
The panel considers whether the television of the future will be a wasteland of mediocre programming or a vital conduit of culture.

Compiled by Ryan Walter under the direction of Debora Cheney, Foster Communications Librarian and Head, News & Microforms Libraries. January 17, 2005.

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