FM and AM Radio
Currently, the basic building blocks of
the national broadcasting networks
in the United States are the
approximately 10,000 local radio stations and
1,500 local television
stations found throughout the country. All U.S. radio
and television
stations fall into one of four general categories: owned and
operated
(or O & Os), which are properties held directly by the
networks;
affiliates, which are owned by other companies that
contract for exclusive
rights to show a particular network’s
programming in a given market;
independents, commercial stations
that do not contract for rights to carry
network programming; and public
stations, which do not carry commercials
but instead operate on
contributions from viewers, corporate gifts,
foundation grants, and
production support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and
other government agencies.
The advent of television radically
affected radio, forcing it from its primary
position in mass
communication to a secondary role. Most radio stations
today offer only
one type of programming, designed to attract a
demographically
homogeneous audience that the station can sell to advertisers.
