DOCUMENT RESUME EM 006 830 ED 025 151 The Hidden Medium: A Status Report onEducational Radio in the UnitedStates. Land (Herman W.) Associates, Inc., NewYork, N.Y. Spons Agency- Ford Foundation. New York,N.Y. Pub Date Apr 67 division of The NationalAssociation of Note- 230p.; Report prepared forNational Educational Radio, a \ Educational Broadcasters- EDRS Price MF-$1.00 HC-$11.60 *Broadcast Industry, Budget s. Descriptor s- Audiences, Audio Equipment, Audiovisual Communication, *Educational Radio,Information Dissemination,InstructionalAids,Interschool Communication Satellites, Radio Technology, *Surveys,Tape Communication, Large Group Instruction,Programing, Questionnaires, Radio, Recordings Identifiers- *National Educational Radio,National Educational Radio Network,NER, NERN In the Winter of 1966-67,the National Associationof Educational Broadcasters (NAEB) made a survey of320 educational radio stafionsrequesting detailed information about budgets, tyjoes of programing,hours of service, stationfacilities, and future plans and needs.The data from this survey,based on the questionnaires returned by 135 stations, documentsthe broad overviewof this report. Educational radio's greatest potentialservicetoschools,professional people, commercial disadvantaged and the communityin general hasbeen severely stations, the socially and limited by low budgets, smallstaffs, and a lack ofboth audience research which distributes program promotion.The National EducationalRadio Network (NERN), 150 affiliate stations,offered 1,895 programs(31,371 tapes of programs to its station hours of broadcasting) in1966, yet the surveydetermined that the average operates on an annualbudget-of-less than $25,000.Appendices include statistics of organizations andcommercial stationsserved: a gathered in the survey; a sampling and a list of educational radio stations; afew in-depth profilesof typical stations: of the EducationalCommunications SystemsStudy which is report on the third phase and being designed to interconnectelectronically a groupof American colleges universities. (JY) THE 11101101 MEDIUM: EDUCATIONAL RADIO A Status Report , prepared for A, Natidnal Educational Radio, a division of The National Association of Educational Broadcasters, with the aid of a grant from , The Ford Foundation ED025151 HERMAN W. LAND ASSOCIATES, iNCz NEW YORK U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,EDUCATION E. WELFARE OFFICE Of EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCEDEXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE POINTS Of VIEW OR OPINIONS PERSON OR ORGANIZATIONORIGINATING IT. STATED DO NOT NECESSARILYREPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. THE HIDDEN MEDIUM: A STATUS REPORTON EDUCATIONALRADIO IN THE UNITEDSTATES prepared for National EducationalRadio a divisionof The National Associationof EducationalBroadcasters with the aid of a grantfrom The Ford Foundation April, 1967 ED025151. Herman W. LandAssociates, Inc.New York TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION i PREFACE P-1 OVERVIEW and SUMMARY I Tables Included 1.Present Total Operating Budget 1-6 la. Present Total Operating Budget(con't) 1-7 2.Adequate Staffing 1-9 2a. Staff and Other Functions I-10 3.Salary Budgets I-11 3a. Salary Budgets (con't) I-12 4. Degree of Licensee Activity 1-14 5. Adequacy of Newsroom Facilities 1-15 6. Advance Re search 1-17 7.Programs From Outside Sources 1-23a 7a. Programs From Outside Sources(con't) I-23b 8. Programming to Commercial Stations I-25 PROGRAMMING II NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RADIO NETWORK in NERN OFFERINGS - 1951-1966 IV PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS V NON-BROADCAST SERVICES VI SERVICES TO COMMERCIAL STATIONS VII NEW FRONTIERS VIII Contents - I APPENDFX Tables Future Budget A-la Future Budget (con:0 A-lb Present Program Purchases A-2 Additional Funding A-3a Additional Funding (con't) A-3b ci Additional Funding (con't) A-3c Part-Time Employees A-4 Specialized Audience A-5 Outside Program and Production A-6 Program Policy Decisions A-7a Personliel Policy Decisions A-7b Equipment Policy Decisions A-7c Budget Policy Decisions A-7d Summer Schedules A-8 Pay to Outside Talent A-9 Educational Communications System ECS 1-3 A Sampling of Organizations Served OS 1-2 A Sampling of Commercial Stations Served ST 1-3 WBAA Service to Stations .-... 1-S Special Groups Sr"- I-2 Station Profiles SP 1-23 Station List SL 1-13 Individuals Inte7:viewed IN 1-2 Respondents to Questionnaire R 1-9 Questionnaire Q 1-16 Contents - 2 INTRODUCTION EDUCATIONAL RADIO: THEBROAD PERSPECTIVE By Jerrold Sandler Executive Director, NationalEducational Radio Marconi transmittedradio signals in 1895 andDe Forest put Enrico Caruso on the air in 1910.There is some dispute as towhich broadcast- ing station was thefirst to go on the air inthe United States, butall of the claims generally canbe traced to the year1920.It was in 1919 that the first educational radiostation -- WHA, cit theUniversity of Wisconsinin Madison, began experimentaloperation as 9XM. Its presentcall letters date from 1920-21.(That station is still on theair today and is, infact, the originating pointfor a unique state networkof II educational radio sta- tions). By 1925, 171 educationalorganizations had stations onthe air.This was almost athird of all operating stations.Thus, the history of radio broadcasting in this countryis, in its early stages,also the history of ed- ucational radio.It was not, as manybelieve, an afterthought,but the core of this country's earliestbroadcasting operations. Asthe Federal Commun- ications Commission saidin its bulletin on"Educational Radio" publishedin September, 1966: "In itslong history -- from thebeginnings of broadcast- ing -- educationalradio has served thepublic with cultural,educational and entertainment programs,and supplied students andteachers on all levels with instructionalmaterials designed forclassroom use." But the growing numberof commercial stations,in those early years, began to provide manyof the services previouslyoffered only by educational broadcasting, and many of theearly educational radiostations began to leave the air. By 1937, only38 remained. This hiatus in thedevelopment of educationalradio proved to be fleet- ing -- ending in 1938,with the authorization ofFM broadcasting. OneFM educational radio station went onthe air in 1938, but the rateof growth in- creased strikingly in the yearsfollowing the Second WorldWar, and by the end of 1966, well over 300educational radio stations heldbroadcast licenses. About one-fifth of thesehave gone on the air withinthe previous two and one- half years, and the numbercontinues to grow each month. In 1950, with the aid of agrant from The KellogFoundation, the first na- tional network of educationalradio stations in the UnitedStates was estab- lished: the Tape Networkof the National Associationof Educational Broad- casters (NAEB). The Network was organized todistribute recorded pro- grams -- offering at least100 to 260 hours of programming over a nine to twelve month period, and in the case of many stations up to500 or 600 hours per year. Within five years ofits organization, the NAEB Tape Network became a self-sustaining (if modestly financed) operation.It provides many affiliates with programs beyond their formal agreement, as well assupply- ing programs to many commercial stations, non-affiliatededucational sta- tions, and other educational organizations. In 1964 the National Association of Educational Broadcasters(NAEB) was reorganized to form a newdivisional structure. One of the new divi- sions was National Educational Radio (NER). The newdivision combined the Tape Network -- renamed the National Educational RadioNetwork (NERN) -- andthe Radio Station Division of the NAEB. Network headquarters re- mained at the University of Illinois in Urbana, and the NER headquarters was opened in Washington underthe aegis of the NAEB. In addition to program distribution, the new diiiision wascharged with representing educational radio in a variety of ways on the nationaland in- ternational level.Its functions include liaison with appropriate government agencies and the Congress; the raising of funds for national projectsfrom both public and private sources; representing educational radio as aunified voice in professional circles on a variety of matters, rangingfrom copy- Het regulations to relations with other media; dispensing grants-in-aidfor special national productions by local affiliates; creation and acquisitionof high-quality programming for the Network, and the development of new sources of such material; providingconsultation to member stations; pub- lishing and distributing professional materials and, most recently, con- ducting research. Some 150 stations -- about half the educationalradio stations in the country -- belong to NER. Other non-member stationsoften relate with NER on special projects. Membership in NER hasincreased steadily since its organization in 1964, averaging approximately two new member stations per month. During the first three months of1967, eleven new members were added to NER's roster. A number of significant strides were made within a short periodafter the establishment of NER. Very early, the first of several(annual) grants of $30,000 was made to NER by the National Home Library Foundationfor the production of imaginative non-commercial radio programming.In an- nouncing the grant, Foundation president Leonard Marks said, "Inprovid- ing this continuing support, the Foundation recognizes the leadershiprole of NAEB through its National Educational Radio Network in providing the American people with programs not readily available through other sources."