BROADCASTING: RADIO AND TELEVISION

RADIO AND TELEVISION

Introduction          

Radio involves the process by which messages are sent through electrical waves.  In other words, sound would be sent and received through the waves (Sambe, 2008). The history of Radio dates back to the 19th Century when Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph. Gugielmo Marconi built on this invention to produce electromagnetic impulses which would be sent through the air without the use of wires. The voice was carried over long distances. Thus in 1866, signals were transmitted from England to America without wires. In 1988, Heinrick Hertz, working on the electromagnetic theory propounded earlier by a British scientist James Clark Maxwell, produced the first radio waves.

What is known today as “Television” was coined by a Frenchman called Persky. And the word is made up from Greek “tele” meaning at a distance” and the Latin “Videre” means “to see”. Boris Rozing, a Russian, is said to be the first person to build a television system. In fact, he is regarded as the Father of Television. In 1923, another Russian, Vladimir Zworykin improved on Boris Rozing’s. He developed and presented to the world an electronic camera known as iconoscope. 

The final development in television as we see it today was between 1948 and 1952. This period was regarded as the formative years and it was at this time that quite a number of television sets came into use. At this time too, about 109 television stations were established. In Britain, about 20 stations were in operation. The period 1953 to 1960 was and has been regarded as the Golden Age of Television.

DEFINITION OF RADIO AND TELEVISION

Radio is an audio medium as such the writer has to do his or her work in a manner that the pictures are imprinted on the minds of the audience members and they could visualise as if they were physically present at the scene of the event. It can also be defined as a medium used for sending and receiving messages through the air using electronic waves. It is also about the activity of broadcasting programmes for people to listen to the programmes being broadcast (Idebi, 2008 It is the system of sending sound over a distance by transmitting electrical signals (BBC English Dictionary, 1992). 

Television is defined as an audio-visual medium. It blends pictures with sound to produce a communication experience exhibited on the screen. It uses sound to explain the visuals presented on the screen. It addresses the emotion and intellect in a remarkable way. Television uses the movement of images in a unique way or pattern to express thought and feelings in an exciting and appealing manner. Television is defined by the BBC English Dictionary (1992) as the system of pictures and distance so that people can receive them on a television set. From the definition, radio and television were a common phenomenon; they use electrical signals in sending out their messages.