114 | Mass Media and Historical Change
broadcasting in India (Shrivastava 2005: 12), Turkey and Morocco. However,
organisation, content and social significance of radio differed considerably. In
North and South America, commercial channels appeared from the begin-
ning, with little state interference. The United States played a pioneering role
and had exceptional transmitting power. Since the existing infrastructure was
already privately organised (telegraphy, telephone and railroad, among others),
private corporations – such as early radio manufacturers – now established
the first transmitting stations in 1920 and produced their own programmes
to help to sell their radios. By the end of 1922 the Department of Com-
merce had already licensed over six hundred stations, with department stores,
newspapers, universities and religious groups having their own stations; nev-
ertheless, commercial channels predominated (Hilmes 2004: 44). As might
be expected, by 1925 over five million radio sets had been sold. From the
mid-1920s, however, the involvement of large corporations increased mark-
edly, with powerful nationwide networks like ABC, CBS and NBC appearing
next to the local stations. Since these North American stations were financed
by advertising, they broadcast listener-oriented entertainment like popular
music, quiz shows, radio plays and advice programmes.
The development in many South American countries was similar to that
in the United States, although the number of radios here was much smaller.
In Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, commercial channels were also established
by radio manufacturers and other corporations (like the cigarette industry). In
1925 Argentina already had twenty-five radio stations and thus considerably
more than Germany (Meinecke, in Wilke 1992 Vol. 1: 46f.).
By contrast, state control played a much greater role in Europe. Govern-
ment interventions during the First World War probably served to reinforce
the state’s claim. Contributing factors were also the Russian Revolution in
1917 and subsequent uprisings in Europe, which roused the fear that Com-
munists might come to power with the help of radio. Consequently radio
came very late to countries that exercised strong control: 1923 to Germany,
1925 to Japan. Anti-American sentiments additionally slowed down its devel-
opment.
Beyond the American continent, radio was organised in a great variety
of ways during the 1920s. A few countries like Spain, Portugal and Italy had
commercial channels; others like France had both commercial and state-affil-
iated ones, while countries like Japan and Germany had only state-affiliated
channels. Other countries like Britain granted pioneering private organi-
sations a monopoly. Thus as early as 1927 the previously commercial BBC
became a public enterprise without competitors, hoping to resist the Amer-
icanisation and ‘American Chaos’ with ‘British quality’ (Hilmes 2012: 81).
Radio in the Netherlands was structured very much like the press, which was
supported by the various religious groups in the country. In the same way the