Evolution Of Entertainment ? From Radio To Cell Phone Movies

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Internet has made it possible to check out information about the history and evolution of popular entertainment. One can safely say that radio shows were the first attempt at mass entertainment. Until then, it was not possible to reach out to many persons at once. Cinema and performance artists had to travel from one place to another to entertain people. Radio made it possible for a single person situated at the single spot to entertain millions of people spread all over the world.

Radio shows were completely passive and relied a lot on the listener’s.imagination. Movies came along and then came television. Television was a significant improvement over the radio because it combined visual and audio entertainment options. It was better than cinema because one could be entertained in the privacy of one’s house.

For very long time, combination of cinema, radio shows and television shows formed the crux of entertainment. It is only when newer technologies came up that people came up with newer solutions and ideas. The ability to capture audio and video on the move made reality shows possible.

A camera that can be brought into a home meant that an individual’s life could be shot without doing anything different. This set of a boom that coincided with the rising popularity of internet. Today, people can enjoy real life entertainment with the help of cameras installed in cell phones and high-speed wireless internet connections. The distinction between fictional and real life entertainment has blurred with advancement of technology.

 

 

 

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The Role of Radio in Modern Television

Since the arrival of the television in households across the world the importance of the radio has seemingly dwindled and dwindled, with more and more people tuning out in favour of more visual medium of TV.

The days of families gathering around the wireless for the latest installment of a serial drama are seemingly long gone, with home entertainment these days being more likely to feature family members in separate rooms viewing the programming of their choice.

But does this mean that radio as a spoken medium no longer has a role to play in the evolution of light entertainment?

In short, the answer is no, radio continues to play an important role in the development of talents and personalities that provide us with distractions during our downtime.

For example, many of the stars of the screen whose faces are familiar to us would never have made it into the public consciousness without the existence of radio. For presenters, radio is often the first port of call in a career plan, allowing them to hone their on air skills before attempting to make the transition to television.

And some of the most popular television shows have some roots in radio programming, where writers and producers have tried out ideas on audiences, helping them to weed out the ones that work and latter translate them into a visual medium.

Television audiences may be disregarding of the radio as an entertainment tool, but most are unaware of what their favorite shows owe to this understated medium.

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The Golden Age of Media

Family watching television, c. 1958

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At the beginning of the twentieth century, the methods that brought people news were vastly slow and sometimes unreliable. For many people living in the United States of America, the news came in the form of newspapers and word of mouth from those who had traveled to a larger city or had access to a telegraph. News from overseas such as the United Kingdom or Europe came via telegraph or letters or foreign diplomats. Most people were content with the slow pace of receiving bad news from around the world.

Then, the radio came with its static sounding voices, music, and programming. Now, we could broadcast news from Europe and Asia over radio waves. This meant that people in the United States of America could get news about World War I much quicker. Many families learned about the sinking of the Titanic via the radio. Besides bringing bad news faster,  the radio had various shows for kids, parents, and grandparents. Weekly shows told stories about interesting characters, and many people tuned in every night to hear these programs.

With the success of the radio, the home television came in its black and white format. Fuzzy pictures gave way to brilliant technicolor to high definition flat panel screens. In the beginnings of television, new shows came on once every evening. So for thirty minutes a day, a person got bad news. Now, the news has its own 24 hour channels constantly talking about and rehashing the bad news of the day. We can never escape the onslaught of bad news from the television. Television and news media has come a long way and is here in our homes to stay.

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