[BARC-List] Review: History Channel "Modern Marvels" show on the history of radio

[KA1MOM at aol.com]

These come out as the main points of the show.
    1.    All progress in radio has  been the result of commercial 
development.
    2.    Marconi used guesswork  and trial-and-error based on the work of 
Clerk-Maxwell and 
           Hertz.
    3.    AM radio was solely the  result of Fessenden's work as an employee 
of 
            Westinghouse.
    4.    The only land station  that received the distress signals from the 
RMS Titanic was a 
           Westinghouse  commercial station manned by David Sarnoff.
    5.    Development of practical  AM receivers was a commercial 
collaboration of Fessenden,
           Fleming,  and DeForest working under corporate support.
    6.    FM was developed entirely  by Armstrong, again with corporate 
sponsorship.
    7.    TV destroyed network  radio programming.  AM radio is now used 
solely for talk and
           news  targeted at drivers.
    8.    FM broadcasting is the  only form that transmits stereo signals and 
thus is used for
           local  music stations.
    9.    Radio consists only of  commercial broadcasters and utility / 
public safety stations.
  10.    All satellites and other advanced  communications are commercial 
ventures.
 
SUMMARY:  Only commercial radio exists or has ever existed.  The  3,000,000 
people worldwide who call themselves hams are likely to be  delusional?  I see 
the whole hour as little more than propaganda showing  how much we owe to 
commercial broadcasters.
 
Recall that those of us who do not exist:
    Developed cellular technology 20 years before it  became commercial
    Sent up AO-7, the oldest manmade object still  functioning in orbit.
    Have put up over 50 communications  satellites.
    Function a the only source of completely reliable  worldwide 
communications.
 
Anyone have the resources to do an hour show (40 minutes plus commercial  
breaks) refuting the above?  The average 8th grader could put together an  hour's 
material with a day or two of web searches.
 
If you bothered to tape the History Channel broadcast and have not viewed  it 
yet, you might want to dedicate the tape to a better use, like maybe a South  
Park marathon.  

-= Bill,  KA1MOM =-