This history of commercial radio networks in the United States provides a wealth of information on broadcasting from the 1920s to the present. It covers the four transcontinental webs that operated during the pre-television Golden Age, plus local and regional hookups, and the developments that have occurred in the decades since, including the impact of television, the rise of the disc jockey, the rise of talk radio and other specialized formats, implications of satellite technology and consolidation of networks and local stations.

“an entertaining, informative history of the major radio networks and their programming. Recommended”—Choice; “Begun with 2002’s Say Goodnight Gracie, and continue with 2008’s Sold on Radio, the medium’s best modern historian has capped the most well-written and informative history of radio in recent memory with this tome. This triumvirate of books should stand for some time as the definitive history of classic radio’s beginning, maturation, and demise”—Old Time Radio Digest.

Jim Cox, a leading radio historian, is an award-winning author of numerous books on the subject. A retired college professor, he lives in Louisville, Kentucky.