Radio After the Golden Age: The Evolution of American Broadcasting Since 1960

What became of radio after its Golden Age ended about 1960? Not long ago Arbitron found that almost 93 percent of Americans age 12 and older are regular radio listeners, a higher percentage than those turning to television, magazines, newspapers, or the Internet. But the sounds they hear now barely resemble those of radio's heyday when it had little competition as a mass entertainment and information source.

Much has transpired in the past fifty-plus years: a proliferation of disc jockeys,...