Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio 1991
7.6 / 10
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.
For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.
Videos & Photos
All 0 Videos & 2 Photos
cast
Full Cast & Crew
... Narrator (voice)
RB
Red Barber... Self - Radio Announcer
EB
Erik Barnouw... Self - Historian
KB
Ken Bilby... Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff
... Self - Writer
... Self - Historian
Directors:
Genres:
Release Date:
Oct 01, 1991 (United States)
Run Time:
1hr 53`
MMPA Rating:
G
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United States
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
Cast & Crew of
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Directors & Credit Writers
... Director
Cast
... Narrator (voice)
RB
Red Barber... Self - Radio Announcer
EB
Erik Barnouw... Self - Historian
KB
Ken Bilby... Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff
... Self - Writer
... Self - Historian
... Self - Engineer
... Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong
LJ
Loren Jones... Self - Engineer
... Self - Writer
HK
Helen Kelley... Self - Radio Broadcaster
... Self - Engineer
DR
Dana Raymond... Self - Friend of Edwin H. Armstrong
... Self - Engineer
... Self - Predicts Demise of Radio (archive footage)
... Self - Sings (archive sound)
... Hamlet (archive sound)
... Self - Finest Hour Speech (archive sound)
... Self - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast (archive footage)
... Self - Objects to Quality of Radio Programming (archive footage)
Produced By
... Associate Producer
... Associate Producer
... Producer
Videos & Photos of
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Photos ( 2 )
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