• DOI:10.1207/s15506878jobem4802_2
• Corpus ID: 145186571

How America Adopted Radio: Demographic Differences in Set Ownership Reported in the 1930-1950 U.S. Censuses

@article{Craig2004HowAA,
  title={How America Adopted Radio: Demographic Differences in Set Ownership Reported in the 1930-1950 U.S. Censuses},
  author={Steve Craig},
  journal={Journal of Broadcasting \& Electronic Media},
  year={2004},
  volume={48},
  pages={179 - 195}
}

• Steve Craig
• Published 1 June 2004
• Economics
• Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media

Radio set ownership data reported in the US. Censuses of 1930, 1940, and 7950 suggest that several factors affected the rate of radio adoption during these decades. Although a majority of U.S. households were radio-equipped by 193 1, substantial numbers of poorer Americans, especially those living in the South, could not afford sets until much later. A majority of African American families, the poorest of all, did not own radios until well into the 1940s. It was not until 1950 that 95% of all American households owned receivers.