Sport&media since 1920s

The new communicationmedium of radio became commonplace in the 1920s and contributed to the publicizing of athletic heroes as announcers dramatized and sensationalized sports events for remote audiences.While radio broadcasts catered to a wide variety of popular and ethnically specific tastes in drama and music，sports programming focused on American games，and broadcasts of events tied listeners to American traditions.At first，sports team owners feared radio as a threat to live attendance，but commercial stations bought rights to game broadcasts by selling advertising time.During the 1920s，seven different radio stations broadcast the Chicago Cubs'baseball games，yet the team drew more than 14 million spectators during the decade.

9-3　CBS and NBC

College football broadcasts rivaled baseball coverage with transmission of the Texas-Texas A&M game on Thanksgiving Day in 1920.The Chicago Tribune2 newspaper forged a media corporation with its WGN（short for“World's Greatest Newspaper”）radio station.Its broadcast of the 1924 Illinois-Michigan contest solidified the popularity of Harold“Red”Grange3，already a famous football player.Beforemore than 67，000 fans in the stadium，along with countless radio listeners.In 1926，the National Broadcasting Company（NBC）4 launched a network of stations，and the Columbia Broadcasting System（CBS）5 followed a year later.These consolidated networks，often owned by newspapers，created media conglomerates that focused power in the hands of a few.

Some of themale sportswriterswhomade athletes famous became celebrities in their own right.Journalists popularized and idealized athletes as heroes and role models for youth.Colleges began broadcasts of their football games in 1920，and professional baseball teams and boxing promoters followed suit in 1921.Quickly assuaging owners'fears about radio broadcasts.