1928, industry giant NBC was taking in $10 mil-
lion annually from advertisers. Meanwhile, intellectuals regularly
flailed the networks for pandering to low tastesÃ?â??Uth tastes of the .
mentally deficient," as literary critic Henry Volkening put it.
The BBC faced no such accusations. In fact, it was frequently taken to task for ignoring the preferences of its mostly working-class audi- ence. Directed until 1940 the dour and opinionated John C. W. Reith, the BBC was a rather...