CinemaOSMovie · 1991 · 1h 53m · G

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

78%(10)IMDbDocumentaryHistory

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of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.

Directed byKen Burns

Play
Status
Released
Runtime
1h 53m
Language
EN
Released
October 1, 1991
Studios
Florentine Films

Featuring

Cast & crew

10 credited
Starring
Jason Robards

Jason Robards

Narrator (voice)

Red Barber

Self - Radio Announcer

Erik Barnouw

Self - Historian

Ken Bilby

Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff

Norman Corwin

Self - Writer

Susan Douglas

Susan Douglas

Self - Historian

Frank Günther

Self - Engineer

Jeanne Hammond

Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong

Loren Jones

Self - Engineer

Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor

Self - Writer

Creative team
Directed by
Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Written by
Geoffrey C. Ward
Geoffrey C. Ward
Produced by
Tom Lewis
Ken Burns
Ken Burns

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