Back to browse
76% Critic Match
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
7.6 / 10• 1991• 1h 53m•G• English
DocumentaryHistory
Storyline
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of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.
Cast & Crew
Jason Robards
Narrator (voice)
LeadRB
Red Barber
Self - Radio Announcer
EB
Erik Barnouw
Self - Historian
KB
Ken Bilby
Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff
NC
Norman Corwin
Self - Writer
Susan Douglas
Self - Historian
FG
Frank Günther
Self - Engineer
JH
Jeanne Hammond
Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Ken Burns's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
4.0
“Every frame feels alive. Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
