Empire of the Air
Season 1
TV-PG
From Ken Burns, producer of THE CIVIL WAR, comes the story of radio's creation of radio and three men of genius, vision, and determination: Lee De Forest, a clergyman's flamboyant son; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the world's most powerful communications company. This film evokes the lives of three men whose work profoundly transformed modern America.
Where to Watch Empire of the Air • Season 1
1 Episode
- The Men Who Made Radio
E1The Men Who Made RadioFor fifty years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” EMPIRE OF THE AIR examines the lives of three remarkable men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity combined in unexpected and often 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of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the Audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on the planet.