The second edition of Understanding Radio gives the reader a comprehensive look at radio ands its element. Andrew Criswell gives an extensive history of the medium, brought up to date for this edition, and explains how radio, perhaps more than television, has played such a crucial role in the development of popular culture.

The book also explores how the different genres of radio (news, drama, comedy, music) are programmed and processed in very different ways, and how those who listen to radio have important implications for audience studies. Included in the revised edition is an examination of the new "talk-and-music" format, and the changes in programming which have occured.