The publication of U.S. radio network history began less than five years after the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) inaugurated national service. This descriptive analysis of U.S. radio network historiography periodizes the emergence of four waves of radio network history between 1930 and 2020, and illustrates how social, political, and regulatory activism influenced the emergence of new perspectives on the developmental period of the U.S. network radio. Examining evolutions in radio network historiography reveals the continued applicability and relevance of radio history to contemporary debates concerning media activism and the applicability of historical inquiry in media controversies in the United States.

在美国国家广播公司（NBC）和哥伦比亚广播系统（CBS）启用国家服务后不到五年的时间里，美国无线电网络历史的出版就开始了。这项对美国无线电网络历史学的描述性分析，对1930年至2020年之间四次无线电网络历史浪潮的出现进行了周期划分，并说明了社会，政治和监管活动主义如何影响对美国网络无线电发展时期的新观点的出现。对无线电网络历史学的研究进展表明，无线电历史在当代有关媒体行动主义的辩论以及历史探究在美国媒体争议中的适用性方面具有持续的适用性和相关性。