Every new media uses old media as content. Thus there is an increasing complexity of media coverage. Beside this new media preform upcoming media. This essay deals with the early days of radio in Germany: the programming models, the presentation of news and entertainment. It describes how radio prestructured television in regard to program structure, live coverage and genres developments. Furthermore this essay describes the expectations radio had to meet when the regular broadcasting started. Those expectations form the basis for the broad range of social functions which media now fulfill in western societies.