In the early stages of development, broadcast media were marked by:

In their early stages of development broadcast media were marked by one-way communication, flowing from a single source out to many receivers with no return channel.

Positive communication judges the tone or effect of messages, not the direction of flow that defined early broadcasting.

Negative communication likewise names a quality of the message, not the structural one-directional shape of early radio and television.

Two-way communication allows the receiver to reply through the same channel, which early broadcast media precisely lacked.

Listeners and viewers could receive but not talk back within the medium itself.

Later interactive and digital forms introduced the feedback loop that early broadcasting missed.