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In radio: The need for regulation
…was accomplished with the landmark Radio Act of 1927. This act provided basic assumptions that have continued to underpin broadcasting policy in the United States to this day. Frequencies used for broadcasting were to be held by the government, not owned by licensees. A license would be issued only if…
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In broadcasting: Government regulation
Congress responded by passing the Radio Act of 1927, which, although directed primarily against monopoly, also set up the agency that is now called the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate wavelengths to broadcasters. The government’s attack on monopoly resulted eventually in four radio networks—the National Broadcasting Company, the Columbia…
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In Communications Act of 1934: Radio Act of 1927
By the early 1920s radio was popular worldwide. Public demand for receivers was high, with technology available to nearly everyone to build their own homemade receivers. New radio stations were being created at a rapid rate. The Radio Act of 1912…
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In fairness doctrine
…fairness doctrine lay in the Radio Act (1927), which limited radio broadcasting to licensed broadcasters but mandated that the licensees serve the public interest. The Federal Communications Act (1934) supplanted the Radio Act and created the FCC, the chief regulatory body governing the U.S. airwaves, with a mission to “encourage…
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