Oh Hey Radio... It's Me... The Government

In terms of shaping the American radio industry, government interaction and regulation definitely had the greatest influence as it essentially controlled who owned radio, what networks could exist, and set the basics for frequency designation. In fact, without government interaction and regulation, radio in America today could be a very different machine.

In general, governmental interaction and regulation provides influence by making compliance a law that is subject to punishment. In order to avoid legal troubles or possibly being shut down, any sector subject to government control must abide by the rules set forth. For example, the government, through the FCC, regulates what is acceptable to show on network television. If the standards are broken, even accidentally as occurred during Super Bowl XXXVIII where performer Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed on live TV, fines upwards of half a million dollars can be levied. Essentially, control by government interaction and regulation works by providing for consequences if compliance is not met.

Specifically in the case of American radio, government interaction first occurred with the Radio Act of 1912, in which the first radio transmitters were licensed.  Soon after, a forced settlement with Marconi, the developer of the radio transmitter, mandated that he sell his American interests to GE. This important event prevented foreign control of American radio. If the government had not stepped in, public radio today could be very different. Who knows who would have owned the airwaves? In relation, government interaction limited monopolies by forcing too powerful networks to sell part of their corporation. For example, the FCC forced NBC to sell off its second network to prevent NBC from becoming too powerful. That second network eventually became ABC. In addition, the government stepped in to make sure that the different frequencies did not overlap. With the Radio Act of 1927, The Federal Radio Commission was created, which defined the broadcast band and made frequency designations more standardized. Government interaction here prevented radio stations from overlapping and degrading each other’s signals. This act was completely beneficial for the consumer and definitely helped propel and shape radio. With less confusion on the listener’s end, the popularity of radio could only rise.

Overall, government interaction and regulation helped shape the American radio industry more than any other factor. Without it, radio certainly would have delved into chaos in the 1920s and might have been very different today.