Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission. The FRC was established by the Radio Act of 1927, which replaced the Radio Act of 1912 after the earlier law was found to lack sufficient oversight provisions, especially for regulating broadcasting stations. In addition to increased regulatory powers, the FRC introduced the standard that, in order to receive a license, a radio station had to be shown to be "in the public interest, convenience, or necessity".
Previous regulation
Radio Act of 1912
Although radio communication was developed in the late 1890s, it was largely unregulated in the United States until the passage of the Radio Act of 1912. This law set up procedures for the Department of Commerce to license radio transmitters, which initially consisted primarily of maritime and amateur stations. The broadcasting of news and entertainment to the general public, which began to be developed early 1920s, was not foreseen by this legislation.The first Commerce Department regulations specifically addressing broadcasting were adopted on December 1, 1921, when two wavelengths were set aside for stations making broadcasts intended for a general audience: 360 meters for "entertainment", and 485 meters for "market and weather reports". The number of broadcasting stations grew tremendously in 1922, numbering over 500 in the United States by the end of the year. The number of reserved transmitting frequencies also expanded, and by 1925, the "broadcast band" consisted of the frequencies from 550 kHz to 1500 kHz, in ten kHz steps.
Herbert Hoover became the Secretary of Commerce in March 1921, and thus assumed primary responsibility for shaping radio broadcasting during its earliest days, which was a difficult task in a fast-changing environment. To aid decision-making, he sponsored a series of four national conferences from 1922 to 1925, where invited industry leaders participated in setting standards for radio in general.
Legal challenges
During his tenure Hoover was aware that some of his actions were on shaky legal ground, given the limited powers assigned to him by the 1912 Act. In particular, in 1921 the department had tried to refuse to issue a renewal license to a point-to-point radiotelegraph station in New York City, operated by the Intercity Radio Company, on the grounds that it was causing excessive interference to earlier radiotelegraph stations operating nearby. Intercity appealed, and in 1923 the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia sided with Intercity, stating the 1912 Act did not provide for licensing decisions at "the discretion of an executive officer". The Department of Commerce planned to request a review by the Supreme Court, but the case was rendered moot when Intercity decided to shut down the New York City station. Still, it had raised significant questions about the extent of Hoover's authority.A second, ultimately successful, challenge occurred in 1926. The Zenith Radio Corporation in late 1925 established a high-powered radio station, WJAZ, with a transmitter site outside Chicago, Illinois. After being informed that there might not be an available frequency for the station to use, company president E. F. McDonald proposed that, because they only wanted to broadcast two hours a week, they would be happy with an assignment on 930 kHz that was limited to 10:00 p.m. to midnight Central time on Thursday nights, when the only other station on the frequency, KOA in Denver, Colorado, was normally off the air. Despite McDonald's initial expression of satisfaction with a schedule of just two hours per week, his tone soon changed. At this time the United States had an informal agreement with Canada that six designated AM band frequencies would be used exclusively by Canadian stations. In early January 1926, McDonald directed WJAZ to move from its 930 kHz assignment to 910 kHz, one of the restricted Canadian frequencies, and begin expanded hours of operation.
Invoking the Intercity Radio Company case rulings, Zenith ignored the Commerce Department's order to return WJAZ to its assigned frequency. On January 20, 1926, a federal court suit, United States versus Zenith Radio Corporation and E. F. McDonald, was filed in Chicago. McDonald expected a narrow ruling in his favor, claiming that only a small number of stations, including WJAZ, held the "Class D Developmental" licenses that were free from normal restrictions. However, the actual outcome was sweeping. On April 16, 1926, Judge James H. Wilkerson's ruling stated that, under the 1912 Act, the Commerce Department in fact could not limit the number of broadcasting licenses issued, or designate station frequencies. The government reviewed whether to try to appeal this decision, but Acting Attorney General William J. Donovan's analysis concurred with the court's decision.
The immediate result was that, until Congress passed new legislation, the Commerce Department could not limit the number of new broadcasting stations, which were now free to operate on any frequency and use any power they wished. Many stations showed restraint, while others took the opportunity to increase powers and move to new frequencies. The extent to which this new environment resulted in disruption for the average listener is difficult to judge, but the term "chaos" started to appear in discussions.
Federal Radio Commission
Radio Act of 1927
Prior to the early 1926 adverse ruling on the Commerce Department's regulatory authority, there had been numerous efforts in the U.S. Congress to replace the Radio Act of 1912 with a more comprehensive bill, but none of these efforts made much headway. The need for new legislation gained additional importance because, in the absence of federal regulation, stations were taking their individual disputes to the courts, which began to render decisions favoring incumbent stations. This effectively was granting established stations "property rights" in the use of their assignments, which the government wanted to avoid, because it generally considered the radio spectrum to be a public resource.Despite the recognition that new legislation was needed, there was a lack of consensus whether it should increase the authority of the Secretary of Commerce, which opponents argued would create a too-powerful "Radio Czar", or if an independent regulatory body was needed, which some disputed was unneeded and overly expansive. The legislation ultimately passed was known as the Dill-White Bill, which was proposed and sponsored by Senator Clarence Dill and Representative Wallace H. White Jr. on December 21, 1926. It was brought to the Senate floor on January 28, 1927, and, as a compromise, specified that a five member commission would be given the power to reorganize radio regulation, but most of its duties would end after one year. After a month of debates this bill was passed on February 18, 1927, as the Radio Act of 1927, and signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge on February 23, 1927. The Commission's organizational meeting was held on March 15.
Commissioners
The Radio Act of 1927 subdivided the country into five geographical zones, and specified that one commissioner would be appointed who resided within each zone. Terms were initially for up to six years, although this was later reduced to one year, and no more than three commissioners could be members of the same political party. The FRC's commissioners, by zone, from 1927 to 1934 were:- Orestes H. Caldwell, ; Caldwell resigned February 23, 1929, and was replaced by W. D. L. Starbuck, Patent Attorney, appointed May 1929.
- William H. G. Bullard ; Bullard died November 24, 1927, and was replaced by Ira E. Robinson, State Supreme Court judge, who resigned January 1932, and was succeeded by the March 28, 1932, appointment of Col. Thad H. Brown, lawyer and politico holding various offices including Ohio's Secretary of State, who served for the remainder of the FRC's existence and was appointed to the FCC in 1934.
- Eugene O. Sykes served the entire time the FRC existed and was appointed to the FCC in 1934.
- Henry Adams Bellows ; Bellows was forced to resign October 31, 1927, and later became chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters. He was replaced by Sam Pickard, who resigned January 31, 1929, and was succeeded by Charles McKinley Saltzman, who was appointed May 1929, resigned in June 1932, and was succeeded by James H. Hanley
- John F. Dillon ; Dillon died October 8, 1927, and was replaced by Harold A. Lafount ; Lafount stayed on the FRC until its replacement by the FCC, but he was not appointed to that body. In the late 1930s he became president of the National Independent Broadcasters.
Responsibilities
To rectify the limitations of the 1912 act, the FRC was given the power to grant and deny licenses, assign station frequencies and power levels, and issue fines for violations. The opening paragraph of the Radio Act of 1927 summarized its objectives as:"...this Act is intended to regulate all forms of interstate and foreign radio transmissions and communications within the United States, its Territories and possessions; to maintain the control of the United States over all the channels of interstate and foreign radio transmission; and to provide for the use of such channels, but not the ownership thereof, by individuals, firms, or corporations, for limited periods of time, under licenses granted by Federal authority, and no such license shall be construed to create any right, beyond the terms, conditions, and periods of the license."
Some technical duties remained the responsibility of the Radio Division of the Department of Commerce, and because Congress failed to provide funding for a staff, during the FRC's first year the commission was heavily dependent on support from Commerce personnel. Moreover, most of the FRC's work was expected to be completed within one year, and the original intention was that a majority of its functions would then revert to the Secretary of Commerce:
"Sec 5. From and after one year after the first meeting of the commission created by this Act, all the powers and authority vested in the commission under the terms of this Act, except as to the revocation of licenses, shall be vested in and exercised by the Secretary of Commerce; except that thereafter the commission shall have power and jurisdiction to act upon and determine any and all matters brought before it under the terms of this section."
Acting as a check on the commission's power, "censorship" of station programming was not allowed, although extreme language was prohibited:
"Sec. 29. Nothing in this Act shall be understood or construed to give the licensing authority the power of censorship over the radio communications or signals transmitted by any radio station, and no regulation or condition shall be promulgated or fixed by the licensing authority which shall interfere with the right of free speech by means of radio communications. No person within the jurisdiction of the United States shall utter any obscene, indecent, or profane language by means of radio communication."
However, the "public interest, convenience, or necessity" standard allowed the Commission to take into consideration program content when renewing licenses, and the ability to take away a license provided some degree of content control. This allowed the FRC to crack down on "vulgar" language — for example the profanity-filled rants of William K. Henderson on KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana. But it also led to First Amendment free speech disputes over the appropriateness of some FRC actions.
A forerunner of the FCC's later "equal-time rule" required stations to give equal opportunities for political candidates:
"Sec 18. If any licensee shall permit any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office to use a broadcasting station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting station, and the licensing authority shall make rules and regulations to carry this provision into effect: Provided, That such licensee shall have no power of censorship over the material broadcast under the provisions of this paragraph. No obligation is hereby imposed upon any licensee to allow the use of its station by any such candidate."
The Radio Act of 1927 did not authorize the Federal Radio Commission to make any rules regulating advertising, although section 19 required advertisers to properly identify themselves. There was almost no mention of the radio networks — notably the National Broadcasting Company — that were in the process of dominating broadcasting, other than a statement in section 3 that "The Commission shall have the authority to make special regulations applicable to stations engaged in chain broadcasting".
In early 1928 it became clear that the FRC needed more than a single year to perform its tasks, and its tenure was extended for an additional year. In December 1929 the commission's mandate was extended indefinitely.
The FRC's regulatory activities, and the public's knowledge of its work, primarily focused on broadcasting stations. However, in 1932, in addition to 625 broadcasting stations, the commission oversaw numerous other station classifications, including approximately thirty thousand amateur radio stations, two thousand ship stations, and one thousand fixed-point land stations. On February 25, 1928, Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, DC, became the first holder of a television license.