The Federal Communication Commission or FCC is an independent government organization that was created to regulate radio, television, satellite, wire, and cable in the United States. Throughout the history of structured communication, broadcasting regulations have sparked a significant amount of controversy that has been debated by many Americans. The reasons for these controversies and disputes have to do with licensing issues, meeting the public interest standard, and First Amendment violation. In this paper I will be discussing why the FCC is allowed to restrict ownership of broadcast stations, as well as to why I am in favor of regulating how many licenses can be owned by a single entity.
The United States began its early instances of regulating communication during the early 1900's. The intended purpose for the regulation was to allow multiple companies to get their signals/programs placed over airwaves without any interference. The Radio Act of 1912 is a federal law that ordered all United States private radio stations to be licensed by the government. This law made it much easier to keep track of who was assigned to which radio frequencies (dealt mostly with seafaring vessels). However, due to the Radio Act of 1912 not addressing broadcasting specifics and limiting all private radio to AM frequencies, it was replaced by the Radio Act of 1927. As a result of this act, the Federal Radio Commission was created to organize adequately and promote regulation throughout the country. The biggest differences between these two acts are that the Radio Act of 1927 made it where the Federal Radio Commission could grant and deny radio licenses, but could not censor radio communication or interfere with free speech. This act worked to help better open up the radio market for other companies while generalizing the operational standards to implement the idea of public interest, convenience, and necessity.