That competition in broadcasting may not bring about sufficiently heterogeneous programing has long been the subject of debate among policymakers, and nowhere has that debate been more acrimonious than in its application to the diversification of radio formats. While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prefers to leave questions of…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is empowered with a delicate balance of executive, legislative, and judicial powers, putting the Commission in a vulnerable position whenever its decisions are reviewed. This paper takes the position that a "super-regulatory" title is unjustified when applied to the legally sanctioned role…

This paper explores FM radio's struggle for survival in the 1940s, focusing primarily on the impact of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision making and on the influence and activities of the well-established radio corporations, primarily the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). It describes the invention of FM radio by Edwin H. Armstrong…

Because the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) decision to deregulate commercial radio has created great controversy over what constitutes "public interest" in broadcast deregulation, this paper provides a brief historical analysis of the bases for defining the public interest standard in broadcast regulation and examines the use…

Reviews the empirical evidence cited by the FCC in favor of increasing the allowable number of radio and TV stations owned by one group. Argues FCC was biased in favor of deregulation despite weighty evidence indicating continued need for regulation. (MS)

Recently the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been considering modifications to its regulations governing local and national media ownership and has indicated more interest in the efficiency consequences of the regulations, including those that might arise from common ownership of multiple radio stations. This paper seeks to determine…

Contributes to scholarship on press freedom, indecency, and federal regulation by examining the 36 cases between 1987-1997 in which the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) issued indecency fines. Investigates various factors and finds that, while the FCC appears to follow a fairly predictable pattern, there are elements of arbitrariness. (SR)

The history of the Federal Communications Commission's content regulation of broadcasting is a history of policymaking in a vacuum. A review of the literature reveals that no one has yet attempted to show whether the Fairness Doctrine results in poorer or better broadcast journalism. To remedy this, content regulation should be explored from…

An examination of data on FM construction permits shows that independent FM broadcasters have obtained construction permits in markets with larger adjusted populations than those where AM licensees were granted same-market permits. (GT)

In 1928, the Federal Radio Commission (the precursor of the Federal Communications Commission--FCC) noted the need for special radio channels that could carry radio across the United States free from interference from other radio stations. Many of these "clear channels" still exist as protected entities. Perhaps no other FCC policy…

The 20-year conflict of the United Church of Christ (UCC) with the broadcast industry concerning discrimination is described in this report, which first details in part how UCC's challenge to the license renewal of station WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, established important legal precedents. It then describes UCC's groundbreaking work in…

In the 1978 "FCC v. Pacifica Foundation" ruling, the United States Supreme Court considered the authority of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate indecent radio programing, finding that the public has a constitutionally protected interest in being protected against objectionable programing. The FCC suit, arising out of…

This paper examines the role that standard-setting plays in the adoption and growth of new technologies, particularly in the development of electronic media. Background on technological standardization is provided in the first section, including discussions of the costs and benefits of standardization and the timing of standards setting. The…

This document traces the development of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) network regulations from their beginning in 1941 with the "Report on Chain Broadcasting." The eight rules defined by the report were aimed at correcting network abuses and were intended to maintain community broadcasting in the public interest. The document…

To examine the success of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 1982 decision not to select a standard transmission system for AM stereophonic broadcasting (instead leaving it to the marketplace), this paper documents and analyzes the first 7 years of the AM stereo marketplace. Following an explanatory introduction, the paper's first…