Federal Communications Commission (FCC) history
A federal agency created by Congress in the Federal Communications Act of 1934 to regulate the communications industry. At the time, the FCC assumed regulatory authority for broadcasting, TELEGRAPH, and telephone services. Originally, the commission consisted of seven commissioners, appointed by the president. In 1982, the number was reduced to five. Its main objective was to ensure communications at reasonable prices to the public.
The FCC is empowered to grant broadcasting licenses. During the 1940s, it also began insisting that stations to which it granted licenses also begin introducing public service programming. Over the years, the FCC helped AT&T maintain its effective monopoly over the telephone industry, a monopoly established in 1921 with the Willis-Graham bill, which allowed AT&T to purchase rival exchanges. Originally, AT&T was aided when the commission refused to entertain licenses from smaller companies that wanted to break into the telephone business. Eventually, the FCC began entertaining complaints from potential telephone competitors, and AT&T’s monopoly was officially broken in 1982 in a landmark agreement with the Justice Department. The FCC also took a similar stance in the TELEVISION INDUSTRY, which helped the large networks maintain their dominance over the industry at the expense of smaller stations until the advent of cable television in the 1970s.
The agency’s basic powers include approving rate increases for interstate telephone and telegraph services, assigning new frequencies for radio and television, and issuing licenses to station operators. More recently, it also assumed regulatory authority over satellite communications. In addition to radio, TV, telegraph, and cable TV, the agency also has authority over transmitters that are used by police and fire departments and the national medical emergency service. Its administration of the various services has not always been consistent over its 70-year history, but the FCC remains the chief regulator of communications in the country. It often responds to trends in the communications industry by passing rules addressing communications issues of the moment, such as the level of competitiveness within the broadcast industry and matters of public taste.
Often, its position on communications issues, especially concerning competition within the communications industry, can have farreaching ANTITRUST and trade ramifications. Its decisions may be overridden by Congress in special circumstances.
Further reading
- Emery, Walter B. Broadcasting and Government: Responsibilities and Regulations. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1961.
- Fleissner, Jennifer. The Federal Communications Commission. New York: Chelsea House, 1992.
