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The Radio Act of 1912
After the Titanic disaster where muddling of the radio lines by amateur radio hobbyists prevented the distress signals from being received in time. This act called for licensing of all radio operators, a seperate line for distress calls, and prohibited any licensed hobbyists from broadcasting over commercial or military lines. -
Launch of the First Radio Station
The first of what could be considered a commercial radio broadcast, Pittsburgh's KDKA (run by Westinghouse Electric) transmitted the first scheduled radio broadcast to announce the elections returns of the presidential race. -
The First Radio Advertisement
The first radio advertisement, a 15 minute long toll broadcast for apartments in Queens aired on WEAF New York, a radio station of AT&T. Set the precedent for the idea of selling air time for advertisements, which other stations would soon also begin doing. -
The Radio Act of 1927
An expansion of the 1912 act which created the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), who would oversee radio licensure and give monetary fines or revoke the license of people who broke federal guidelines. Licenses were granted based on their following of the PICAN standard, stations that operated in public interest, convenience, and necessity, though what exactly constitutes public interest was at the discretion of the FRC, which caused some channels to receive undesirable frequencies. -
Communications Act of 1934
In a further attempt to manage the chaotic airways, the FRC was replaced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Most of the standards and regulations passed in 1927 still stood, but the whereas the FRC only was permitted to govern over radio, the FCC had authority over telephone communication as well as the newly developing television. -
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FCC Freezes Licensure
The FCC stopped issuing new TV licenses in 1948 due to conflicts with signals between licenses, the freeze was only supposed to last for a few months at its implementation, but the freeze didn't get lifted until years later in 1951. -
FCC Begins to Issue New Licenses
FCC lifts the freeze on new licenses so new TV stations could be licensed, but after years of unhampered development with no competition meant that the previously licensed stations had become such giants that the desirable slots in programming were filled. -
The Quiz Show Scandal
It came out the sponsors had been rigging popular quiz shows to encourage higher ratings, there was public outcry that took the sponsors to congress to face accountability. A law passed in the wake of the scandal required stations to make it clear when money has been exchanged for broadcast material, and multiple sponsors were now responsible for most programming. The new system of multiple sponsors led to the short multiple commercial format we know today.