Monopoly and the Airwaves.

Since the introduction of mass-communication technologies, U.S. politicians and businessmen had been concerned about the relationship between communication and business monopoly. Most mass-communication technologies were naturally monopolistic: telephone and telegraph signals, in order to be effective, travel over a single set of lines and cables; radio broadcasts must be assigned specific frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum in order to be heard clearly. Politicians, responding to public concerns (and to the concerns of businessmen dependent upon mass communications), monitored and regulated mass communications to ensure equality in fees charged to the public and to maintain fair political use of the airwaves. Government oversight of mass communications was increased following the creation of the FCC in 1934. Empowered to license and oversee broadcast activities, during the 1930s the FCC focused...