By 1934, communications technology in the United States had advanced to a high level: Cables had been laid down in 1859, the transcontinental telegraph completed in 1869, the telephone invented in 1877, and radio and television were in their infancy. In that year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent agency (not part of the Executive Department) was created to centralize the regulation of communication, both interstate and foreign, by cable, radio, and wire, and also to regulate TV and radio stations. Less than ten years earlier, in 1926, the Federal Radio Commission had been set up to regulate the use of radio; the FCC superseded that body.
In 1940, the FCC released its “Report on Chain Broadcasting,” mainly on the breakup of NBC but also partly on artist bureaus and network option time. From 1948 to 1952, the FCC ordered a “freeze” on stations and reallocated them so they wouldn’t be so close together as to interfere with each other. In 1984, the commission began giving all long-distance companies equal access to those using local stations. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 amended the act that had created the FCC, providing a more competitive environment in which stations could operate.
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