SECRETARY HOOVER SUPPORTS RADIO-CONTROL LEGISLATION
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 3, 1923, The Seward Gateway reports on page one that Herbert Hoover*, testifying concerning the proposed White-Kellogg Radio Control Bill** before the House merchant marine committee, says...
"Control must be established over the bedlam of noise filling the air caused by the operation of 21,000 radio transmitting stations."
JFK+50 NOTE
There were 15,445 radio stations broadcasting in the United States in 2020. The market size of radio today is $20.9 billion. Most of the top ten radio stations are based in New York City and Los Angeles with the largest, WTOP, located in Washington, D.C.
*Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) was born in West Branch, Iowa & educated as an engineer at Stanford University. HH served as the 3rd Secretary of Commerce 1921-1928.
**The Radio Control Act was signed into law by President Coolidge on Feb 23, 1927. It created the Federal Radio Commission which was directed to license broadcasters & reduce radio interference. The FRC set up 40 high-powered radio stations with 37 of them being network affiliates.
SOURCES
"Deregulation? Early Radio Policy Reconsidered," by Louise M. Benjamin, July 1982, www.files.eric.ed.gov/
"Hoover Advocates Control of Radio," The Seward Gateway, Seward, Alaska, January 3, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
