via Ars Technica by matthew.lasar@arstechnica.com (Matthew Lasar) on 11/14/10
It was 1926. Broadcast radio was all the rage. But most stations barely resembled the kind of outlets we listen to today. The majority were run by colleges, civic organizations, and in some instances, labor unions. Only 4.3 percent could be classified as "commercial broadcasters."
Less than a decade later, the situation had more than reversed itself. By 1934, nonprofit broadcasting added up to a mere two percent of all air time.
Why? Pressure from commercial stations had a lot to do with it. But ultimately the call was made by the precursor to the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Radio Commission. Although in the early 1920s most prominent voices agreed that commercial broadcasting would be the worst possible way to fund radio, the FRC now concluded that advertising was the only way to support the big range "clear channel" licenses that the agency had given to forty signals across the country.
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