The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access, fair competition, radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security.
Former Federal Communications Commission Office in Washington, D.C.
Federal Communications Commission seen in Washington, D.C., in 1937. Seated (l-r) Eugene Octave Sykes, Frank R. McNinch, Chairman Paul Atlee Walker, Standing (l-r) T.A.M. Craven, Thad H. Brown, Norman S. Case, and George Henry Payne.
FCC commissioners inspect the latest in television, December 1, 1939.
Federal Radio Commission
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The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by the Radio Act of 1927, which replaced the Radio Act of 1912 after the earlier law was found to lack sufficient oversight provisions, especially for regulating broadcasting stations. In addition to increased regulatory powers, the FRC introduced the standard that, in order to receive a license, a radio station had to be shown to be "in the public interest, convenience, or necessity".
In 1926, station WJAZ successfully challenged the government's authority to assign transmitting frequencies under the Radio Act of 1912.
From left, Henry Adams Bellows, Eugene O. Sykes, Rear Admiral William H. G. Bullard (chair), John F. Dillon and Orestes H. Caldwell at the first meeting of the Federal Radio Commission in Washington, D.C. (1927)