Federal Radio Commission

The Federal Radio Commission was the United States government agency that regulated radio communication between 1927 and 1934. Congress created it through the Radio Act of 1927, which replaced the Radio Act of 1912 after that earlier law proved to give too little oversight over broadcasting stations. Beyond its wider regulatory powers, the commission introduced the standard that a radio station could receive a licence only if it could be shown to serve the public interest, convenience, or necessity, a test that later shaped American broadcast regulation. In 1934 the commission was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission, which took over its work and extended it to other forms of communication.