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After the sinking of the Titanic on April 15th, 1912, congress declared the Radio Act of 1912. This act required radio operators to be federally licensed, along with requiring all ships to stay on radio to catch distress signals. “S. 6412, an Act to Regulate Radio Communication (Radio Act of 1912), May 20, 1912: U.S. Capitol - Visitor Center.” Show More -
On April 7th, 1917, radio stations were ordered by the government to shut down or be taken over by the government when the U.S. entered World War One, due to the importance of communication between ships and ship to shore. White, Thomas H. Radio during World War One (1914-1919), United States Early Radio History -
After World War One, the US wanted to maintain control of radio. They supported this monopoly after Marconi's British-Based company sold to GE, General Electric Company. Scott, Carole E. "The History of the Radio Industry in the United States to 1940" Economic History Association -
GE and Westinghouse start selling radios to consumers and anyone that wants to send a message to a mass amount of people; sports teams, politics, and anyone with a radio license. -
On November 2nd, 1920 Westinghouse launched first radio station, broadcasting to consumers from Pittsburg to as far as Chicago. -
Companies and brands wanted to sell products to large amounts of people at once, so they started to contact Ad agencies which would include their product in Golden Age TV's sitcoms and shows. These sponsors paid to produce shows, and paid networks to air them, in order to advertise within the story of the show. Marcus, B.K. “TV’s Third Golden Age: B.K. Marcus.” FEE Freeman Article, 9 Oct. 2013, fee.org/articles/tvs-third-golden-age/. -
In 1948 - 1952, the FCC place a freeze on licensing, regulating the amount of TV stations. Prior to the freeze, there were too many TV stations obtaining their license, that that conflicts were created within the signals. The History of the Federal Communications Commission | Mitel, www.mitel.com/articles/history-federal-communications-commission-fcc. -
In 1952, broadcasting networks became frustrated with the lack of creativity they had with their TV shows due to sponsorships, and increased the prices. "A single one-hour TV show cost a sponsor about $35,000, a figure that rose to $90,000 by the end of the decade." "The Origins and Development of Television," Mac Millan Highered.