By Thomas F. Schwartz
On November 10, 1945, Herbert Hoover delivered a radio address over the Columbia Broadcast System marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of radio broadcasting. He noted that broadcasting began shortly before he was appointed Secretary of Commerce under President Warren G. Harding. By the end of 1921, sixty radio stations provided programming for 600,000 radio sets. “And,” as Hoover claimed,” these lusty infants were violently stepping on the feet of each other’s wave lengths.” As his solution for most problems, Hoover convened a conference to investigate the matter. He concluded:
We have witnessed one of the most astounding things that has come into American life….We are on the threshold of a new means of wide-spread communication of intelligence….It has profound importance in public entertainment, education and public welfare….It will yet influence our whole lives.
The conference laid down certain principles to be observed by broadcasters:
1. That the broadcasting channels should be public property just as are the navigation channels in our waterways.
2. That broadcasting should be conducted by private enterprise and not governmental broadcasting as had already been started in Britain. And I may say, parenthetically, the British have been coming over here ever since to learn the know-how of making good programs which are the consequence of our competitive system.
3. There should be no monopoly in broadcasting.
4. There must be regulation of the traffic to prevent interference.
5. There should be no person-to-person use of wave-lengths except by the military and licensed amateurs as there was no room for such service.
6. We divided the then-know wave band into three parts among the broadcasters, the amateurs and the military authorities.
Hoover, as Secretary of Commerce, was authorized to implement and oversee that the regulations were observed. He also noted that his suggestion that technicians add a knob to allow listeners to voice their displeasure rather than turning off the radio in disgust was never implemented.
By 1923 at the second radio conference, 538 broadcasting stations provided programing for 1.5 million radio sets. Radio had become the new technology embraced by everyday Americans. Other conference followed further refining regulation of the airwaves.
Of course, not everyone was happy with the new regulations. Popular radio evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson sent Hoover a telegram stating; “Please order your minions of satan to leave my station alone. You cannot expect the Almighty to abide by your wave length nonsense. When I offer my prayers I must fit into the receiving sets in heaven. You don’t know what their wave lengths are and neither do I. Stop this interference with me at once.” Another plea came from a group who wanted to create a station warning people of the end of the world in six months. Their request for a station was denied with Hoover admitting: “we had to take the risk of leaving millions of people unwarned of their impending doom. At least we saved their money.”