The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was established by congress in 1934 to ensure a healthy balance of ownership and competition among the communication industry (FCC History). The FCC is in charge with regulating all non-Federal Government use of the radio spectrum (including radio and television broadcasting), and all interstate telecommunications as well as all international communications that originate or terminate in the United States. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states of the United States of America and it has one major regulatory weapon, revoking licenses from companies that disobey the rules and regulations.
The FCC other duties include sucritiny of any merger among meida companies (Center for Media and Public Affairs), to ensure that merger(s) would not affect competition in the industry. For example, on February 19, 2007, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio announced a merger that would combine the two radio services and create a single satellite radio network in the United States. But before any type of merger, the FCC and other government regulatory agencies announced a close investigation of the merger, to evaluate if any harm would be done to consumers or competition. After a close evaluation of the propose merger, the FCC concluded that the merger would not affect the industry. This is an example that demostrates in how the government agencies are affected in ensuring a healthy balance among the industry. And it disproves the notion that the mass media is controlled by a few corporations.
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