When the licensee of a radio broadcast station substantially alters, or proposes to alter, the station's entertainment programming (or "format"), the Commission often receives comments from listeners who are opposed to the change. Such comments include requests that the Commission require stations to keep their current or their previous formats, or adopt other kinds of programming to satisfy various listener preferences. The provisions of law and policy that apply to changes in radio entertainment formats are described here and in the attached FCC news report about a 1981 Supreme Court decision.
The Commission is authorized by law--the Communications Act of 1934, as amended--to license broadcast stations and to regulate their operations in some respects, but the Act prohibits the Commission from censoring broadcast matter and from taking any action that would interfere with free speech in broadcasting, a freedom also guaranteed in our Constitution's First Amendment. Therefore, although there are limited statutory exceptions, in general neither the FCC nor any other governmental agency has the authority to direct broadcasters in the selection and presentation of programming. The Communications Act also provides that the broadcaster "shall not...be deemed a common carrier," and so stations are not required to present all matter that may be offered or suggested to them for broadcasting. No federal law or regulation requires that the Commission's permission be obtained for a change in a radio station's entertainment format.
In a 1940 decision the Supreme Court stated:
The [Communications] Act recognizes that the field of broadcasting is one of free competition. . . Congress intended to leave competition in the business of broadcasting where it found it, to permit a licensee who was not interfering with other broadcasters to survive or succumb according to his ability to make his programs attractive to the public.
The Commission has followed a policy of noninterference in changes in radio entertainment formats. It believes that because of the increased number of such stations and the competition among them for audience attention, radio broadcasters seek to respond to listener preferences and attempt to meet significant needs left by other stations serving the same area.
Finally, we would emphasize that the Commission has always recommended that radio listeners send their comments about programming to their local stations. Such audience commentary keeps broadcasters informed about public opinion on their service, and it can be effective in influencing their programming practices.