Misplaced Pages

#709290

63-600: Radio regulation in the United States had to be suspended in the summer of 1926, when it was ruled that the Commerce Department, operating under the provisions of the Radio Act of 1912 , did not have the authority to specify the operating frequencies and powers for broadcasting stations. A period of worsening interference followed, and to restore order the Radio Act of 1927 was approved on February 23, 1927. This act created

126-781: A fair and equitable allocation of licenses, wave lengths, time for operation, and station power to each of the States, the District of Columbia, the Territories and possessions of the United States within each zone, according to population. The licensing authority shall carry into effect the equality of broadcasting service hereinbefore directed, whenever necessary or proper, by granting or refusing licenses or renewals of licenses, by changing periods of time for operation, and by increasing or decreasing station power, when applications are made for licenses or renewals of licenses: Provided , That if and when there

189-633: A general audience: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "entertainment", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "market and weather reports". The number of broadcasting stations grew tremendously in 1922, numbering over 500 in the United States by the end of the year. In 1923, only 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one radio receiver , while a majority would by 1931. Herbert Hoover became the Secretary of Commerce in March 1921, and thus assumed primary responsibility for shaping radio broadcasting during its earliest days, which

252-516: A new five member body, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), which was given one year to stabilize the broadcasting situation. Section 9 of the FRC's enabling act made a general declaration about the need to equitably distribute radio station assignments, stating:     In considering applications for licenses and renewals of licenses, when and in so far as there is a demand for

315-763: A number of reassignments and legal battles. In 1934 KYW , operating on a clear channel frequency assigned to Zone 2, but located in the Zone 4 city of Chicago, Illinois, was compelled to move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to conform to the zone requirements. Using the Davis Amendment standard as a justification, WJKS in Gary, Indiana petitioned the FRC to eliminate two stations located in Chicago, WIBO and WPCC, that were timesharing on 560 kHz, so that it could begin operating full-time on their cleared frequency. A major argument in favor of WJKS

378-507: A part of the reauthorization was an amendment, authored by Ewin L. Davis , a Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee, which specified in more detail the standards to be followed to ensure an "equitable allocation" of stations: SEC. 5. The second paragraph of section 9 of the Radio Act of 1927 is amended to read as follows:     "It is hereby declared that

441-399: A radio inspector based in a major port within each district. The broadcasting of news and entertainment to the general public, which began to be significantly developed in early 1920s, was not foreseen by this legislation. The first regulations specifically addressing broadcasting were adopted on December 1, 1921, when two wavelengths were set aside for stations making broadcasts intended for

504-528: A review by the Supreme Court, but the case was rendered moot when Intercity decided to shut down the New York City station. Still, it had raised significant questions about the extent of Hoover's authority. A second, ultimately successful, challenge occurred in 1926. The Zenith Radio Corporation in late 1925 established a high-powered radio station in Chicago, WJAZ . Due to a lack of available frequencies,

567-520: Is a United States federal law which was the country's first legislation to require licenses for radio stations. It was enacted before the introduction of broadcasting to the general public, and was eventually found to contain insufficient authority to effectively control this new service, so the Act was replaced and the government's regulatory powers increased by the passage of the Radio Act of 1927 . Radio communication (originally known as "wireless telegraphy")

630-677: Is a 50,000–watt Class A clear channel station. It is one of two clear-channel stations in Philadelphia, the other being sister station WPHT . With a good radio receiver, its nighttime signal can be heard in much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada, however, it restricts its signal towards the Southwest United States to protect XECPAE-AM in Mexico City, which shares Class A status on AM 1060 . The station's signal

693-402: Is a lack of applications from any zone for the proportionate share of licenses, wave lengths, time of operation, or station power to which such zone is entitled, the licensing authority may issue licenses for the balance of the proportion not applied for from any zone, to applicants from other zones for a temporary period of ninety days each, and shall specifically designate that said apportionment

SECTION 10

#1732854964710

756-518: Is based in Philadelphia. Entercom had never previously owned a station in its home market. The transaction separated KYW from its television counterparts, and marked the first time since its establishment 96 years earlier that KYW was no longer owned by a direct descendant of Westinghouse. KYW radio ended its longtime partnership with KYW-TV on February 10, 2020, and began broadcasting traffic, news, and weather information from NBC-owned WCAU (channel 10). The change coincided with KYW radio's move from

819-798: Is one of the oldest continuously operating radio stations in the United States, originating in Chicago before moving to Philadelphia in 1934. KYW's unusual history includes its call sign of only three letters, beginning with a K, rare for a station in the Eastern United States. It broadcasts an all-news radio format and is branded as "KYW Newsradio". KYW serves as the flagship station of Audacy, Inc. KYW's studios are co-located within Audacy's corporate headquarters in Center City Philadelphia and its transmitter and two-tower directional antenna array are located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania . KYW

882-450: Is only for said temporary period. Allocations shall be charged to the State, District, Territory, or possession wherein the studio of the station is located and not where the transmitter is located." Davis' proposal was somewhat controversial. Support and opposition crossed party lines, and it was more likely to be favored in rural areas and the less developed south and west, while urban areas and

945-727: Is restricted towards the Northeast United States to protect the signal of WEPN in New York City, which is one frequency away at 1050 AM . KYW Newsradio's programming is also available via a simulcast on sister station 103.9 WPHI-FM and the HD2 subchannel of sister station 94.1 WIP-FM . In November 1920, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company established its first broadcasting station, KDKA , located at its plant in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , to promote

1008-712: The Chicago Civic Auditorium stage, with equipment for switching between them as needed. After the close of the opera season, KYW installed a studio in the Commonwealth Edison building, and began producing additional programming. By fall of 1922 the station was operating for twelve hours a day. In 1927, Westinghouse affiliated its four radio stations (KYW, KDKA in Pittsburgh, WBZ in Springfield and WBZA in Boston) with

1071-587: The National Broadcasting Company 's (NBC) Blue Network , originating from WJZ in New York City, which had been transferred from Westinghouse to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1923. Westinghouse had been a founding partner of RCA, NBC's original parent company. In 1923, Westinghouse established a station, KFKX in Hastings, Nebraska , located near the center of the country. The station

1134-585: The U.S. Navy and commercial companies, with a few amateur radio enthusiasts alleged to have sent fake distress calls and obscene messages to naval radio stations, and to have forged naval commands, sending navy boats on spurious missions. The U.S. policy of unrestricted stations differed from most of the rest of the world. The 1906 International Radiotelegraph Convention , held in Berlin, called for countries to license their stations, and although United States representatives had signed this agreement, initially

1197-513: The sinking of the Titanic , and the new law would also incorporate provisions of the London Convention signed on July 5, 1912, although the United States had not yet ratified the new treaty. The resulting Radio Act of 1912 was signed by President Taft on August 13, 1912, and went into effect December 13, 1912. At this time radio was almost exclusively used for point-to-point communication, and

1260-540: The CBS Broadcast Center (which continues to house KYW-TV) to 2400 Market Street, along with Entercom's other Philadelphia radio stations and its corporate headquarters. KYW broke from its all-news format on November 3, 2022, to simulcast Game 5 of the 2022 World Series , which involved the Philadelphia Phillies , with WPHT. The Phillies' flagship station, WIP-FM (94.1), could not air the game because of

1323-576: The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission wrote the chairman of your committee as follows": The existing law, which S. 2243 seeks to repeal, is contrary to natural laws and has resulted in the concentration of the use of frequencies in centers of population, and the restriction of facilities in sparsely populated States, even though interference consideration would permit the operation of one or more additional stations. Because of

SECTION 20

#1732854964710

1386-474: The Chicago area: KFKX and WEBH. On September 1, 1928, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) ordered that their operations should be consolidated. WEBH was deleted, and the other two stations were merged, with a dual call letter assignment of KYW-KFKX, although the latter call sign would be rarely if ever used after 1930. In 1929, KYW's transmitter was moved from the top of Chicago's Congress Hotel to west suburban Bloomingdale Township . On May 15, 1933, after

1449-480: The Commission reported difficulty in achieving balance within both the zone and individual state assignments. It reported that Zones 1 and 2 were currently under quota, while the other three were over. Some individual states were highly above or below their allocations, with the extremes of Florida at 107% over quota, and Wyoming at 59% under quota. The effort to achieve equalization among zones and between states led to

1512-729: The FCC and the United States Department of Justice that it had been coerced into making the station swap, including a threat by NBC to revoke Westinghouse's NBC-TV affiliations. A lengthy investigation was launched. In September 1959 the Justice Department issued a decision which, in part, instructed NBC to divest WRCV-AM-TV by the end of 1962. Several months later in early 1960, NBC announced it would trade its Philadelphia stations to RKO General in exchange for that company's Boston outlets, WNAC-AM - FM - TV . That proposed station swap

1575-889: The FM dial was shifted. But development of FM radio was slow and Westinghouse decided to shut down KYW-FM in mid-1954; the equipment was donated to the Delaware Valley Educational Television Corporation and the Philadelphia Board of Education. KYW acquired a television counterpart in late February 1953, when Westinghouse bought WPTZ (channel 3), the nation's third commercial television station and NBC's second television affiliate, from Philco . In June 1955 Westinghouse agreed to trade KYW and WPTZ to NBC in exchange for NBC's Cleveland properties, WTAM-AM - FM and WNBK television ; Westinghouse also received $ 3 million in cash compensation. The main impetus for

1638-406: The FRC requested that stations using only one of their assigned call letters drop those that were no longer in regular use, KFKX was eliminated and the station reverted to just KYW. Under the provisions of the FRC's General Order 40 , a sweeping reallocation of station frequency assignments was implemented on November 11, 1928. KYW was assigned to the clear channel frequency of 1020 kHz, but

1701-531: The FRC with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), incorporated the Davis Amendment requirements in its Section 307(b), with one additional proviso: Provided further , That the Commission may also grant applications for additional licenses for stations not exceeding one hundred watts of power if the Commission finds that such stations will serve the public convenience, interest, or necessity, and that their operation will not interfere with

1764-473: The KYW call letters to the radio station. The television station became KYW-TV at this point. On September 21, 1965, shortly after Westinghouse regained control of 1060 AM, the newly revived KYW dropped its NBC radio affiliation. It became one of the first radio stations in the country to switch to an all-news radio format. Newscaster Steve Porter read the first newscast, which had been edited by Fred B. Walters ,

1827-509: The U.S. Senate did not ratify the treaty. However, the U.S. was told it would not be invited to the next International Radiotelegraph Convention scheduled to be held in London in June 1912 unless it completed ratification, so on April 3, 1912, the U.S. Senate formally accepted the 1906 Convention, and began work on legislation to implement its provisions. The issue gained importance twelve days later due to

1890-598: The all-news format. In 1972, KYW moved to new studios in Independence Mall East , at Fifth and Market streets, where it would remain for the next 35 years. KYW has long been a leader in the Philadelphia radio market, although its audience had naturally reduced due to the decline of AM as a whole. KYW-TV took advantage of the radio station's popularity by incorporating a version of KYW's musical sounder into its news themes from 1991 to 2003. In addition, KYW Newsradio This Morning aired on co-owned WPSG (channel 57) in

1953-419: The assignment caused two major problems. KYW's signal on the new frequency experienced difficulties in covering the entire city of Chicago. A relay transmitter , KYWA, was set up in late 1928, although it was no longer needed by the spring of 1930. A second issue was that, under the provisions of the " Davis Amendment ", eight clear channel frequencies were to be allocated to each of five national regions. Chicago

Davis Amendment - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-478: The court's decision. The adverse ruling showcased the deficiencies of the 1912 Act. Thus, on February 23, 1927, a replacement, the Radio Act of 1927 , was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge in order to strengthen the government's ability to effectively regulate radio communication. KYW (AM) KYW (1060 kHz ) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . It

2079-643: The department had tried to refuse to issue a renewal license to a point-to-point radiotelegraph station in New York City, operated by the Intercity Radio Company, on the grounds that it was causing excessive interference to earlier radiotelegraph stations operating nearby. Intercity appealed, and in 1923 the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia sided with Intercity, stating the 1912 Act did not provide for licensing decisions at "the discretion of an executive officer". The Department of Commerce planned to request

2142-463: The discovery a decade later of the great distances achievable through shortwave transmissions. Implementation and enforcement of the Act was made the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor ( Department of Commerce after March 1913), which was empowered to impose fines of not more than $ 500 and to suspend or revoke licenses of operators who violated regulations. Nine regional Radio Inspection districts were designated, with

2205-835: The divestiture of the NBC Blue network (which later became the American Broadcasting Company ). In mid-May 1938, KYW moved to new studios at 1619 Walnut Street in Center City. On March 29, 1941, KYW's clear channel assignment was shifted from 1020 to 1060 kHz, its current frequency, as part of a nationwide adjustment of assignments engineered by the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA). In 1942, KYW added an FM station at 45.7 megacycles , W57PH. It largely simulcast KYW's programming and later moved to 92.5 MHz as KYW-FM when

2268-433: The early 2000s, adapting KYW's "news blocks" to television (though it was not a simulcast of KYW itself). KYW anchors and reporters were seen on morning television delivering the news. In 1995, Westinghouse Electric announced its purchase of CBS. Upon its completion KYW became a sister station to its long-time rival, CBS-owned WGMP (1210 AM, now WPHT). That station, under its original WCAU call letters, had attempted during

2331-470: The fair and efficient radio service of stations licensed under the provisions of this section. However, even with this change the FCC struggled with implementing the Davis Amendment equalization requirements, and worked for its repeal. Reflecting the opposition to the Davis Amendment by members of the FCC, Senator Burton K. Wheeler , head of the Committee on Interstate Commerce, reported that "on May 23, 1935,

2394-486: The final regulatory hurdles, the swap went into effect on January 22, 1956. On February 13, NBC changed KYW's call letters in Philadelphia to WRCV (for the RCA-Victor record label). At the same time, Westinghouse changed the call letters of its new Cleveland station from WTAM to KYW. The Westinghouse-NBC station swap, and its subsequent reversal nine years later, resulted in two alternate ways to recount KYW's history. In

2457-514: The five radio zones", which specified how "quota units" would be determined for evaluating an individual station's impact on state and zone quota allocations. Stations were assigned unit values of up to 5 points each, which was primarily determined by their transmitting power and hours of operation. By late 1933, the FRC had adopted a policy that the national quota target would be 400 units, with 80 units assigned to each zone. Quota units assigned to individual stations ranged from 0.01 to 5. At this time

2520-530: The former Harrisburg bureau chief and eventual executive editor. The new format was part of Westinghouse's decision to put all-news formats on its large market AM stations. Five months earlier the company had converted WINS in New York City from a Top 40 format to all-news. A third conversion was made three years later at another Westinghouse-owned station, KFWB in Los Angeles. The Westinghouse trio of all-news stations made numerous contributions to developing

2583-651: The late 1970s to compete with KYW with all-news programming. The effort failed, with WCAU switching to a talk format after a three-year effort. From 1986 to 1998, KYW used the C-QUAM AM Stereo system, but abandoned stereo broadcasts about the time of the CBS-Westinghouse merger and went back to standard monophonic broadcasts. The station previously used the HD Radio digital system created by iBiquity beginning in 2007 after an initial testing period. In March 2007,

Davis Amendment - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-459: The matter was placed in the hands of an FRC examiner, who held hearings in July 1932 to sort through 23 conflicting applications from 16 stations. Examiner Pratt's recommendation concluded that KYW's willingness to move to Philadelphia was the best possible outcome. After broadcasting its last program in Chicago on December 2, 1934, KYW aired its debut Philadelphia program the next day. Westinghouse used

2709-467: The northeast and midwest, where most of the existing major radio stations were located, were more likely to oppose the measure. Despite strong opposition from the National Association of Broadcasters and the largest radio firms, the Davis Amendment rider was included as part of the FRC reauthorization. On November 11, 1928, the FRC put into effect a major reallocation of U.S. radio stations, under

2772-500: The people of all the zones established by section 2 of this Act are entitled to equality of radio broadcasting service, both of transmission and of reception, and in order to provide said equality the licensing authority shall as nearly as possible make and maintain an equal allocation of broadcasting licenses, of bands of frequency or wave lengths, of periods of time for operation, and of station power, to each of said zones when and in so far as there are applications therefor; and shall make

2835-484: The provisions of its General Order 40 . This reallocation partially met the requirements of the Davis Amendment, most notably by assigning eight clear channel frequencies to each of the five radio zones. However, there was still a need to quantify and reassign stations in order to more fully meet the Davis Amendment standards. On June 17, 1930 the FRC released General Order No. 92, "Broadcasting stations classified according to values (units) for allocation equality between

2898-517: The randomly assigned call letters of KYW. At first, it was jointly operated by Westinghouse and Commonwealth Edison , with Westinghouse later taking over as sole operator. Through the financial support of Samuel Insull , and the cooperation of Mary Garden , director general of the Chicago Opera Company , KYW's initial broadcasts consisted of the opera company's entire six-day-a-week winter season schedule. Ten microphones were installed across

2961-444: The records of the FCC, the station in Philadelphia on 1060 kHz merely underwent two call letter and ownership changes, taking place in 1956 and 1965. However most KYW histories follow the path of the call letters, and refer to KYW moving from Philadelphia to Cleveland in 1956, then returning to Philadelphia nine years later. Based on its responsibilities as an NBC-owned outlet, WRCV carried all of NBC's network programming, such as

3024-680: The sales of its radio receivers. This initial station proved successful, so in 1921 the company developed plans to set up additional stations in major population centers, including WJZ in Newark, New Jersey (now WABC in New York City), and WBZ , originally in Springfield, Massachusetts , and now in Boston . It also wanted to start a station in Chicago. The Westinghouse station was first licensed on November 15, 1921, as Chicago's first broadcasting outlet, with

3087-445: The same, the licensing authority shall make such a distribution of licenses, bands of frequency of wave lengths, periods of time for operation, and of power among the different States and communities as to give fair, efficient, and equitable radio service to each of the same. The FRC was unable to finalize its plans within its one-year deadline, so in March 1928 the U.S. Congress extended its authorization until March 16, 1929. Proposed as

3150-486: The size of the zones provided for by existing law, the distribution required by the Davis Amendment has resulted in providing ample broadcast service in small zones and lack of service in large zones. The experience of the Federal Radio Commission and this Commission has proved that the Davis Amendment is very difficult of administration and cannot result in an equality of radio broadcasting service. Conforming to

3213-655: The station was only authorized to transmit two hours each week. Based on the Intercity Radio Company ruling, company president E. F. McDonald decided to challenge the government by moving the station to a frequency previously reserved for use in Canada. On April 16, 1926, Judge James H. Wilkerson 's ruling stated that, under the 1912 Act, the Commerce Department in fact could not limit the number of broadcasting licenses issued, or designate station frequencies. The government reviewed whether to try to appeal this decision, but Acting Attorney General William J. Donovan's analysis concurred with

SECTION 50

#1732854964710

3276-490: The studios and sales operations of WCAU. The move made KYW the easternmost U.S. radio station with a call sign beginning with "K". When KYW moved to Philadelphia, it changed from NBC Blue to NBC Red , predecessor of modern-day NBC, an affiliation it maintained during the remainder of the 1930s and throughout the 1940s; KYW was thus unaffected when, in 1942, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) compelled RCA to divest itself of one of its two radio networks, resulting in

3339-470: The studios moved one half-block to 400 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia , which allowed for the construction of the National Museum of American Jewish History. In March 2014, KYW radio and television relocated to the sixth floor of 1555 Hamilton Street in Philadelphia, in what was initially referred to on-air as the "CBS Broadcast Center". In November 2017, CBS Radio merged with Entercom , which

3402-414: The three major categories of stations were maritime, transoceanic, and amateur. The Act was unusual in including numerous regulations within the text of the bill, in addition to providing a general regulatory framework. A key provision was the restriction of most amateur stations to wavelengths below 200 meters (frequencies above 1500 kHz), an assignment that greatly limited their transmitting range until

3465-416: The trade was NBC's desire to acquire an owned-and-operated television station in the fourth-largest American television market. NBC had to receive a waiver for the swap because KYW and NBC Radio's New York City flagship , WRCA (now WFAN ) were both clear channel stations. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of clear channel stations with overlapping nighttime coverage. After clearing

3528-532: The weekend Monitor magazine-style program. Philadelphia radio personality Hy Lit briefly worked at WRCV during the first year of NBC ownership, hosting a local rock-and-roll program and an adult standards show for the NBC network. WRCV adopted a big band format featuring swing music popular during the pre-rock era. Almost immediately after the NBC-Westinghouse trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to

3591-553: The wishes of the FCC, the U.S. Congress repealed the Davis Amendment on June 5, 1936. Although this allowed a modest increase in the number of radio stations, it did not lead to wholesale changes in the structure of the AM broadcast band, as most of its organization remained unchanged from what had been created while following the Davis Amendment requirements. Radio Act of 1912 The Radio Act of 1912 , formally, known as "An Act to Regulate Radio Communication" (37  Stat.   302 ),

3654-405: Was a difficult task in a fast-changing environment. To aid decision-making, he sponsored a series of four national conferences from 1922 to 1925, where invited industry leaders participated in setting standards for radio in general. During his tenure, Hoover was aware that some of his actions were on shaky legal ground, given the limited powers assigned to him by the 1912 Act. In particular, in 1921

3717-485: Was designed to serve a dual purpose, of providing an agricultural service, and for testing the practicality of using shortwave transmitters to link together radio networks, with KFKX receiving much of its programming by shortwave from KDKA in Pittsburgh. In 1927 the project was abandoned, although it was announced that the KFKX programming was being consolidated with KYW. Westinghouse now controlled two stations in addition to KYW in

3780-421: Was developed in the late 1890s, but it was initially largely unregulated in the United States. The Wireless Ship Act of 1910 mandated that most passenger ships exiting U.S. ports had to carry radio equipment under the supervision of qualified operators, however individual stations remained unlicensed and unregulated. This led to numerous interference issues, including conflicts between amateur radio operators and

3843-528: Was held up for nearly four years until the FCC issued a final decision in August 1964. The Commission renewed NBC's licenses for WRCV radio and television, on the condition that the 1956 station swap with Westinghouse be reversed. RKO General initially contested the FCC's decision, but soon gave up its efforts and bowed out of the competition. Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965, and subsequently restored

SECTION 60

#1732854964710

3906-499: Was located in Region 4, while the reallocation provisions had reserved 1020 kHz for use in Region 2, a grouping of mid-Atlantic states. Westinghouse fought a long legal battle, attempting to keep KYW operating as a clear channel station on 1020 in Chicago. Finally it proposed moving the station to a Region 2 location, settling on Philadelphia. However, numerous other stations made alternative proposals to be assigned this allocation, and

3969-547: Was that the "State of Indiana is 2.08 units or 22 per cent under-quota in station assignments and the State of Illinois is 12.49 units or 55 per cent over-quota". In 1933 the Supreme Court sided with the FRC's approval of the WJKS request, and WIBO and WPCC were deleted and replaced by WJKS. (Shortly thereafter WJKS changed its call letters to WIND , and a few years later, after the Davis Amendment had been repealed, moved from Gary to Chicago.) The Communications Act of 1934, which replaced

#709290