FDR signs the Communications Act, creating the FCC

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Communications Act of 1934, consolidating federal regulation of broadcast, telephone, and telegraph under a new Federal Communications Commission. The law replaces the Federal Radio Commission and grants the FCC authority to issue, modify, and revoke broadcast licenses "in the public interest, convenience, and necessity." This public interest standard becomes the legal hook that allows future administrations to threaten broadcasters when their coverage proves politically inconvenient. FCC licensing jurisdiction over the public airwaves — established here — remains the structural foundation for government leverage over broadcast media for nearly 90 years.