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1. Radio is no longer a non-renewable resource
2. Privatization would allow AM and FM stations to become more competitive
3. Privatization would take the government out of the morality business and let the market decide.
4. Privatization would create more Radio jobs
5. Money from sales of stations to private individuals or companies could be used to help pay down the national debt
The United States government should get out of the radio business completely and sell off all AM and FM radio licenses. Allow companies that are licensed to already run them the first option for purchase. Those frequencies they don’t wish to retain, should be then auctioned to the next bidders with the former licensee receiving a fair portion of the proceeds for its previous investment.
By allowing the privatization of AM and FM, stations would become more competitive, the government would be taken out of the morality business, more Radio jobs would be created and the money from the proceeds could be used to pay down the national debt.
How We Got Here
The government’s oversight and regulation of AM and FM radio frequencies in the United States initially began with the Radio Act of 1927 and was galvanized by the Communication Act of 1934, later amended by the Telecom Act of 1996.
The 1934 law was enacted “…to provide for the regulation of interstate and foreign communication by wire or radio, and for other purposes.”
The government considers radio frequencies the property of the people at large and acts to protect the use of these frequencies on behalf of the citizenry.
Traditionally, the government has played the role of protector in AM and FM frequencies because of the assumed stance that “Radio”, as was originally known, was a limited resource dictated by the respective AM and FM bandwidth available.
