In the early days of radio in the US, there was a widespread belief that advertising on radio programs would be inappropriate. (You may wonder how people imagined radio could be profitable without advertising. The answer is that it was thought that free programming for listeners would bring good publicity to the owner, whether a newspaper, department store, or whatever. Stations in those days were identified by the names of their owners, a practice that led to certain initials which remained long after the ownership had changed--for example, WLS meant "world's largest store", i.e., Sears, Roebuck.) One of the people who adhered most strongly to this belief was Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover:
"Those who thought of putting advertising on the air in the early days did not have an easy time of it. As the promise of the medium began to be realized in the mid-1920's, editors like Bruce Bliven of the *Century* magazine editorialized against radio advertising, saying that it would be 'wholly undesirable' and 'should be prohibited by legislation if necessary.' When Secretary of Commerce Hoover gathered interested parties together in 1922 for the first Washngton Radio Conference, it was generally agreed 'that it was against public interest to broadcast pure advertising matter.'...
"Hoover...probably had a greater influence on how advertising developed in America than any other federal official. Since Hoover spoke out firmly against the idea of advertising on radio when the concept was first advanced to him , it would take several more years before spot announcements or sponsored programs were heard regularly over the radio..." http://books.google.com/books?id=T4ZeKHRTtawC&pg=PA148
Even if Bliven's suggestion of legislation to prohibit advertising were taken, my guess is that it would be repealed when broadcasters (especially once the Great Depression hit) complained to Congress that they simply could not stay in business without advertising. But perhaps the repeal would contain some exceptions--for example, for news broadcasting. ("This isn't mere entertainment and shouldn't be interrupted by ads, and shouldn't have its contents distorted to please advertisers.") This in turn might later have been applied to television.
Any thoughts?
"Those who thought of putting advertising on the air in the early days did not have an easy time of it. As the promise of the medium began to be realized in the mid-1920's, editors like Bruce Bliven of the *Century* magazine editorialized against radio advertising, saying that it would be 'wholly undesirable' and 'should be prohibited by legislation if necessary.' When Secretary of Commerce Hoover gathered interested parties together in 1922 for the first Washngton Radio Conference, it was generally agreed 'that it was against public interest to broadcast pure advertising matter.'...
"Hoover...probably had a greater influence on how advertising developed in America than any other federal official. Since Hoover spoke out firmly against the idea of advertising on radio when the concept was first advanced to him , it would take several more years before spot announcements or sponsored programs were heard regularly over the radio..." http://books.google.com/books?id=T4ZeKHRTtawC&pg=PA148
Even if Bliven's suggestion of legislation to prohibit advertising were taken, my guess is that it would be repealed when broadcasters (especially once the Great Depression hit) complained to Congress that they simply could not stay in business without advertising. But perhaps the repeal would contain some exceptions--for example, for news broadcasting. ("This isn't mere entertainment and shouldn't be interrupted by ads, and shouldn't have its contents distorted to please advertisers.") This in turn might later have been applied to television.
Any thoughts?