The FCC From 1934 To 2009

I suppose this post is more of a note to self, but I found at the end of this Multichannel article on current FCC Chairman Kevin Martin a timeline of signficant reforms to the FCC (included below with some editing).

FCC: A Long Timeline of reform

1934: FCC opens for business with seven voting members and 233 federal employees, compared with five members and 2,000 workers today.

1976: Sunshine in Government Act passes, banning an FCC majority from meeting alone behind closed doors.

1983: FCC reduced to five voting members.

1984: First major cable law passed.

1987: Fairness Doctrine repealed by FCC, unleashing conservative talk radio stars like Rush Limbaugh.

1992: Cable re-regulated by Congress.

1993: FCC granted authority to auction spectrum for the first time, supplanting lotteries and comparative hearings.

1995: Congress eliminates FCC’s power to give huge tax breaks to companies selling cable systems to minorities.

1996: Telecommunications Act passed by Congress, updating the law but not the FCC. Biennially (now quadrennially), FCC must scrap outdated media-ownership rules.

1999: FCC chairman William Kennard, a Democrat, releases five-year restructuring plan, highlighted by promises to accelerate decision-making times and systematically reduce its backlog.

2001: FCC reorganization effected by chairman Michael Powell, a Republican, merging some bureaus and renaming others.