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B. Stage Two: Sustaining-Time and the Politics of Exclusion
(1927-1956)

During the first stage of experimental radio, commercial broadcasters had ample opportunity to observe that religious broadcasters tended to be noisy, often intolerant, and otherwise controversial. What was more, they came in large numbers seeking access to the airwaves. Dealing with them posed no small problem.

Most station owners preferred having liberal Protestants on the air to having Fundamentalists or Pentecostals, groups who were clamoring for the opportunity. But from the beginning, the liberal Protestant traditions were very much underrepresented. Part of the problem was that liberal Protestants were ambivalent about broadcasting. They saw the possibility

of some positive benefits, but they could also see potential negative consequences, and some were vociferous in their condemnation of evangelical broadcasters. [23] Their attacks provided legitimacy for the exclusive policies of the broadcast networks and the Federal Radio Commission, [24] (FRC) policies which would remain in effect for nearly three decades.

The formal and informal mechanisms that restricted evangelical access to the airwaves first became evident in the late 1920s with the creation of FRC and the formation of radio networks. [25] In its early years of operation, FRC used its broad authority in a rather heavy-handed way. During the late 1920s, FRC reassigned some religious stations to low-powered frequencies, determined not to grant new licenses to new religious stations, and used its broad regulatory powers to examine complaints that existing religious stations were not operating in the "public interest." [26]

At this time, the broadcast networks combined their informal efforts to control evangelical broadcasting. NBC, the first radio network, was founded in 1926. At the onset, NBC determined not to accept paid religious broadcasting. Time allocated for religious broadcasting would be offered at no cost (or as sustaining-time, as it is called in the industry), but would be offered "only [to] the central national agencies of great religious faiths." [27] The Federal Council of Churches, an affiliation of liberal Protestant groups were solicited for counsel and manpower for religious broadcasts. This policy explicitly excluded "individual churches or small group movements where the

national membership is comparatively small." [28] Small denominations and independent evangelical broadcasters were thus caught in a double bind; for, on the one hand, they were excluded by network radio, and, on the other they were squeezed out by the FRC. But for the free enterprise character of broadcasting, evangelicals might have been excluded from the airwaves altogether.

When CBS radio network was formed in 1927, they needed cash and, thus, determined they would sell air-time for religious broadcasting, but in 1931 they shifted to a policy of sustaining-time religious broadcasts only. [29] For the next four years, the only access to the airwaves for evangelicals was on local stations, but this was often difficult. Many local stations adopted the networks' policy of sustaining-time only and, further, accommodated only "mainline" religious groups. [30]

A major breakthrough for evangelicals came in 1935 with the formation of the Mutual Broadcasting Network (Mutual). Mutual accepted paid religious broadcasts, and Charles E. Fuller's "The Old-Fashioned Revival Hour" quickly became Mutual's largest account. By 1940, paid religious broadcasting accounted for more than one-quarter of Mutual's revenues. In 1943, Mutual seemed ready to join NBC and CBS in a policy of sustaining-time only for religious programming, but then reversed its decision and announced, instead, restrictive policies. Most important among the restrictions was the banning of on air solicitation of money from listening audiences. The prohibition against asking audiences to help pay for the programs made it impossible for some broadcasters to continue.

It is widely believed that Mutual's decision to restrict access was the result of pressure from liberal church groups. [31]

Whether or not there was a conspiracy to exclude religious broadcasters from the air, evangelicals were having a difficult time gaining access to the airwaves. In 1942, they created the National Association of Evangelicals, and one of the first official acts of that organization was to create a radio committee to explore the problem of discrimination in access to the airwaves. Furthermore, in April, 1944, just a month after Mutual announced its policy changes, 150 evangelical broadcasters met in Columbus, Ohio, and formed NRB, [32] whose first official act was to retain a Washington-based communications attorney. [33] NRB claimed some early successes, including gaining access to some sustaining time on Mutual and NBC's newly created Blue Network (a forerunner to ABC), but then lost some of its initial zeal and vitality. [34]

The rapid expansion of television in the 1950s, like the initial expansion of network radio, caught evangelicals off guard. NBC turned again to the Federal Council of Churches and representatives of Catholicism and Judaism and moved swiftly to put in place a policy that would exclude evangelicals. CBS, leery of earlier conflict with evangelicals, added the Southern Baptists to its consortium of liberal Protestants,

Catholics, and Jews. The Southern Baptists were evangelical, but not members of NRB. Thus, the large body of small evangelical denominations and independent broadcasters were effectively cut out of access to national television at the same time they were struggling to keep a foothold in national radio.

In summary, the late 1920s through the mid-1950s saw the rapid expansion of television and the formation of networks. [35] This period also saw evangelical broadcasters excluded from the communications marketplace. [36] One can pose questions of prejudice and First Amendment rights of access, but these questions are moot today. If evangelical preachers perceived their problem in constitutional terms of free access, they did not take their fight to the courts. Most important, however, is the fact that, at the time, evangelical religious broadcasters were not well organized enough to challenge those who did not want them on the airwaves.

Footnotes