The Godlike Presence

Abstract

This chapter highlights the impressive statistics of the Radio Corporation of America Building at 30 Rockefeller Center. It argues that the Rockefeller Center physically embodied everything that was important about American business. The chapter then shifts to discuss the charges being faced by the RCA with violation of the federal antitrust laws. The suit originated in the depressed economic conditions of 1930 and the increasing influence and authority RCA exercised over radio development and broadcasting. It then explores the nature of broadcasting and how broadcasters were emphasizing a lighter fare of comedy, variety, and popular music. The chapter looks at how the minority induced sympathetic congressmen to propose legislation that would force the Federal Radio Commission to license stations with more power and more favorable places on the broadcasting spectrum. It also examines de Forest's efforts to change broadcasting.