AM radio

In the 1950's people listened to AM radio which played popular music. Saturday mornings were spent tuning into the top 40 hits. In the 60's FM radio began to play music and the sound was much better so AM began to decline and ended up with mostly religious programs with a few doing 24 hour news. In 1987 the FCC repealed the fairness doctrine which said that both sides of any political discussion must be presented. With that change came the new format of political talk radio and this was spearheaded by Rush Limbaugh. He was a right winger who had the talent needed to turn politics into entertainment. Over the past 30 years Limbaugh has done more to interest people in politics while saving the AM radio business than any other individual. Today there are hundreds of Limbaugh's on air everyday. In was in the 90's that Rupert Murdoch recognized the power of Limbaugh to gather a large audience and he started Fox News. The news before that had always been left of center but he saw a niche market and it grew steadily into a major component of news today.