Similarly to the British model that granted the BBC its license, the  Federal Communication Commission granted a license to all broadcasters to serve the public benefit, but that requirement was largely ignored and unenforced. Unlike the highminded BBC, American broadcasts featured were ad-supported, and catered to the popular tastes, with little in the way of educational value. But a growing chorus of voices in the Senate called for an alternative model to the commercially-supported radio and TV.

On this day. November 7, in 1967 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which would fund the Public Broadcasting Service (television) and National Public Radio (radio).

In a speech given at the signing of the Act, President Johnson spoke on its meaning: “It announces to the world that our Nation wants more than just material wealth …. We in America have an appetite for excellence, too. While we work every day to produce new goods and to create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man’s spirit.”