ABSTRACT

The Mexican broadcasting industry underwent dynamic growth between 1932 and 1968 as the number of professional organisations, and transmission and reception facilities, greatly increased. The rationale behind this article is the idea that the airwaves are publicly owned, that the stations use them for profit and that they are therefore obliged to compensate the community by providing free broadcast time for the government to use in the interests of that commonweal. Its objectives were to absorb all the functions allotted to the Ministry of Communications and Transport in the 1960 Federal Law of Radio and Television. These changes may imply the modification, in the very near future, of the 1960 Federal Law of Radio and Television particularly in regard to the regulatory powers assigned to each Ministry. In accordance with the programming policy of the 12.5 per cent 'fiscal time' established by the Comision de Radiodifusion, these departments must determine the programmes and establish transmission timetables.