Editing AM broadcasting (section)

====United Kingdom====
[[File:BBC receiver license 1923.jpg|325px|thumb|A BBC receiver licence from 1922. The British government required listeners to purchase yearly licences, which financed the stations.]]

A second country which quickly adopted network programming was the United Kingdom, and its national network quickly became a prototype for a state-managed monopoly of broadcasting.<ref name="Hilmes">{{cite book
  | last = Hilmes
  | first = Michele 
  | title = Network Nations: A Transnational History of British and American Broadcasting
  | publisher = Routledge
  | year = 2011
  | pages = 6
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qimGXa2MwHEC&pg=PA6
  | isbn = 978-0415883856}}</ref> A rising interest in radio broadcasting by the British public pressured the government to reintroduce the service, following its suspension in 1920. However, the government also wanted to avoid what it termed the "chaotic" U.S. experience of allowing large numbers of stations to operate with few restrictions. There were also concerns about broadcasting becoming dominated by the Marconi company.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433090816954&view=1up&seq=524 "Radio Fans to Pay Tribute to John Bull"], ''Popular Radio'', November 1922, p. 222.</ref>  Arrangements were made for six large radio manufacturers to form a consortium, the [[British Broadcasting Company]] (BBC), established on 18 October 1922, which was given a monopoly on broadcasting. This enterprise was supported by a tax on radio sets sales, plus an annual license fee on receivers, collected by the Post Office.<ref name="Street2">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7jo0IcUZeoC&pg=PA27|title=A Concise History of British Radio, 1922-2002|isbn=9781903053140|last1=Street|first1=Sean|year=2002|publisher=Kelly Publications }}</ref> Initially the eight stations were allowed regional autonomy. In 1927, the original broadcasting organization was replaced by a government chartered [[British Broadcasting Corporation]].<ref name="Street3">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7jo0IcUZeoC&pg=PA34|title=A Concise History of British Radio, 1922-2002|isbn=9781903053140|last1=Street|first1=Sean|year=2002|publisher=Kelly Publications }}</ref> an independent nonprofit supported solely by a 10 shilling [[receiver license]] fee.<ref name="Street3" /> Both highbrow and mass-appeal programmes were carried by the [[BBC National Programme|National]] and [[BBC Regional Programme|Regional]] networks.