Editing Federal Radio Commission (section)

===Commissioners===
[[File:Federal Radio Commission General Order 40 Map.png|thumb|The five regional zones established by the Radio Act of 1927.]]

[[File:Federal Radio Board with complete roster holds first meeting in Washington. With the arrival from China of its chairman, Rear Admiral W.H.G. Bullard, Chairman; John F. Dillon and Orestes H. LCCN2016888342.jpg|thumb|From left, [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]], [[Eugene Octave Sykes|Eugene O. Sykes]], Rear Admiral [[William H. G. Bullard]] (chair), [[John Francis Dillon (commissioner)|John F. Dillon]] and [[Orestes H. Caldwell]] at the first meeting of the Federal Radio Commission in Washington, D.C. (1927)]]

The Radio Act of 1927 subdivided the country into five geographical zones, and specified that one commissioner would be appointed who resided within each zone. Terms were initially for up to six years, although this was later reduced to one year, and no more than three commissioners could be members of the same political party. The FRC's commissioners, by zone, from 1927 to 1934 were:

# [[Orestes H. Caldwell]] (New York), (editor of ''Radio Retailing'' magazine); Caldwell resigned February 23, 1929, and was replaced by W. D. L. Starbuck (New York), Patent Attorney, appointed May 1929.
# [[William H. G. Bullard]] (Pennsylvania); Bullard died November 24, 1927, and was replaced by [[Ira E. Robinson]] (West Virginia), State Supreme Court judge, who resigned January 1932, and was succeeded by the March 28, 1932, appointment of Col. [[Thad H. Brown]] (Ohio), lawyer and politico holding various offices including Ohio's Secretary of State, who served for the remainder of the FRC's existence and was appointed to the FCC in 1934.
# [[Eugene Octave Sykes|Eugene O. Sykes]] (Mississippi) served the entire time the FRC existed and was appointed to the FCC in 1934.
# [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] (Minnesota); Bellows was forced to resign October 31, 1927, and later became chairman of the [[National Association of Broadcasters]]. He was replaced by Sam Pickard (Kansas), who resigned January 31, 1929, and was succeeded by Charles McKinley Saltzman (Iowa), who was appointed May 1929, resigned in June 1932, and was succeeded  by James H. Hanley
# [[John Francis Dillon (commissioner)|John F. Dillon]] (California); Dillon died October 8, 1927, and was replaced by [[Harold A. Lafount]] (Utah); Lafount stayed on the FRC until its replacement by the FCC, but he was not appointed to that body. In the late 1930s he became president of the National Independent Broadcasters.

The five initial appointments, made by President Coolidge on March 2, 1927, were: Admiral William H. G. Bullard as chairman, Colonel John F. Dillon, Eugene O. Sykes, Henry A. Bellows, and Orestes H. Caldwell. Bullard, Dillon and Sykes were confirmed on March 4, but action on  Bellows and Caldwell was deferred, so they initially participated without pay. In October 1927 Dillon died and Bellows resigned. During the next month Bullard died, and Harold Lafount and Sam Pickard were appointed.<ref name="howeth"/> It was not until March 1928, after Caldwell was approved by a one vote margin and Ira E. Robinson was appointed as chairman, that all five commissioner posts were filled with confirmed members.