Adbusters mentions one case where a broadcast station’s license was revoked simply because it wasn’t up to par — WHDH-TV in Boston, which was replaced by WCVB-TV. CVB got its license on a promise that it would do better than HDH in providing local programming, and it has kept that promise to this day.

Technically speaking, the airwaves are owned by the public; broadcast stations have the privilege of using them subject to the public’s blessing, and are ultimately accountable to the public. In the case of HDH and later WNAC-TV, also in Boston, local officials were able to convince regulators not to renew licenses based on the quality of broadcasting and overconcentration of local media ownership.

However, the specter of beheading by the FCC apparently doesn’t seem to faze most broadcasters these days. If it did, we would undoubtedly enjoy better broadcasting — better because the stations would put effort into actually providing a service that their audiences appreciate. Similarly, Adbusters points out that corporate charters can, and have been, revoked in the past, and states the obvious conclusion: maybe they should be revoked in the future as well.