Under the administration of President John F. Kennedy the FCC which regulates broadcasting in the US was ordered to get serious about enforcing the “fairness doctrine.” As a condition of the license of broadcasters they had to broadcast matters of public interest in a manner that was “fair and balanced.” It actually was on the books since 1949 but was only sparsely enforced. The Kennedy administration gave it new teeth. In 1963 it issued what it called a “clarification.” It was declared to be immaterial whether a program was presented under the label of Americanism, anti-communism, or state’s rights. These of course were all the standard right-wing tropes.
All kinds of liberal organizations started filing “fairness” complaints. This drove the right wing movement crazy. The FCC ordered that insulted parties had the right to reply on air at no cost. Even the National Council of Churches jumped on this band wagon. The complainers could demand transcripts which the broadcaster had to supply. It was a huge hassle to those broadcasters.
Carl McIntire railed against this doctrine to his millions of listeners. He claimed the FCC put this weapon in the hands of their enemies to harass radio stations (and later TV stations too). These were thought to be deliberate tactics of the Kennedy administration. Soon one third of the right-wing radio stations were off the air. McIntire actually bought his own station to protect his empire. He invested all he had in this defensive movement. After a lengthy court battle McIntire lost his license. Even after that he did not give up. He bought an old military mine sweeper and floated it off the coast of Cape May Jersey in international waters beyond the perceived jurisdiction of the FCC. But that did not work either. In 1973 he shut it down, blaming his religious opponents and opponents of free speech.
By then right-wing radio was on its death watch. Owners of radio stations were cowed by the fairness doctrine. The right-wing movement declined in concert with the fading of talk radio.
When a person felt aggrieved by a broadcast that person could sue the radio stations for the right to reply. Radio stations had to give radio time for free to their sworn enemies! They could also demand transcripts of radio shows that stations had to hire people to provide. Imagine hiring people to produce evidence against you and then giving it to your foes! This was serious stuff.
McIntire railed against this liberal nonsense. But the FCC campaign was enormously successful. By 1960 one third of the right-wing radio stations were off the airwaves. It looked like the hated liberals were winning the war of the skies.
By the 1970s right wing radio was in the doldrums. But it was not completely dead.