Communications in the United States include extensive industries and distribution networks in print and telecommunication. The primary telecom regulator of communications in the United States is the Federal Communications Commission.
American inventors and entrepreneurs made substantial contributions to development and commercialization of the radio, telephone, and television. The Internet protocol suite was developed with U.S. government funding.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent government agency responsible for regulating the radio, television and phone industries. The FCC regulates all interstate communications, such as wire, satellite and cable, and international communications originating or terminating in the United States.
Significant laws in the history of U.S. telecommunications include:
Several laws relate to unsolicited commercial communications:
The FCC fairness doctrine regulation was in place from 1949 to 1987.
Newspapers declined in their influence and penetration into American households in the late 20th century. Most newspapers are local, having little circulation outside their particular metropolitan area. The closest thing to a national paper the U.S. has is USA Today. Other influential dailies include The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal which are sold in most U.S. cities.
The largest newspapers (by circulation) in the United States are USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
The legal monopoly of the government-owned United States Postal Service has narrowed during the 20th and 21st centuries due to competition from companies such as UPS & FedEx, although still delivers the vast majority of US mail.
In 1890, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one telephone while a majority did by 1946 and 75 percent did by 1957.
Telephone system: <br />General assessment: A large, technologically advanced, multipurpose communications system. <br />Domestic: A large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout the country. <br />International: Country code - 1; 24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000).
Telephones - main lines in use: 141 million (2009)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 286 million (2009)
In 1923, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one radio receiver while a majority did by 1931 and 75 percent did by 1937.
Radio broadcast stations: AM: 4,669; FM commercial stations: 6,746; FM educational stations: 4,101; FM translators & boosters: 7,253; low-power FM stations: 1,678 (as of December 31, 2016, according to the Federal Communications Commission)
Radios: 575 million (1997)
In 1948, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one television while 90 percent did by 1959. In 1980, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one videocassette recorder while 75 percent did by 1992. In 1975, the cable television industry had 9.8 million subscriptions across 71.1 million U.S. households (or approximately 14%), which grew to 19.2 million subscriptions across the 80.8 million households (or approximately 24%) by 1980. By 1988, cable television subscriptions grew to 45.7 million across 91.1 million households (or approximately 50%), while cable and satellite television subscriptions combined grew to 66.2 million across 99 million households (or approximately 67%) by 1995. While the number of cable television subscriptions began declining in 2001, combined cable and satellite subscriptions grew further to 90.5 million across 112 million households (or approximately 80%) by 2004, and combined subscriptions continued to grow to 95.5 million through 2007 after which combined subscriptions began falling during the Great Recession. Survey data has shown that the percentage of American adults reporting having a cable or satellite television subscription fell from 76% in 2015 to 56% in 2021, while 2025 survey data found that only 36% of American adults reported having a cable or satellite television subscription.
Television broadcast stations: 7,533 (of which 1,778 are full-power TV stations; 417 are class-A TV stations; 3,789 are TV translators; and 1,966 are other low-power TV stations) (as of December 31, 2016, according to the Federal Communications Commission); in addition, there are about 12,000 cable TV systems.
Televisions: 219 million (1997)
In 1984, 8 percent of U.S. households owned at least one personal computer, while 18 percent of U.S. households had internet access in 1997. In 2000, a majority of U.S. households owned at least one personal computer and had internet access the following year, while more than 75 percent of U.S. households owned a personal computer by 2011 and had internet access by 2014. By 2021, more than 95 percent of U.S. households owned a personal computer and 90 percent had internet access.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 7,600 (1999 est.)
Country code (Top level domain): US