Federal Communications Commission v. Sanders Bros. Radio Station’s Empirical Analysis
309 U.S. 470 · 1940
Citation profile
713 federal appellate · 75 district · 99 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 1,210 later decisions (101 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2025 · most notably Warth v. Seldin (1975), Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp (1970)
713 federal appellate · 75 district · 99 state decisions — followed in 24 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Appellate journey
reviewedthe decision below (from District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 47 U.S.C. § 151 · 47 U.S.C. § 153 · 47 U.S.C. § 308 · 47 U.S.C. § 311
Relies on Federal Radio Commission v. Nelson Bros. Bond & Mortgage Co. · Chicago Junction Case · Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Co. · Interstate Commerce Commission v. Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation
Cited together with Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp · National Broadcasting Co. v. United States · Federal Communications Commission v. Pottsville Broadcasting Co. · Federal Communications Commission v. National Broadcasting Co.
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 1,210 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Congress had some purpose in enacting § 402(b)(2). It may have been of opinion that one likely to be financially injured by the issue of a license would be the only person having a sufficient interest to bring to the attention of the appellate court errors of law in the action of the Commission in granting the license. - It is within the power of Congress to confer such standing to prosecute an appeal.” 309 U.S. at 477 , 60 S.Ct. at 698 .”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Iowa Independent Bankers v. Board of Governors of Federal Reserve System · Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association v. Mary D. Nichols, Assistant Administrator and Environmental Protection Agency, American Automobile Manufacturers Association, Intervenors. Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association v. Environmental Protection Agency and Carol M. Browner, Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency, American Automobile Manufacturers Association and Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Inc., Intervenors“The policy of the Act is clear that no person is to have anything in the nature of a property right as the result of the granting of a license.”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Congress intended to leave competition in the business of broadcasting where it found it, to permit a licensee who was not interfering electrically with other broadcasters to survive or succumb according to his ability to make his programs attractive to the public.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.