In a speech to U.S. broadcasters, FCC chairman Newton Minow described commercial television programming as "a vast wasteland".

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, Wi-Fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access, fair competition, radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security.

Newton Norman Minow was an American attorney who served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He is famous for his 1961 speech referring to television as a "vast wasteland". While still maintaining a law practice, Minow served as the honorary consul general of Singapore in Chicago, beginning in 2001.

"Television and the Public Interest" was a speech given by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Newton N. Minow to the convention of the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961. Popularly known as the "Vast Wasteland speech", it was Minow's first major speech after he was appointed chairman of the FCC by then President John F. Kennedy.