Newton N. Minow, who as chairman of the FCC in 1961 famously called American television “a vast wasteland,” died May 6 at his home in Chicago. He was 97.

To broadcasters who for years had enjoyed a cozy relationship with the FCC, Mr. Minow’s indictment opened a new era of regulatory pressures that for the first time stressed program content and public service. While the FCC had no authority to tell broadcasters what to air, Mr. Minow reminded them that it did periodically renew station licenses for the use of the public airwaves, and that it had the power to revoke them for irresponsibility.