In fact, McDonald disliked commercials even during the radio era. He believed that radio commercials had too many “roars, grunts, squawks, yaps, burps, and a mixture of adenoidal and…honey-chile voices.” “McDonald v. the Adenoidal,” 66. For this reason, starting in 1940 McDonald and Zenith spent $75,000 a year, approximately $900,000 in today’s terms, to support WWZR, a radio station that only broadcast music, without any commercials.

Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, loc. 1368