Radio Paris began operations in 1922, followed by Radio Toulouse and Radio Lyon. Before 1940, 14 commercial and 12 public sector radio stations were in operation. The government exerted tight control over radio broadcasting. Political debate was not encouraged. In the 1932 election campaign, for example, the opposition was allowed one broadcast while the incumbent made numerous campaign broadcasts. Radio was a potentially powerful new medium, but France was quite laggard in consumer ownership of radio sets, With 5 million radio receivers in 1937, compared to over 8 million and both Britain and Germany, and 26 million in the United States. The government imposed very strict controls on news dissemination. After 1938, stations were allowed only three brief daily bulletins, of seven minutes each, to cover all the day's news. The Prime Minister's office closely supervised the news items that were to be broadcast. As war approached, Frenchmen learned little or nothing about it from the radio. The government thought that policy wise, because it wanted no interference in its policies. The unexpected result, however, was the Frenchman were puzzled and uncertain great crises erupted in 1938-39, and their morale and support for government policies was much weaker than in Britain.