I recently read an article concerning the limits of radio station ownership. There is legislation being proposed that would remove the subcaps that prevent corporations from owning too many radio stations in one market. “So what?” you say. “How does that affect me?” In many ways!
Back in 1996, the Telecommunications Act was passed, nearly all limits of national radio station ownership were abolished, and it raised the limit of how many stations that could be owned in one market. This meant that companies could “buy up” radio stations in smaller markets, which exactly what companies like Jacor (later Clear Channel) started doing. Over time, this consolidation started to become evident. There’s a joke that every city has a KISS fm, and that’s pretty much the truth. The logos look the same, the programming is almost mirror image, and the music…well, we’ll not talk about that.
The thinking was that they could cut costs by having the same format in every city. This reduced the costs of paying local talent (through voicetracking.) From a strictly business standpoint, this makes sense; it appears to be a redundancy. However, as we know, one size does not fit all. Each city is different, and what goes over in New York might not fare too well in Chicago (as evidenced by syndication over the years.) The important local flavor disappears. Thankfully, they have realized that local news IS important, and they cut to the affiliate’s local news. Still, you can tell it’s “pieced in,” and it makes for very choppy radio.
With the advent of the iPod, cellphones, and the like, the industry claims that these devices are killing them. I call BS on that one. Fifteen years ago, you started the ball rolling to feed a money making machine. Yes, I know that radio is a business, but it’s also consequently an entertainment medium. People listen because they WANT to. In order to keep people listening, you need to provide them with what they are asking for. You can’t just roll out something and hope it works. An AM station that I’ve been following on Facebook, has just gone on the air recently, and chose a pre-packaged country format that was “safe.” I know that I’m not the only one who was disappointed by this decision.
Maybe I’m wrong about all this, but I did a brief stint in commercial radio, and that’s the taste that I got. Call me jaded, or what you will, but I lost my gig because the station that employed me decided that Spanish programming would be more lucrative, since the local ABC affiliate decided to start airing the exact same format that we had been for a few years (80s top40.) This scared the company I worked for, and as a result, I lost my job. Tough break, indeed. My former boss even went to work at that station as well! Ironically, SIX months after the ABC station flipped format to all 80s, they abandoned it, and went to oldies.
So what’s the damage in the ownership limits being completely abolished? There won’t be ANY variety! Formats will bleed together, personalities will be working for even bigger clusters (and not getting paid any more, mind you,) and locality will suffer even more. Every day, I hear about low power AM and FM stations going on the air, and it makes me happy. Even if the programming isn’t nearly as professional as the “big guys,” at least it’s going to be local and serve the community. That’s what matters.