Two days ago, Kevin-moneybags Martin chairman of the FCC successfully removed the ban that prohibits a local newspaper from owning a broadcast station in the same market. The FCC commission voted 3 to 2.
Unless we continue to speak out against this sillyness you can say goodbye to any regionality, diversity, and competition in the news.
This decision is essentially the same as the Telecom Act of 96 which was passed by the FCC, Congress, VP Al Gore, and President Bill Clinton to pursue “core public interest concerns of promoting diversity and competition.” What the Telecommunications Act of 1996 did was eliminate the number radio stations a corporate entity could own. The Telecom Act removed barriers for mergers and acquisitions while making it harder for independents to compete in the telecom world. Before the Telecom Act large corporate entities controlled less than 65 stations.
Today Clear Channel owns nearly 1200 stations, 1 in every 10, 99.9% of the top 250 markets. Goodbye originality and hello homogeneity.
As Clear Channel Ceo Lowry Mays says, “If anyone said we were in the radio business, it wouldn’t be someone from our company. We’re not in the business of providing new and information. We’re not in the business of providing well-reasearched music. We’re simply in the business of selling our customers products.”
A Berklee School of Music Study revealed that the biggest stations in th biggest markets were playing the same songs 58% of the time and that the 5 owned by Clear Channel were playing the same songs 73% of the time. Today its no surprise that an entire generation seems to ignore radio all together as lsiternship is at a 27 year low. In 2005 an average of one rock station closed or switched formats per week.
And what Congressman or women could contend with this when $222 million dollars was spent by the broadcast industry to lobby government officials from 1998 through June 2004? Between 1995 and 2003 media corporations and associations paid for 2,500 all expense paid trips by FCC employees.
Folks we've seen what media consolidation has done to music, if you don't want to hear about Britney Spears sister getting pregnant ever again- this needs to be stopped...
Independence and competition in media and business has always nurtured a diverse range of thoughts and ideas.
Check it...
http://www.stopbigmedia.com/
In other news- Merry Holli-daze. Lots of script writing, filming, and maybe just maybe some edits to be done before 2008 comes.
Best,
Brendan
