Station Ownership and Programming in Radio
FCC Media Ownership Study #5: Station Ownership and Programming in Radio By Tasneem Chipty CRA International, Inc. June 24, 2007 * CRA International, Inc., 200 Clarendon Street, T-33, Boston, MA 02116. I would like to thank Rashmi Melgiri, Matt List, and Caterina Nelson for helpful discussions and valuable assistance. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of CRA International, Inc., or any of its other employees. Station Ownership and Programming in Radio by Tasneem Chipty, CRA International, June, 2007 I. Introduction Out of concern that common ownership of media may stifle diversity of voices and viewpoints, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has historically placed limits on the degree of common ownership of local radio stations, as well as on cross-ownership among radio stations, television stations, and newspapers serving the same local area. The 1996 Telecommunications Act loosened local radio station ownership restrictions, to different degrees across markets of different sizes, and it lifted all limits on radio station ownership at the national level. Subsequent FCC rule changes permitted common ownership of television and radio stations in the same market and also permitted a certain degree of cross-ownership between radio stations and newspapers. These changes have resulted in a wave of radio station mergers as well as a number of cross-media acquisitions, shifting control over programming content to fewer hands. For example, the number of radio stations owned or operated by Clear Channel Communications increased from about 196 stations in 1997 to 1,183 stations in 2005; the number of stations owned or operated by CBS (formerly known as Infinity) increased from 160 in 1997 to 178 in 2005; and the number of stations owned or operated by ABC increased from 29 in 1997 to 71 in 2005.
[Show full text]