American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

STATEMENT OF

Porter Wagoner

On Behalf of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

Before the

Federal Communications Commission

Hearing on Media Ownership

December 11, 2006 Nashville, TN

Testimony for Porter Wagoner Member, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

Before the Federal Communications Commission Public Hearing on Media Ownership Nashville, Tennessee December 11, 2006

Chairman Martin and Commissioners of the FCC, thank you for allowing me to speak to the issue of media consolidation.

I am Porter Wagoner, and I became a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1957 and of AFTRA, The American Federation of Television, Radio and Recording Artists in 1969. I am blessed to be in my 54th year as a recording artist. I worked for 21 years as a television show host on “The Porter Wagoner Show”, which aired in two hundred markets. I am a songwriter and record producer. In 2002, I was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and I have won four GRAMMYs and other nominations and awards from organizations such as the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.

The Grand Ole Opry is the mother church of country music. It’s the reason Music City is the country music capitol of the world and a deep part of our heritage and an important part of my life. I come here today on behalf of all Opry members, from today’s hottest country artists to legends and icons like me and my friends here, George Jones and Dobie Gray. There was a day when Opry members would drive hundreds of miles, sometimes all night without any rest, to play the Grand Ole Opry. They did this for several reasons: 1. They loved the Opry and country music, and; 2. Playing the Opry on a clear-channel signal that went all the way out to California helped you put, as we call it in the industry “butts in seats” at your concerts which also helped you sell your records.

By the way, nowadays, when you say "Clear Channel," people think that you're talking about a company that owns 1,200 radio stations, a bunch of TV stations, a talent agency, a string of amphitheaters, and some promotion companies. As you know, back then, a clear-channel signal was an AM radio frequency that was assigned to only one radio station. WSM - AM 650 was a clear- channel signal station that broadcast the Grand Ole Opry and because there was no other station interference, the signal would about go from coast to coast when we broadcast at night.

When the FCC did away with the clear-channel signal, the Opry had to be broadcast on a number of different radio networks to continue to reach the same audience. My situation at the Opry is no different than any recording artist in any other genre of music. If you can’t receive exposure and airplay, you can’t sell records; and you can’t put “butts in seats” at your concerts.

I don’t know how to advise a new aspiring artist as to how they can get played on the radio. Is it really such a bad thing to have the people who own the airwaves, the public, to have a meaningful influence as to what is played on their local radio stations? The days of an artist receiving regional airplay or breaking as a new act on radio are gone, and you are now considering making the situation even worse by letting some broadcasting dynasties becoming even bigger broadcasting dynasties.

If media ownership rules back in 1967 were like they are today, the world may never have known a lady named Dolly Parton. Not only did I have the freedom and control to introduce Dolly as a regular performer on my television show, but back then, radio was much friendlier to new recording artists. Dolly’s first hit, “Jolene” became a country hit that crossed into the pop charts. The chance of this happening to an Artist in today’s media consolidated world is “slim to none.”

No one wants music programming decisions made by a faceless person miles away at a publicly traded company. What works in Los Angeles doesn’t necessarily work in New York, Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago or Miami.

The relaxation of limits on media ownership has already had an influence on the recording industry and in ways that have not been good for the fans of country music. If you relax ownership rules more than what they are today, you will not only strip the airwaves away from the American public, but also continue to change the way we will do business in the recording industry which will be bad for not only recording artists, but also for the very companies who seek to ease these ownership restrictions.

Thank you.