WASHINGTON, DC — Future of Music Coalition will release a new report, False Premises, False Promises: A Quantitative History of Ownership Consolidation in the Radio Industry, by a teleconference with reporters on December 13, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. EST. Data in the report shows that radio ownership consolidation at the national and local levels has led to fewer choices in radio programming and harmed the listening public and those working in the music and media industries, including DJs, programmers and musicians.
“When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the radio industry changed drastically,” said Peter DiCola, FMC Research Director and the report’s author. “Historical data from the industry reveal unprecedented consolidation and show that the Telecom Act has backfired in terms of the FCC’s goals of competition, localism, and diversity in radio. Commercial radio now offers musicians fewer opportunities to get airtime and offers the public a narrow set of overlapping and homogenized programming formats.”
The report will be posted at www.futureofmusic.org at 12 noon on December 13, 2006. Key findings include:
The top four radio station owners have almost half of the listeners and the top ten owners have almost two-thirds of listeners.
The “localness” of radio ownership – ownership by individuals living in the community — has declined between 1975 and 2005 by almost one-third.
Just fifteen formats make up three-quarters of all commercial programming. Moreover, radio formats with different names can overlap up to 80% in terms of the songs played on them.
Niche musical formats like Classical, Jazz, Americana, Bluegrass, New Rock, and Folk, where they exist, are provided almost exclusively by smaller station groups.
Across 155 markets, radio listenership has declined over the past fourteen years, a 22% drop since its peak in 1989. The consolidation allowed by the Telecom Act has failed to reverse this trend.
Who:
What: Teleconference to release new data on radio consolidation’s impact
When: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. EST
Where: Dial into 1-800-362-0571: Passcode Radio
Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that seeks a bright future for creators and listeners. FMC works towards this goal through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/public interest groups. More