Steve wrote:

Just as bad as de-funding that "pinko" public broadcasting, the
relaxed ownership rules leave us with about three huge conglomerates
owning most of the broadcast outlets has stifled any sort of creative or
local radio... which feeds the vapidity of what now passes for music.
Excuse me, make that "product."

Pre de-reg, ownership was limited to a handful of AM, FM, and TV
stations. Can't remember the limits now, but I seem to recall three of
each, and no more than two in combination in any market. Today, you'll
have any number of stations under common ownership operating out of
the same studios and offices. It may make sense to combine some
operations -- sales, for instance -- but having one jock cutting
voice tracks for multiple stations, or even multiple stations in
multiple markets, ensures "uniform and consistent mediocrity."

Not even sure it enhances shareholder value, no matter what Ronnie's
ideological successors tell us. And combining operations has failed to
save newspapers... circulation continues to shrink, the "news hole"
and ad revenues with it. It's not just a matter of another technology
(i.e., the intenet) overmhelming print and broadcast. When you "cut to
the bone" too severely, the patient can die.

No long range thinking -- and in the case of Ron, no thinking beyond
the next nap.

Ah, but the other side of the coin is that YOU can start a broadcast station
without a lot of red-tape, hearings, public-necessity, community support,
anti-competitive complaining by established stations, etc.

Actually, the barrier to entry for an FM station is in the few tens of
thousands of dollars range. You can even subscribe to a station feed from
aggregators. That is, there is one company that determines the playlist and
feeds the results to any number of subscribers. It's likely that the exact
same music is going out, at the exact same time, to fifty stations around
the country.

In my town, Houston, there is ONE classical broadcast station and it's a PBS
affiliate (spit). I assume there is not another because it would not be
economically viable.

But who knows?