Gmule good point. Clear Channel chose to buy up radio stations. I think the FCC lets them buy 8 per market when radio listening was starting to decline. There are better non commercial alternatives out there now. And even CC advertises inheart radio where you can listen to radio stations all over the country. Narrowcasting is taking over from broadcasting.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
When Clear Channel came to town we had 2 decent rock stations. 105.9 was KBPI and the we had 106.7 KAZY. CC killed the 105.9 channel by changing the format to top 40 music and then called 106.7 KBPI. After that the music programming became stale. In 2012 if you listened to KBPI they are still playing Ozzy and Led Zepplin. If I wanted to hear those groups on a regular basis I would tune into the 103.5 the fox.
I think that this model of cost of cutting by using syndicated shows like Nikki Six and Love Line are going to accelerate the decline because they are going to be missing the local connection which brings in advertising. I think we are well on the way of losing terrestrial radio all together with all of the other listening options that are out there.
Per the Denver Post this morning, it looks like satellite radio isn't doing much better. Sirius after merging with XM has its stock below $3 a share. Personally in the mountains I find Sirius/XM a godsend, but they are bleeding subscribers. Maybe people prefer to program their own music instead?
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
FredHayek wrote: Unintended consequences? Clear Channel might have to start selling off or turning off many of their stations and they can go back to local control. I thought KBCO was much better before Clear Channel tried to corner the Denver market.
This is the problem with consolidation in media. If you have one small group of non-resident people that have no interest in your local community controlling the stations, this happens. Clear Channel took drastic advantage of deregulation and now they are paying the price.
I haven't listened to commercial radio for music for years. I have all the songs I want to hear on my 32 GB phone, which replaced my iPod. I listen to KOA for news but find they are sometimes a day late with stories. I see they laid off Julie Hayden, too. Nationally, the cuts are HUGE.
