Direct Format Competition on the Radio Dial and the Telecommunications Act of 1996: A Five-Year Trend Study

Format Monopolies: The Evolution of “Nationwide Format Oligopolies”

“…Almost a decade after the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, scholars and critics continue to research and discuss the impact this legislation has had on the radio industry (Ala-.ossi, 2004;Albarran & Loomis, 2004;Bates & Chambers 1999;Bednarski, 2003;Berry & Waldfogel, 1999, 2001BIA, 2002;Chambers, 2003;DiCola & Thomson, 2002;Drushel, 1998;.ederal Communications Commission, 1998;.lamm, 1997;Howard, 1998;Huntemann, 1999;Leeper, 2000;Macek & Young, 2004;McConnell, 2002;Merli, 1998;Mizrach, 1998;Rush, Payton, & Leeper, 1999;Waldfogel & Wulf, 2005;Williams & Roberts, 2002;Wirth, 2001Wirth, , 2002. However, their conclusions are often contradictory.…”

“…Nowhere is this more apparent than in the literature that assesses the impact of the Telecommunications Act on radio formats and the literature that assesses the impact of the Telecommunications Act on the economic structure of radio. Examination of these two areas is imperative because this is the literature that is germane to this researchs foundational study, Nationwide .ormat Oligopolies (Wirth, 2001). Simply put, a nationwide format oligopoly is a construct that combines the concept of radio formats with the concept of the economic structure of radio.…”

“….or example, Waldfogel (1999, 2001), BIA (2002), and Rush, Payton, and Leeper (1999) reside within the format diversity paradigm and subscribe to the belief that many distinct radio formats in a mar- Wirth/ .ORMAT MONOPOLIES 145 ket provide the radio listener with greater choice. However, Wirth (2002) challenges this paradigm with the direct format competition paradigm. Simply stated, this paradigm asserts that listener choice should not be defined as the opportunity to select from disparate radio station formats (product breadth), but should be defined as the opportunity to choose from stations competing within the same format (product depth).…”

Radio as a Successful Local Storyteller in Los Angeles: A Case Study of KKBT and KPCC

“…Massive consolidation has significantly reduced the number of different owners of radio stations throughout the country, and the majority of stations are owned by only a small group of companies. Although research has shown an increase in the number of formats available to listeners in many markets, it has also shown a significant reduction of direct competition between stations using the same format, resulting in less diversity of programming (Chambers, 2001(Chambers, , 2003Wirth, 2001Wirth, , 2002. Formats that do not attract large audiences and substantial advertising revenue are often altered or eliminated.…”

Radio Reverb: The Impact of “Local” News Reimported to Its Own Community

“…He asserted that the biggest impact was found on the negotiation of advertising rates, but allowed that "other effects could emerge over time" (p. 8). Other recent studies of radio and the impact of consolidation have examined format competition (Wirth, 2002) and program diversity (Chambers, 2003).…”