BIGGER MAY BE BETTER : INFINITY RADIO BUYOUT COULD BOOST DIVERSITY.Byline: Scott Williams Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. When Westinghouse Electric Corp. plunked down $3.9 billion for Infinity Broadcasting, it did more than create the nation's biggest group of radio stations. In an era when movie studios gobble 1. gobble - To consume, usually used with "up". "The output spy gobbles characters out of a tty output buffer." 2. gobble - To obtain, usually used with "down". "I guess I'll gobble down a copy of the documentation tomorrow." See also snarf. cable and broadcast TV networks and telephone companies gobble each other, the deal announced earlier this month conjured up visions of monopolistic media robber barons Robber Barons A disparaging term dating back to the 12th century which refers to: 1) Unscrupulous feudal lords who amassed personal fortunes by using illegal and immoral business practices, such as illegally charging tolls to merchant ships that passed putting elevator music elevator music n. Unobtrusive arrangements of popular songs that are designed to be played as background music in public places, such as shopping malls and elevators. across the dial. Is bigger bad? Does the merger of No. 1 Westinghouse with No. 2 Infinity put too much wattage wattage the output or consumption of an electric device expressed in watts. in too few hands? Or is bigger blander? Will drive-time ``shock jocks'' yield to Muzak that soothes? Not necessarily. On the contrary, broadcasting executives and others say, the Westinghouse-Infinity superpower could help stimulate creativity and diversity on the airwaves. The reasons behind that seemingly convoluted logic reflect the nature of the radio business and who is listening. ``Radio's big success is niche markets. It's not like TV,'' said Katy Bachman, editor in chief of Radio Business Report, a weekly trade newspaper. ``Radio targets specific niches, demographics and lifestyle groups.'' Westinghouse gets 83 stations - 69 in the top 10 markets - only because the Telecommunications Act There are several laws named the Telecommunications Act
Important limits remain: In cities with more than 45 commercial radio stations, one company can own, operate or control as many as eight stations but no more than five in either the AM or FM frequencies. In Chicago and Dallas, Westinghouse exceeds the limit and must shed stations or swap them for stations elsewhere. In small markets with as many as 14 stations, the ownership limit is five stations, three in either AM or FM, and no one can control more than 50 percent of the market. ``Anyone who discusses the words antitrust and radio just doesn't get it,'' said Infinity Broadcasting Corp. boss Mel Karmazin Melvin Alan "Mel" Karmazin, a native New Yorker, (born August 24, 1943)[1] is an executive who has held several top jobs in the broadcasting industry and is currently CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio. , who becomes chairman of the new entity and gets about 2 percent of Westinghouse's stock. ``If (cable TV tycoon) John Malone can control 70 channels in how many markets and Ted Turner is able to have six channels in every home in the world, how is five radio stations in a market limiting diversity?'' Besides, he said, radio gets only 7 percent of the $162 billion spent annually on advertising. He said Infinity and Westinghouse aim for diversity. CAPTION(S): Chart Chart: A MAMMOTH, NOT A MONOLITH Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion