Klarinet Archive - Posting 000831.txt from 1997/11

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Classical Music Stations Disappearing
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 14:41:45 -0500

-----Original Message-----
From: Moren, Jennifer <jensmore@-----.net>
Date: Saturday, November 22, 1997 1:00 AM
Subject: Re: A sad day in Detroit

>The same happened here in Philadelphia... The classical station sold out
>to rock, but fortunately combined with a university jazz station. They
>play classical from 6:00 am to 6:00 PM and jazz the rest of the time. I am
>happy to get both of my favorites but miss the choice of which one I want
>to listen to.

I didn't know you were sending from the Philadelphia area, Jennifer.

I don't know the situation in other markets, but the demise of WFLN in
Philadelphia was, it seems to me, at least partly the result of much vaunted
government de-regulation. What, I think, protected WFLN for decades was the
FCC's limit on how many outlets a communication company could have in one
area. No company could, for many years, own more than one AM and one FM
station. Niche stations like WFLN, which was always, I think, profitable,
could exist along with the more mainline stations because the companies that
owned Pop-Rock type stations could not own more than the one.

Now (and I have not researched how long ago the FCC actually changed its
regulations), a company can go around gobbling up frequencies with only its
own available pool of capital as a limit. When these large, well capitalized
national companies, which are totally profit-motivated, come shopping in a
local market, they buy whatever frequencies and facilities they can.
Generally, these will be relatively low profit niche stations to whose
stockholders the promise of much higher income levels cannot be rejected.
Then, they program for maximal profit with no concern for honoring any
traditions the newly acquired station has built. The company that finally
turned off classical music on WFLN, which again was profitable on its own,
already owned, at the time, 5 other stations in the Philadelphia area, all
broadcasting, I'm told, the same middle-of -the -road Pop-Rock stuff. They
can sell advertising at much higher prices because they can show a much
larger listening audience than any classical station ever could. So long as
the advertising market holds up for them, they can continue to buy other
stations.

This is simply free-market economics in action. However, I can foresee a
serious monopoly problem looming in radio and TV very soon, a problem that
transcends whether or not I can hear classical music on my radio, the very
problem the original regs were designed to prevent.

Just some thoughts on a potentially big problem.