Report finds radio sameness

Corporate consolidation of radio companies has drastically reduced the local flavor, diversity and competitiveness of commercial radio, according to a report released today by a nonprofit advocacy group called the Future of Music Coalition.

The coalition blames poorly conceived congressional legislation, which was supposed to promote localism and choice but instead eroded it by paving the way for consolidation.

“When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the radio industry changed drastically,” said Peter DiCola, FMC research director and the report’s author. “Commercial radio now offers musicians fewer opportunities to get airtime and offers the public a narrow set of overlapping and homogenized programming formats.”

The report will be posted today at www.futureofmusic.org.