Consolidation
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Consolidation in the radio business can be defined as a radio industry trend where larger companies buy up smaller companies. This trend first began in 1996 after deregulation was approved and since then has been the cause of delocalization, ethical concerns, an increase in advertising prices, more commercials, longer stop sets, and a decrease in both TSL and competition, not to mention proof that the listener is the last person benefiting from this drastic change in radio broadcasting. In this paper, I will show how consolidation has not improved radio programming over the years by discussing the effects that have come about because of consolidation in the radio industry. In the past, radio stations in the same area often had different types of programming, yet still featured on-air personnel to provide immediate broadcasting ability and localize their programming to the market area (Maltin, 1997; McChesney, 1993; Nachman, 1998). However, since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 relaxed ownership restrictions, over half of the estimated 12,000 radio stations in the United States have changed hands. Large media conglomerates and group owners are changing the way daily business is being done in almost every market (Polgreen, 1999). As a result, stations in many markets are increasingly becoming divided among three or four companies that control their region. These large corporations continue to gain control over the radio marketplace, and cost effectiveness becomes one of the prime considerations. They look for more profit through increases in revenue and then re-invest in technologies that can improve efficiency (Nellessen & Brady). Industry watchers are concerned that both consolidation and advancements in technology are causing on-air talent to be replaced by computers and is killing the localism of the radio medium...