Concentração radiofónica prejudica ouvintes

«LOS ANGELES, Dec 13 (Reuters) - A music industry watchdog group released a report on Wednesday saying that radio ownership consolidation has harmed the listening public. The report, released by The Future of Music Coalition, said radio consolidation at the national and local levels has led to fewer choices in radio programming and harmed the listening public and those working in the music and media industries, including DJs, programmers and musicians. Station ownership by radio giants like Clear Channel Communications Inc. (CCU.N: Quote, Profile , Research), the leading U.S. operator, increased significantly with the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which eliminated the national radio ownership cap and revised limits on how many stations a company can own in a local market. In a statement, Peter DiCola, FMC research director, said the Telecommunications Act has backfired in terms of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's goals of increasing competition, localism, and diversity in radio. The report said the top four radio station owners have almost half of the listeners and the top 10 owners have almost two-thirds of listeners. The report also said the "localness" of radio ownership, or ownership by individuals living in the community, has declined between 1975 and 2005 by almost a third. The report said that across 155 markets, radio listenership has declined over the past 14 years, a 22 percent drop since its peak in 1989.»

fonte: «Watchdog says US public hurt by radio consolidation», 13/12/06, reuters