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GUEST: Peter DiCola, Research Director at the Future of Music Coalition, and author of the report “False Premises, False Promises”

It’s been ten years since the Telecommunications Act passed in 1996. To mark this anniversary, the Future of Music Coalition will release a new report today taking a look at radio consolidation and how it has lead to fewer choices and a decrease in programming diversity. The report is entitled “False Premises, False Promises: A Quantitative History of Ownership Consolidation in the Radio Industry.” It includes several key findings: for example, the top four radio station owners have nearly half of all listeners while localized radio ownership has declined by almost a third since 1975. “False Premises, False Promises,” goes on to note that consolidation has lead to a homogenization of the radio industry and concludes that radio mergers since 1996 have shown no demonstrative benefits for the listening public. Indeed, over the past decade, many people are simply tuning out as listenership has declined 22% since its peak in 1989.

For more information, visit www.futureofmusic.org.

Download the report, False Premises, False Promises here: http://www.futureofmusic.org/images/FMCradiostudy06.pdf