WE WANT THE AIRWAVES
And now, here’s a very big infographic explaining the impact of media consolidation on the radio and television business.
For a start, it’s why Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs Robinson” is in rotation on at least one radio station in every city in America.
[Via Upworthy]
This interests me in part because, back in the early 90s when I was (1) studying the business and regulatory side of the radio/TV industry and (2) actively employed in the radio industry by independent station owners, there was a lot of talk about consolidation, which was in high gear at the time.
The debate was essentially “this is good for the industry financially” (according to huge media corporations and the FCC) vs “this is going to concentrate media ownership into so few hands that diversity of expression is going to disappear” (according to everybody else). Consolidation fans said the latter wasn’t a worry because the market would create demand for diversity, and station owners would have to respond to that demand to stay profitable.
The thing is, by “diversity” they mainly meant “formats”. So as long as each market has one station each for Top 40, Adult Contemporary, R&B, Alternative, Adult Alternative, Country, Modern Country, Oldies, Talk Radio, Christian Radio, Classic Rock, Modern Rock, etc and so on, you have a “diversity” of voices.
Turns out it’s not exactly the same thing. The media giants who own most of the radio stations in the country have turned radio into the equivalent of McDonald’s - no matter where you go, yr guaranteed the exact same experience. And this has pretty much been the case for at least ten years now.
Having said all that, I will add that the infographic tries to make this sound more frightening than it is. The general meme tends to be that six corporations controlling 90% of the media = six CEOs controlling what we see and hear, and thus what we think, and this makes them extremely dangerous.
I don't really believe that - partly because I do not buy into the Every Evil Corporation In Evil Corporate America Is Actively Conspiring To Enslave You meme, and partly because most medias CEOs don’t micromanage programming to the degree where they’re actively trying to brainwash you into doing whatever you think it is they’re trying to make you do. Sure, they could delegate that, maybe. The thing is, most of them know that media consumption doesn’t work that way. Broadcasting nothing but corporate consumerist Republican propaganda does not result in a nation of corporate consumerist Republicans. (Or Gay Muslim Socialist Takers, for those of you who think the media is run by liberals.)
I do think media consolidation is more of an issue when it comes to broadcast journalism, because then yr talking about what is supposed to be reliable, factual information. Concentrated ownership raises all kinds of issues, from conflict of interest (see: General Electric owning NBC News) to political agendas (see: Fox News). That said, given how television news is driven more by ratings and sponsorships than integrity these days, again, I’m not sure that more diverse ownership would fix that. Whether yr talking about news or entertainment, at the moment mass media companies of any size have the same business model - use content to draw an audience for advertisers. That’s been true since mass media was invented. And that would be true whether all the media was controlled by six companies or 60 companies.
Indeed, people used to complain about lack of diversity on the airwaves well before media consolidation started kicking in. Back then, the complaint was FCC’s radio station license requirements making small community radio too expensive. So if diversity of voices is the main issue of concern, it’s not concentrated ownership that’s the problem so much as the nature of the business itself.
That’s not to say that media consolidation makes no difference. It clearly does. But it’s not really a question of controlling yr mind so much as innovation and variety being replaced by generic McMedia.
Having said that, we already have the antidote for that: the Internet, which has not exactly brought balance to The Force, but it has brought us a diversity of voices with a vengeance. And as you may have noticed, this has its good points and bad points.
Meanwhile, here’s one more stat to chew on: while six companies may control 90% of broadcast media, the biggest media company in America (in terms of media revenue) isn’t even on that list.
Who would that be, you ask?
Why Google, of course.
I want it all,
This is dF
This entry was originally posted at http://defrog.dreamwidth.org/1399472.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
For a start, it’s why Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs Robinson” is in rotation on at least one radio station in every city in America.
[Via Upworthy]
This interests me in part because, back in the early 90s when I was (1) studying the business and regulatory side of the radio/TV industry and (2) actively employed in the radio industry by independent station owners, there was a lot of talk about consolidation, which was in high gear at the time.
The debate was essentially “this is good for the industry financially” (according to huge media corporations and the FCC) vs “this is going to concentrate media ownership into so few hands that diversity of expression is going to disappear” (according to everybody else). Consolidation fans said the latter wasn’t a worry because the market would create demand for diversity, and station owners would have to respond to that demand to stay profitable.
The thing is, by “diversity” they mainly meant “formats”. So as long as each market has one station each for Top 40, Adult Contemporary, R&B, Alternative, Adult Alternative, Country, Modern Country, Oldies, Talk Radio, Christian Radio, Classic Rock, Modern Rock, etc and so on, you have a “diversity” of voices.
Turns out it’s not exactly the same thing. The media giants who own most of the radio stations in the country have turned radio into the equivalent of McDonald’s - no matter where you go, yr guaranteed the exact same experience. And this has pretty much been the case for at least ten years now.
Having said all that, I will add that the infographic tries to make this sound more frightening than it is. The general meme tends to be that six corporations controlling 90% of the media = six CEOs controlling what we see and hear, and thus what we think, and this makes them extremely dangerous.
I don't really believe that - partly because I do not buy into the Every Evil Corporation In Evil Corporate America Is Actively Conspiring To Enslave You meme, and partly because most medias CEOs don’t micromanage programming to the degree where they’re actively trying to brainwash you into doing whatever you think it is they’re trying to make you do. Sure, they could delegate that, maybe. The thing is, most of them know that media consumption doesn’t work that way. Broadcasting nothing but corporate consumerist Republican propaganda does not result in a nation of corporate consumerist Republicans. (Or Gay Muslim Socialist Takers, for those of you who think the media is run by liberals.)
I do think media consolidation is more of an issue when it comes to broadcast journalism, because then yr talking about what is supposed to be reliable, factual information. Concentrated ownership raises all kinds of issues, from conflict of interest (see: General Electric owning NBC News) to political agendas (see: Fox News). That said, given how television news is driven more by ratings and sponsorships than integrity these days, again, I’m not sure that more diverse ownership would fix that. Whether yr talking about news or entertainment, at the moment mass media companies of any size have the same business model - use content to draw an audience for advertisers. That’s been true since mass media was invented. And that would be true whether all the media was controlled by six companies or 60 companies.
Indeed, people used to complain about lack of diversity on the airwaves well before media consolidation started kicking in. Back then, the complaint was FCC’s radio station license requirements making small community radio too expensive. So if diversity of voices is the main issue of concern, it’s not concentrated ownership that’s the problem so much as the nature of the business itself.
That’s not to say that media consolidation makes no difference. It clearly does. But it’s not really a question of controlling yr mind so much as innovation and variety being replaced by generic McMedia.
Having said that, we already have the antidote for that: the Internet, which has not exactly brought balance to The Force, but it has brought us a diversity of voices with a vengeance. And as you may have noticed, this has its good points and bad points.
Meanwhile, here’s one more stat to chew on: while six companies may control 90% of broadcast media, the biggest media company in America (in terms of media revenue) isn’t even on that list.
Who would that be, you ask?
Why Google, of course.
I want it all,
This is dF
This entry was originally posted at http://defrog.dreamwidth.org/1399472.html. Please comment there using OpenID.