osewalrus (osewalrus) wrote,
osewalrus
osewalrus

You're a Bloody Rotten Audience Whilst I Am Very Good

The cluelessness and denial of the pro-media consolidation supporters has risen to new heights. Today's Communications Daily has quotes from various industry sources and former FCC Commissioners explaining how the public just doesn't realize how consolidation is good for them and how only "people with an ax to grind" ever come to the open FCC hearings.

This might make a plausible argument if consolidation produced increased either broadacast ratings or newspaper readership. But it hasn't. To the contrary, the current FCC docket is chock full of studies showing that consolidation has resulted in significant decreases in audience for radio and TV and declines in newspaper readers in response to cuts in news staff, cuts in local news, endlessly repetitive play lists, and increases in the number of commercials.

Even if you have a monopoly product, if you produe crap long enough, the market responds.

If the impacts for democracy and society as a whole were not so detrimental, one could simply sit back and watch the industry consolidate itself into oblivion -- provided they are not allowed to get laws passed that keep others from competing (such as the efforts by terrestrial radio broadcasters to get a law passed preventing satellite radio from doing local content).

Hee hee hee hee.
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