Re: Boston's Newsradio Void

[Dib9@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-06-16 03:00:35 EDT, you write:

<< There are a limited amount of spectrum band. Radio is not like
 magazines, where if you don't like Newspeak, you create Time, US News, etc.
 You can't just start a radio station (or you'll have armed troops at your
door
 like that guy in Tampa!)  >>

While bandwith is limited, the economic reality is that it is much less
expensive to get into radio in any market than it would be to create a daily
newspaper in that same market.  The economics of launching a national news
magazine are also extremely high.  In theory radio and TV are more limited but
in reality the economic barriers of entry make the possibility of competing in
other forms of news media just as limited.

I agree with Attorney Ross' comments that the consolidation trend will not go
on forever.  The economic benefits of consolidation only go so far and some of
the large companies are too saddled in debt to compete long term.  Also,
large, slow moving companies are often overcome by smaller, more innovative
companies.  (See IBM vs Microsoft.)  I think that some of these large radio
companies that centralize programming will lose innovation and will be
undercut by smaller stations that can adapt more quickly to changes in the
marketplace.

Dan Billings
Bowdoinham, Maine

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