Re: Duplication rules

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

Shel wrote:
>Does anyone recall the years in the sixties and 1970s where a station could
>not duplicate its AM programming over its FM - at least over a certain
>percentage of its broadcast day?  

When the FCC made the simulcast ruling, it was indeed the salvation of FM
because it forced AM owners to either sell their FMs or find a unique use
for them.  That ruling occurred around 1964, as I recall, and it led to
several new FM formats.
 
Shel wrote--
>That law is long gone.  But in today's environment of conglomerates, where
>teh big boys take over other stations, fire everyone, and duplicate one of
>its other station's signals, should there not be a good reason for a rule
>similar to that old duping rule again?
>
Yeah, it's really ironic how this all turned out.  In 1943, the FCC forced
David Sarnoff to divest one of his networks-- he owned (gasp) two, NBC Red
and NBC Blue.  The FCC was worried about chains consolidating and having
too much power, and they wanted to ensure competition.  (And in 1928, the
FRC-- the ancestor of the FCC-- had ruled that small local stations were no
longer useful, and that big network-run stations could serve a market
better than local stations could.  So, 162 stations were arbitrarily
deleted, many of which had offered unique programming, and the entire state
of Mass. was reduced to about 11 stations total...)  Yup, we've seen all of
this before and it didn't work out well for the listeners.  It did work out
well for the sponsors and the network execs, however...

So will today's FCC try to re-assert itself?  Is it clear to most people
that de-regulation does NOT mean better radio or more competition, as it
was advertised?  Somehow, I don't think the FCC or Congress will do much to
change things, and radio will continue to become more irrelevent, as
network TV is rapidly becoming.  I hope I am wrong, of course, but based on
what has happened up to this point, I see no evidence that the current
situation in radio will improve or that any creative or controversial or
cutting edge programming will find a home on any major stations.  I await
the usual flames, but I am going to Alaska on business Friday, so those
flames might be useful!!!  

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