Clear Channel to enhance radio ads with RDS

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 11:38:53 -0500, Larry Weil <kc1ih@mac.com> said:

> Yea, I know, the lowest common denominator thing, while the
> wal-marts and other big-box stores appeal to that crowd, there are
> still numerous successful specialty stores.

That's an interesting analogy, and one worth pursuing, because it
points out an important difference between the world of broadcasting
and the world of retailing.

Except in communities with fascist zoning, the existence of a Wal-Mart
or a Best Buy does not exclude the presence of a fashion boutique, a
quality cutler's, or a firebottle-oriented hi-fi store.  By contrast,
the way the broadcast spectrum is regulated, the radio equivalents of
Wal-Mart can effectively keep a ``boutique'' operator out simply by
dint of owning all of the signals which could make the ``boutique''
business profitable.  (It should be obvious that, unless the audience is
unsuaully geographically concentrated, ``boutique'' programming
requires greater geographical coverage to make up for the reduction in
mass appeal if it is going to be profitable.  Of course, it is also
more expensive to produce than ``Wal-Mart'' programming.)  The
situation in broadcasting, if we are to continue to stretch this
analogy, is more analogous to a company town like Reedy Creek
Improvement District than it is to anything that exists here.

(On the other hand, one can make a credible argument that the
situation of the broadcast spectrum is very much like the situation in
Eastern Mass. with supermarkets, where there has been an effective
duopoly for so long that all of the potentially valuable locations are
long-since locked up by the existing supermarket chains and the
companies in league with them, to the extent that it would be
extremely costly for any potential competitor to move in.  Being
vastly superior would still not make it an economic proposition for a
new entrant to this market, because the cost of developing a network
of entirely new site would far outweigh the potential profit.)

-GAWollman