Is Lafayette's FM Dial oversturated???

[Fieldtech1]

For a small to midsize market i find there are too many FM stations in Lafayette. By my count Lafayette has 19 commercial FM radio stations, versus 12 for Baton Rouge and 14 for New Orleans. Also not taken into account are the 4 Baton Rouge stations whose 60dbu contour hits Lafayette with both 98.1 and 100.7 airing ads for Lafayette buisiness'. With the ad dollar pie sliced so many ways someone has to be loosing out. Thoughts?

 

[DeadElvis]

Why is that a problem?

In 1980, the FCC specifically set out to license more stations than could be expected to survive in the marketplace. More stations are better for the public than fewer, it was reasoned. It is hard to argue with that truism.

Lafayette isn't unique. Almost every market in America is similarly-situated (Heck. Try listening to some isolated western markets like Salt lake City. Yikes.). It's simply the landscape. Good operators will learn to survive in that landscape. The poor operators will not. And, if you look around the industry, that is what is happening. So long, Citadel.

DE

 

[RFLA]

Actually what I'm surprised about is there is two new rock stations in market with a third rimshotting into the market, but a market like New Orleans only has one.

But I find as Dead Elvis pointed out, in markets where there was no real competition for frequencies (Like we have in Houma, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, New Orleans proper, The Northshore, and Baton Rouge all competing for frequencies we have stations all built out... In markets where it ain't oversatuated, I'm looking for all the translators to come in between religious broadcasters and people doing TSAs with in market stations willing to make money on their HD channels and LPFM in small towns that actually are just a non profit broadcaster instead of a real community service station