MeTV FM?

[K.M. Richards]

With the above mentioned ownership caps, local radio ownership was allowed to thrive. Most of the local ownership was on the FM side of things as AM radio was king during that time period and the larger ownership groups were still trying to figure out how to monetize the FM frequencies across the country as most were either classical or easy listening elevator music formats.

I'm afraid you missed one key factor. Docket 80-90 tilted the playing field by creating new FM allocations in areas where the extra stations made it nearly impossible for everyone to get enough of the available ad dollars to survive. That imbalance is what led to consolidation, as failing owners sold out just get away from the red ink. That led to the FCC having to eliminate the old 7-7-7 ownership caps and instead set caps on the percentage of population any one owner could cover with their stations. Still, the business was "over-FM'd" and that led to loosening restrictions on number of stations in a given market.

And then came more non-radio competition, and that was the nail in the coffin of the local ownership that you decry the loss of. But 80-90 was what started it all downhill.

Here, read it for yourself. This is the required posting of the docket as approved:

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-90-49A1_Rcd.pdf

And here are some more links to discussions of why 80-90 was the fuse for what came later:

Docket 80-90

tenwatts.blogspot.com

Docket 80-90 – DickTaylorBlog

Posts about Docket 80-90 written by Dick Taylor, CRMC/CDMC

dicktaylorblog.com

BLACK RADIO OWNERSHIP AND THE FCC’S FAILED ATTEMPT TO DIVERSIFY THE AIRWAVES

African Americans were effectively shut out of radio station ownership until the 1970s. Discriminatory practices made it virtually impossible for Blacks to acquire broadcast licenses awarded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Efforts to address the issue were taken up during...

drum.lib.umd.edu

Broadcast History

Broadcast History FAQ

www.oldradio.com

 

[TheBigA]

If I recall correctly 1960 era FCC rules for the major broadcast ownership groups allowed for no more than seven AM/FM radio pairs per city, seven TV stations total for the entire country.

Yes but at that time there were about 4000 radio stations total in the country. So there was such a thing as "scarcity of spectrum." By the 70s, that idea was gone, and the FCC started adding more stations. It wasn't long before there were more than 13,000 radio stations. So all of a sudden, stations had twice as many competitors in the same market, and the ad pie hadn't grown. So twice as many stations were dividing the same amount of money. Do the math. All of a sudden, those 60s rules made no sense. So by the 80s, they increased the limits to 12-12-12. It still wasn't enough because the FCC was still adding more stations.

But yes, the stations thrived when they had a limit on the number of stations in a market. Once that went out the window, so did the profits. A lot of the heritage owners sold their stations. The diversified corporations that owned radio for investment sold their stations. No more GE, NBC, or Nationwide. From then on, it would be mainly radio-only companies owning stations. That's not good, because you need revenue diversity to make it through the dips in the economy.

This paved the way to the larger conglomerates we have today of Audacy, iHeart and Cumulus all of which have filed for at least one or two bankruptcies in recent years, cutting cost, laying off talent, gutting live a local programing in favor of voice tracking.

You ignore the fact that there were several recessions and a pandemic in there. Economic crises will lead to bankruptcies. There were radio bankruptcies before the 1996 Act too. They were caused by the various financial crises. Keep in mind that the lenders lost money in those bankruptcies. Those lenders would never have loaned money if they thought it was going to lead to bankruptcy. But there are factors beyond what very good businesses can control. That's what has happened to radio. The same thing would have happened, although quicker, had there not been consolidation.

 

[TomásEstefan]

If you are basing that on the fact that they don't appear in the public ratings that appear on Lance's site, please remember that Cumulus has been delisted while the lawsuit is pending. No Cumulus stations, in any market, appear in the current ratings.

And that also answers @JoeU's question. No one can tell him what he wants to know because none of us can see the ratings for KSFO at present.

Thanks for the info...but I would guess that 810's ratings are not very good.