The Link Between Big Media and Indecency

[Commentary] Of all the indecency fines levied by the FCC in radio in the years 2000-03, a full 96% were imposed against four of the nation's largest radio-station ownership groups: Clear Channel, Viacom, Entercom and Emmis. Yet those companies owned only 12% of the total radio stations, with a 48% recent share of the national radio audience. In contrast, the 88% of the nation's radio stations not owned by these four station groups, with a combined national audience share of 51%, were responsible for just 4% of FCC indecency violations. The data also show a repeated pattern: Following the elimination of ownership limits in 1996, a local station would be sold to a large station-ownership group, which then eliminated local content and replaced it with an edgy/raunchy show that it produced in another market, causing the station to receive an FCC indecency fine for the first time in its history.
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