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Comments on news posted 2012-12-06 10:50:16: The FCC is being slammed by everyone from consumer advocacy outfits to former FCC staffers for their latest stance on media consolidation. ..


DC DSL
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join:2000-07-30
Washington, DC
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DC DSL

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The Reason...

...that newspapers and local TV and radio stations are dying is in no small part the direct result of the consolidation over the last 25 years. The deep-pocket conglomerates control the broadcast product and make it increasingly difficult for independents to obtain it. On top of that, the current marketplace makes it impossible for alternatives that exploit the Internet as a medium to gain sufficient traction. Break up the megaliths like Comcast/NBC/Universal, Viacom, Clear Channel, and News Corp. Restore the previous limitations on market and national ownership. Not only will competition flourish, the quality of product will dramatically improve, since it won't be a single, captive audience from coast-to-coast.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

The reason for this is Raycom who recently purchased a HUGE amount of Liberty assets needed away around the anti-trust issues. This was due to Raycom would NOW own over 50% of the media/TV stations in markets. So instead of having 2 stations now, you get 1 station that runs syndicated news coverage. Tape it once and reply it on the other stations with a generic background from the 60s.

And breaking up Comcast Communications, ViaCom or Clear Channel won't give you much competition. The amount of money that would be needed wouldn't be there. Especially when CC owns 5+ stations in one market. And they're ALL in the same studio.

FFH5
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join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

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said by DC DSL:

Break up the megaliths like Comcast/NBC/Universal, Viacom, Clear Channel, and News Corp. Restore the previous limitations on market and national ownership. Not only will competition flourish, the quality of product will dramatically improve, since it won't be a single, captive audience from coast-to-coast.

Independent newspapers and TV stations can no longer exist because of the costs involved.

Newspapers not owned by some large national corporation are nothing but ad platforms spewing the AP Newswire and pages of ads. None can afford locally paid reporters on their own.

The days of local TV stations with their investigative reporters are long gone and not coming back.

Changing FCC rules can't reverse the grim economics of the situation.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

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And when you live in some cities the local news paper stories become the local news. LoL.
b10010011
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join:2004-09-07
united state

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Agreed: I live in a small market every single radio station except for the college station, a low power independent, and religious stations are owned by one company. Twenty years ago the main AM news station had two hours of local news in the morning, an hour of local news at noon, and locally originated programing on all day long. Now they are all 24/7 nationally syndicated talk radio with five minutes of national news on the hour, no local news or local content at all.

We only have one TV station in the area. It used to have an hour of two of local news in the morning. About a year ago that station was bought by some conglomerate. They came in fired the entire staff, now it is a robo-station playing old reruns 24/7. No local content or news.

We basically have no local news beyond a small newspaper owned by Hurst, I think. That has been cutting news staff for the last decade leaving us with very little local content.

I constantly hear people (conservatives especially) pissing and moaning about the "drive by media" and how they all take a single story and repeat it. That is because there is no media anymore. There is only two or three sources of news and the vast majority of media outlets have no real staff to research and write news, all they can do is read or reprint the news that comes from corporate headquarters.

You will hear these same people arguing that restricting media ownership will somehow restrict free speech and the free press.

DC DSL
There's a reason I'm Command.
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join:2000-07-30
Washington, DC
Actiontec GT784WN

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DC DSL to FFH5

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said by FFH5:

Independent newspapers and TV stations can no longer exist because of the costs involved.

Newspapers not owned by some large national corporation are nothing but ad platforms spewing the AP Newswire and pages of ads. None can afford locally paid reporters on their own.

The days of local TV stations with their investigative reporters are long gone and not coming back.

Changing FCC rules can't reverse the grim economics of the situation.

Absolutely wrong. Conglomerates only serve the interests of their executives and Wall Street, not the greater public interest. Advertising, which is the fuel of print and broadcast, has been forced into a pricing model that only favors large enough businesses and conglomerate-size audiences. Break up those conglomerates and ad rates will have no alternative but to return to levels that are compatible with smaller-market players. Ditto for content. In broadcast, it means programming has to become more competitive since it will no longer enjoy the monopoly of single-point national carriage. In print, with local ad revenue bumped up, papers can again hire the reporters and staff to deliver the focus and coverage they used to. And, there will be greater freedom to experiment with Internet or VOD alternatives on a market-by-market, and product-by-product basis. The current model is completely focused on preserving the classic venues and revenue model, and completely defies and ignores the demands of consumers.
rdmiller
join:2005-09-23
Richmond, VA

rdmiller

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Nobody's watching

Except for sports, nobody watches what used to be called broadcast TV anymore. They will be going the way of newspapers. The FCC is just making sure someone is around to turn out the lights.
firedrakes
join:2009-01-29
Arcadia, FL

firedrakes

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the government. the btchs of the corporations

chip89
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join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

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Re: The Reason...

That's what its like in Cleveland all the stations are owned by Clear Channel.

Suggarstalk
@190.218.99.x

Suggarstalk

Anon

Government sponsored monopoly.

This is so wrong it goes on the par with corruption and betrayal of public trust. Last I heard, News Corp - of Murdoch fame. was acquiring 2 more papers in major US markets.