 cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:7 | Few broadcast channels quote:
The days when Americans’ home video options were limited to a few broadcast television channels are long gone.
Great. So we've gone from a few broadcast channels owned by multiple different people/companies to many different broadcast channels owned by a few people/companies. Not sure which is better (or worse). |
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 chip89
join:2012-07-05
Independence, OH | To late Clear channel radio owns all the radio stations here besides NPR. |
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| TV The FCC has made it nearly impossible to create a TV station in this country, despite there being ample room for more stations in many areas. That's the real problem. It doesn't matter who owns them, they all have network television anyway. |
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 LinklistPremium
join:2002-03-03
Longport, NJ
kudos:5 | said by silbaco:The FCC has made it nearly impossible to create a TV station in this country, despite there being ample room for more stations in many areas.
Are there companies waiting in line to start up new TV stations? I seriously doubt it.
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A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. |
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 elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO | reply to cdru
Re: Few broadcast channels what thehell might as well at this point
maybe once there is only one mega corp left in the US the people will wake up |
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| reply to Linklist
Re: TV You doubt something you have no knowledge about. |
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Re: To late They don't own anywhere near all the stations. But if you want to blame someone, blame Bain Capital for buying a profitable radio company that wasn't obsessed with laying off everyone they possibly can and trashing it. It is only a matter of time before Clear Channel fires all their air staff and uses syndication nationwide because Bain buried them in debt and made them lose over 400 stations. |
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| funny It's funny: As I am reading this article, I look up at the top of the page and see a banner ad for Comcast Broadband. |
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 jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Ashburn, VA
kudos:1 | said by skittleluvor:It's funny: As I am reading this article, I look up at the top of the page and see a banner ad for Comcast Broadband.
This isn't CBS. The opinions here often chastise the hand that feeds them. It's refreshing. |
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 RWSI
join:2012-11-27
Albuquerque, NM | reply to skittleluvor
Make sure your using ad blocking with your browser and the annoyance will go away.
Comcast will eventually be made to play in the same as Centurylink,Verizon, and the others.
Fees, extra taxes..taxes...taxes and of course hidden charges. |
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| Not a real surprise Quelle surprise! Apologist for fatcats wants to make life easier for fatcats at the expense of everyone else! Film at 11. |
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 Cthen
join:2004-08-01
Detroit, MI | reply to skittleluvor
Re: funny That's odd, my account here is not even premium and I don't see any ads. |
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Re: TV The issue isn't just if there are companies waiting to start these stations. The real issue is how licenses are handed out. In the past, if you had two or more applicants for the same allocation, then the FCC would pick a winner based on several factors, including the perceived commitment of each applicant to serving the local community. Granted, this was a subjective process, but we don't have to worry about that anymore, since Congress mandated that the FCC assign the license to the highest bidder in an auction. So now, if you're a local guy who wants to build a local station, and a company like Clear Channel wants that license, that company will almost certainly get it, since they can doubtless outbid you. And companies will often snatch up licenses to keep out competition. In fact, that very thing happened here back in the 1990s. A new allocation was opened up on channel 23, and Sinclair didn't want to have another station competing with their WTTO/WDBB combo. At the time, ownership limits kept them from going for the license themselves, so they arranged to have another entity bid on it. The station had to be put on the air or the construction permit would expire, so it did go on the air--with a shopping channel, and it stayed that way until it went bankrupt a few years ago and was donated to the University of Alabama.
So the deck is stacked against any potential independent companies putting stations in the air in all but the smallest markets that the big companies don't care to enter. And, even in those markets, if there's the potential to relocate the station to a larger market (and you'd be surprised how far a station can be moved), then a large company may still be interested, in which case you will certainly be outbid.
Oh, one more thing. You may have heard about low power FM stations, which were supposed to bring local, community-based programming back. Well, at the urging of large broadcasting companies, represented by the NAB, and even public broadcasters, Congress passed legislation to forbid these stations on the first and second-adjacent channels to a full-power station. The stated reason was to prevent potential interference, but no one believes this, since full-power stations don't have to be spaced that far from each other. The real intent was to reduce the number of available channels that could be used by an LPFM, since third-adjacent channels are hard to come by and can be impossible to get in larger markets with more stations. And, just for clarification, what this means is, if you have a full-power station on 95.5, then the closest LPFM stations could be no closer than 94.9 and 96.1. A really clever way to keep out potential competition. |
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b10010011Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
Bellingham, WA Reviews:
 ·Comcast Formerl..
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Re: funny Banner ad? What's a banner ad? |
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mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI | reply to silbaco
Re: TV said by silbaco:You doubt something you have no knowledge about.
Do you know of any companies that have been denied licenses? |
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KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | reply to silbaco
Re: To late said by silbaco:They don't own anywhere near all the stations. But if you want to blame someone, blame Bain Capital for buying a profitable radio company that wasn't obsessed with laying off everyone they possibly can and trashing it. It is only a matter of time before Clear Channel fires all their air staff and uses syndication nationwide because Bain buried them in debt and made them lose over 400 stations.
Every time I read about Bain Capital I cannot help but to think of the classic vikings from stories. Rape, Pillage, Burn.. Sail away to the next target.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
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dylking
join:2001-07-31
Saint Paul, MN | Maybe... All I can think of is Demolition Man, where there ends up being only one restaurant in the future.
maybe that's what Mr Ajit Pai is after... |
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 60632649Premium
join:2003-09-29
New York, NY | Big toothed political That guy's got some serious big teeth, he looks like a standard sharky political, trust that at your own peril.
Just sayin'. |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
 ·Frontier Communi..
| reply to ISurfTooMuch
Re: TV I think channels 2-6 should be turned into an expanded radio broadcast band, either digital or analog. Very few broadcasters use these channels for DTV because atmospheric noise, skip, and large receiving antenna sizes, make low band VHF unappealing.
The biggest problem would be getting radio manufacturers to produce new radios to cover the expanded broadcast band, and the sheer number of old radios that wouldn't cover it, guaranteeing low listener count for whoever puts a station there. |
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