WASHINGTON — The Center for Creative Voices in Media (CCVM) examined radio stations that violated federal rules for indecency and found most were affiliated with a few large media companies.
Jonathan Rintels, executive director of CCVM and lead author of the study, Ownership Concentration and Indecency in Broadcasting, said one of the unintended consequences of deregulating the broadcast industry may have been an increase in indecency.
“Of all the indecency fines levied by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in radio, 96 percent were levied against four of the nation’s largest radio station ownership groups, Clear Channel, Viacom, Entercom and Emmis,” Rintels said.
He pointed out that the four companies own only 12 percent of radio stations, reaching 48.6 percent of the nation’s radio audience.
The report suggested that an effective approach to the problem might include “breaking up large station groups, reintroducing meaningful station ownership limits and limiting vertical integration of ownership of programming and distribution.”
Philip Napoli, a professor at Fordham University in New York and co-author of the study, said the big companies may simply be less intimidated by having to pay an FCC fine.
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