Billy Kitson wrote:

>The Brisbane STATION is Run "BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE" & I KNOW that
>Billions were Not Acquired - I was there whilst it went on = as the $$$s
>came slowly in - a Bit more was done = @ one time the Aerial was "sat"
>transmitting IN A SWAMP!!  Honestly, It was all Not on enthusiasm and
>DONE ON A SHOE STRING BUDGET!!  It can be Done!!

Ah, but I'm sure that Australia has a far different set of broadcasting
laws than the ones that our solons have recently seen fit to bestow on us.
At this point, U.S. radio is completely (if I am not mistaken) deregulated,
meaning that a company can buy as many stations in one city as it wants,
and as many around the country (and probably the world) as it wants. So
almost all of the commercial FM stations have by now been bought up by a
few huge companies at prices no one else can reach. And naturally they
would never consider broadcasting anything but the lowest (rock-bottom)
common denominator of aural entertainment.

Since the FM spectrum has a limited size, there are only so many stations
that can be squeezed in, and in an area like Philadelphia, there is simply
no room for any more. The areas that the existing stations can cover are
very precisely defined, and their transmitters are carefully adjusted so
that they can coexist cheek by jowl. Where I live, in the western suburbs,
a college CM station in Trenton, NJ which has a repeater in central
Philadelphia cannot be heard, because it cannot interfer with other
stations.

Under these conditions, the pressures on non-profit stations (universities,
etc.) to sell are becoming irresistible, and a number of them have already
succumbed. As I understand it though, digital broadcasting, which is coming
real soon now (?), will alleviate the situation somewhat by allowing the
public stations which still exist to broadcast several sets of programs at
once on their existing frequencies. A local public station which dropped CM
years ago is making noises about putting a CM service on one of its new
channels; we'll see if it actually happens. Also, we'll have to buy new
radios, of course, which are bound to be very expensive when they first
appear (like digital TV sets). And there is the ever-present threat of
public radio being squeezed out of existence altogether by the eternal
frenzied quest for more profit.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]