FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

#### March 20, 2000

# [PRESS STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER GLORIA TRISTANI]{.underline}

### *Re: Mass Media Bureau Approval of Radio License Transfers*

### *in Youngstown-Warren, Ohio and Lafayette, Louisiana*

These cases are a good illustration of how the Commission's current
radio ownership policies are not only illogical, but are doing serious
damage to the public interest.

As an initial matter, these appear to be the latest in a series of
transactions that should not have been approved under our rules limiting
the number of stations an entity can own in a market.[^1] In Youngstown,
under the Commission's rules for counting the number of radio stations
in a "market" (based on overlapping signal contours), Cumulus will own
*nine* stations in two of the markets implicated by the deal. That
exceeds the eight-station ownership limit that applies even to the
nation's largest markets (those with 45 or more stations). Similarly, in
Lafayette, Citadel will own *eleven* stations in one of the markets,
well over the eight-station limit.

As in all of these cases, the Bureau's approval is accomplished through
a bit of regulatory sleight-of-hand. After taking a broad definition of
"market" to include all nine Cumulus stations in and around Youngstown,
and all eleven Citadel stations in and around Lafayette (thus increasing
the number of stations that Cumulus and Citadel can own in those
markets), the Bureau then simply ignores some of those stations when
counting how many stations Cumulus and Citadel will own towards the
ownership cap. Tellingly, this practice of shrinking the market has
never been codified as a Commission rule. And no wonder -- there is no
rational explanation for including some stations as being in the
"market" for one purpose and not the other.

But the Commission's policies have real-world effects that go beyond bad
economics. In Youngstown, if all proposed transactions are approved, the
two largest competitors will control *95.8%* of the revenue in the
market; in Lafayette, the two largest competitors will control *71.2%*
of the revenue. There are two Commission policies that permit this to
happen. First, we define radio markets by overlapping signal contours
rather than economic reality. In the television duopoly context, we
recently changed our definition of a local television market from a
contour-based definition to a DMA-based definition. At the time, we
stated that the DMAs "are a better measure of actual television viewing
patterns, and thus serve as a good measure of the economic marketplace
in which broadcasters, program suppliers and advertisers buy and sell
their services and products."[^2] The same reasoning could apply to
radio Arbitron markets. Arbitron markets reflect the number of stations
that actually target listeners in a particular community because they
are the listeners that advertisers pay to reach. We ought to examine
whether Arbitron markets would be a more accurate measure of marketplace
reality. Youngstown and Lafayette, for instance, are not among the
largest markets in the nation, and our ownership limits should reflect
that fact.[^3]

Next, the Commission compounds the problem by taking its contour
definition of radio markets and engaging in the definitional
game-playing described above. Thus, not only is the contour-based
definition less realistic than Arbitron, but the Commission does not
even apply a rational version of its less realistic choice. The end
result is a local ownership rule that makes little sense, other than to
provide cover for a level of concentration that would otherwise be
indefensible.

We need to fix our local ownership rules or begin to meaningfully apply
Section 310(d)'s public interest standard to these license transfers. We
cannot continue to do neither.

[^1]: *See, e.g., Press Statement of Commissioner Gloria Tristani re:
    Applications for Radio License Transfers in Augusta-Waterville,
    Maine* (rel. Feb. 28, 2000); *Press Statement of Commissioner Gloria
    Tristani re: Mass Media Bureau\'s granting of applications to
    transfer radio licenses from Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting to Citadel
    Broadcasting in Portland, Maine* (rel. Aug. 19, 1999)*; Dissenting
    Statement of Commissioners Susan Ness and Gloria Tristani, In re
    Applications of Pine Bluff Radio, Inc. and Seark Radio, Inc. File
    Nos. BAL-970103EA, BALH-970103EB, BALH-970103EC* (rel. April 12,
    1999); *Joint Statement of Commissioners Susan Ness and Gloria
    Tristani, In re Station KBYB(FM), El Dorado, Arkansas*, 13 FCC Rcd
    15685 (1998).

[^2]: *See Report and Order*, FCC 99-209 (rel. Aug. 6, 1999) para. 47.

[^3]: Youngstown-Warren is the 89^th^ largest Arbitron market and
    contains only 23 stations, meaning that Cumulus would be limited to
    no more than 6 stations (Cumulus will own 8). Similarly, Lafayette
    is the 128^th^ largest Arbitron market and contains 29 stations,
    meaning that Citadel would also be limited to no more than 6
    stations (Citadel will own 8).