And two of those owners control 9 of the 15 stations in Abilene. There's no doubt that some consolidation can be a good thing for listeners. Like any business, when more than one station can share staff and resources, the public can receive services that wouldn't otherwise be possible. A small stand-alone station may not be able to afford to produce any regular news programming. But combine it with a bigger station in town and news may become economically feasible.
Consolidation also makes it easier for advertisers to buy radio time, which brings in more revenues.
And consolidation may provide the flexibility to experiment with different formats and diverse programming that a single station wouldn't have. Again, take a look at Abilene. Sure, there are fewer owners, but there were 9 different formats before the consolidation took place and there are 9 different formats now. An owner with several stations can now target each one at a different audience in order to better serve advertisers. But consolidation also carries its share of risks.