A treasured figure who has been elevated into American folklore think of Wolfman Jack in American Graffiti , Cleavon Little as the magnificent DJ Super Soul in Vanishing Point , Samuel L. Jackson as Mister Se or Love Daddy in Do the Right Thing , and the laid-back headset philosopher Chris in the Morning on Northern Exposure even as he has almost completely vanished from the nation s commercial airwaves. His administration deregulated the broadcast industry. It used to be, you could own seven TV and seven radio stations in the country. And if you bought a station, you had to own it for three years. That meant that you had to be into broadcasting, you had to make it work, you had to be part of the community.
Fewer people own more radio stations.
And there s less variety, because those people who own those stations go to the same cadre of programmers to program the various types of stations that they own . . . Jim Ladd lanky, lean, clad in Levi s and a stylish vest, with longish gray hair and drooped, squinting eyes is explaining to me why radio sucks. He s the Old Music Man on the Mountain, alone in the Valley of the Suits, who s somehow managed to be given the floor. It s an odd spot to be in, and one he is grateful for. Here I am, instead of at some little podunk outlet out in the middle of nowhere with bad equipment, I m at KLOS, one of the biggest radio stations in the world, getting to do this.