It takes significant capital to operate or acquire other frequencies, upgrade and expand facilities, and launch major new program initiatives. There appear to be a number of opportunities for public radio to extend its franchise or brand in new media and new services. As a result Discovery and a number of other cable channels are now directly competing for the public television audience. As public and private entities face budget problems there may be a number of noncommercial frequencies for sale. Some management changes leave stations floating for lengthy periods of time without proper attention for the radio business.
Public radio has a strong, viable product with a highly desirable audience.
Companies which now own eight stations in a single market and 100 to 200 stations nationally are more likely to look at smaller programming niches in markets where they control a significant share of the audience. There are a number of opportunities that exist for securing new frequencies for public radio. The overall goal should be to add new service or secure operating agreements with institutional public radio stations. These JSAs would enable a group of public radio stations to establish national and regional sales representation for public radio, and offer direct local sales to stations, particularly institutional licensees, which have difficulty with the compensation and training of sales and marketing staff. Negotiate policy initiatives with the FCC which would encourage a donation, or long term operational control, of stations owned by groups in major markets which have reached their in-market ownership limits.