Format Monopolies: The Evolution of “Nationwide Format Oligopolies”

Abstract

Almost ten years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 26 different radio station formats in Arbitron's 296 survey areas were examined in 2005 as a followup to Wirth's 2001 “Nationwide Format Oligopolies.” This longitudinal study sought to ascertain if format oligopolies (four companies reaching over 50% of a specific radio format's audience nationally) had evolved into format duopolies (two companies reaching over 50% of a specific radio format's audience nationally) and into format monopolies (one company reaching over 50% of a specific radio format's audience nationally). Five format monopolies, 7 format duopolies, 13 format oligopolies, and 1 format non-oligopoly were documented.

Notes

¹An oligopoly is “a form of capitalism in which a few firms produce most of the output and large capital requirements limit the number of firms” (Gitman & McDaniel, 1992, p. 761).

² DiCola & Thomson (2002) do not actually calculate radio industry market share on a station ownership basis. However, they do report that 13,066 licensed stations exist in the U.S. and that the top four companies own 1,233, 248, 206, and 183 radio stations respectively. This equals a 14.3% market share for the top four companies on a station ownership basis.

³A metro cume is an Arbitron construct that represents the number of unique listeners who tuned to a particular station in a metro market survey area during the broadcast week (Arbitron, 1990).