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LEAD-IN BY HOST: Last weekend, the Pacifica Foundation Governing Board unanimously passed a resolution asking the FCC not to lift ownership caps for the nation's media outlets. (spell out) The Pacifica board pointed to Clear Channel's stronghold on the nation's radio dial as a reason not to allow such consolidation to contine. Why did the Pacifica board pick Clear Channel? In tonight's media criticism, Brandon Moeller examines the conglomerate's effect on Houston: CRITICISM: Clear Channel sucks. Dot com is just one of many Web sites critical of the gigantic empire of radio stations, concert promotions and outdoor billboards headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Here in Houston, Clear Channel nearly owns the Federal Communication Commision's mandated maximum of 8 outlets - that's 3 AM and 4 FM stations scattered across the local spectrum. Clear Channel acquired most of these stations soon after the 1996 Telecommunications Act raised the local-market radio ownership cap from 2 to 8. The 1996 law also killed the previous 28-station limit one company can own nationwide. After getting their hands on almost as many stations as they could own in Houston, Clear Channel moved their FM outlets to one floor in an office building on Post Oak boulevard. Their three AM stations are housed in one building - just down the street from KPFT. [Sources close to the floor said many employees have been downsized because of how the stations cooperate under Clear Channel's reign.] Clear Channel now owns over 1200 stations across the land thanks to the merging of over 70 companies. This giant corporation owns more than 10 percent of the nation's total radio outlets. Clear Channel's major competitor, Infinity Broadcasting, owns around 200 stations. [So what does this mean for Houstonians? Well, Clear Channel is sooo big that it almost nearly circumvented another monopoly: Arbitron. Arbitron rates radio stations, publishing the results, which in turn is how the stations decide how much to charge for advertising, which seems to be the major reason why most stations are on the air these days. Of course, radio is a business, but when an AM news station plays an hour and a quarter of advertising in a four hour morning news broadcast, as I observed on July 21, it becomes crystal clear what commercial radio really cares about. The same broadcast devoted a mere 22 minutes to local news, not counting traffic, weather, sports and entertainment. It gets worse. Clear Channel not only owns KTRH 740 AM, but also 950 AM, another talk and news station in the area.] One of the most important reasons for radio to exist is the distribution of news and information to the public. One would imagine that Clear Channel, being the largest radio corporation in the country, would have the best news service. Wrong. In fact, when four planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the pentagon and a field, Clear Channel had no reporters on the ground covering arguably the biggest story of the decade. They didn't even have a syndicate news service in place to deliver reports. Instead, on-air personalities had to deliver reports based on watching television, or some other media form. Since then, Clear Channel has pledged to get some sort of news apparatus in place. In Houston, they've signed on with Associated Press radio for their FM stations. [But what about music? Ever wonder why you always hear the same songs over and over on Clear Channel stations? It's because they leave little choice to their deejays and instead relying on marketing to determine what is played. Also, there's a complicated system of record companies paying independent promoters who get paid everytime the songs they promote make it onto a playlist at a station. Though the government has outlawwed payola, there's still plenty of loopholes for the same dirty bag of tricks.] The Pacifica governing board has officially asked the FCC not to relax its rules so that more of Clear Channel-esque antics can not prevail. One of the rules the FCC may get rid of is a national cap that prevents a broadcasting company to own more than a 35 percent share of the nation's total audience. If Pacifica gets its way, democracy and diversity of voices will be allowed to continue to barely survive on the airwaves. But if the companies get their way, it may be soon that everything is owned by 3-4 conglomerates as radio consolidation reaches critical mass. Brandon Moeller, KPFT News, Houston. E-mail Brandon Moeller at brandonmoeller@hotmail.com . This story was broadcast on December 27, 2002.