Radio 2001: The homogenous airwaves

Three companies own 19 of the top 20 stations in the bay area, and it shows. But there are some bright spots on the dial.

By PAMELA DAVIS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 23, 2001

[Times photo (2000): Fraser Hale]

After just two years on the air in the Tampa Bay market, Glenn Beck’s issues-oriented talk show on WFLA-AM 970 has been syndicated to more than 45 stations nationwide.

The talk shows that air in the Tampa Bay area are mostly conservative. General interest shows are almost nonexistent; prepaid air time (think infomercials) is plentiful.

Three companies own 19 of the Tampa Bay area's top 20 stations, which means less local input and more homogenized playlists. Still, the medium trudges along, doing promotions, sponsoring concerts, creating stunts and airing traffic reports.

Even with all its faults, radio has one strength: its accessibility.

When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, those at work or in cars turned to radio for information. Morning show personalities worked well beyond their usual four-hour shift to take calls from worried listeners and report information coming from news wires and TV.

Radio did the best it could on that day with what it had. If only that would happen every day.

So now, with a nod to TV Guide's long-running feature, here are my cheers and jeers for 2001:

CHEERS to the syndication of the Glenn Beck Program. Beck's brand of issue-oriented talk laced with humor on WFLA-AM 970 earned him national exposure after only two years on the air in the Tampa Bay area. He's now heard on more than 45 stations across the country.

JEERS to the entire WXTB-FM 97.9 (98 Rock) morning show for staging a "Roadkill Barbecue" and then getting defensive with everyone who opposed the on-air torturing and killing of a boar in the station's parking lot.

JEERS PART II to WHPT-FM 102.5 for plastering the roadways of Tampa Bay with a billboard campaign joking about the 98 Rock boar controversy -- months after the fact. Why not use the space to promote the local morning team of Fisher & Napoleon on sister station WSUN-FM 97.1 (97X)?

CHEERS to WQYK-FM 99.5 for earning the prestigious Country Music Association major market of the year award after 30 years of broadcasting country to the Tampa Bay area. Cheers also to morning man Skip Mahaffey, who was voted CMA broadcast personality of the year (his second CMA award).

CHEERS to Rush Limbaugh for admitting his deafness and continuing to broadcast his show. For a radio personality on his level to experience such a drastic hearing loss is a career tragedy. Whether you love or hate him, Limbaugh has been the leader of the conservative talk movement for the past 15 years.

CHEERS to National Public Radio's coverage of the terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan. With the absence of all-news stations in the Tampa Bay area (and most of the country, for that matter), NPR has become destination listening.

JEERS to commercial radio's lack of all-news stations and news departments. Local radio stations were forced to simulcast TV news coverage on Sept. 11 and had little to offer in the days following.

CHEERS to the launch of satellite radio. Since consolidation changed the face of radio and turned it into cookie-cutter broadcasting, paying for radio (like cable TV) may be the only way to hear something different and original. And wherever you go, the signal is there.

JEERS to the barrage of radio commercials for Body Solutions, Metabolife and other weight loss products. Listeners aren't stupid. Just because local radio personalities, who are being paid, do the ads and say they've lost lots of weight doesn't mean we're going to believe them, especially when they claim to have lost weight while they slept.

CHEERS to community station WMNF-FM 88.5 for taking an active role in an ongoing dispute at Pacifica Radio by airing the alternative newscast Free Speech Radio and Democracy Now: The War and Peace Report.

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