of syndicated programming.” At least in music radio, however, one reason why this
model may not work is that music has traditionally been licensed using blanket licenses
issued by ASCAP, SESAC, or BMI, with terms that do not vary across companies,
thereby removing the bargaining stage that drives Inderst and Shaffer’s results.
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An alternative story would be that national owners reduce quality because, by doing
so, they can reduce production costs using methods that might not be feasible for inde-
pendent stations. An example here is the use of “voice tracking,” where a DJ located in
one city can produce pre-recorded programming to be aired in a number of other, usually
smaller, cities, but which still “sounds local” in the sense that listeners are not told that the
programming is pre-recorded and produced outside the market, and may contain refer-
ences to local places or events.
62,63
There are two divergent attitudes to voice tracking. The first view is that it allows
high-quality talent to be used in smaller markets, where talent of this type could never
be afforded if the presenter had to be physically present in the market where the broadcast
was aired. The alternative view is that even if the outside presenter is skilled, some impor-
tant element of quality must be lost when the presenter is not familiar with the local mar-
ket or simply that many listeners would dislike the fact that the programming is produced
outside the market if they were actually aware of it. While it may be hard to rationalize
why consumers should dislike the fact that presenters are outside of the market per se, such
preferences are not necessarily invalid and it provides a possible explanation for the fact
that broadcasters try to disguise the fact that out-of-market presenters are being used.
A practical concern is that when all programming is produced outside of the market
and stations are operated remotely, they may not be able to provide vital information
in the case of sudden local emergencies.
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61
As will be discussed in Section 8.9.2, the use of general blanket licenses has recently begun to change as
some large radio station owners, such as Clear Channel, have struck deals regarding fees for performance
rights with record labels. Therefore one might believe that even if the insights of the Inderst and Shaffer
model have not been relevant in the past, they may be in the future.
62
For an example of how Clear Channel used voice tracking in the early 2000s, see “Clear Channel Uses
High-Tech Gear to Perfect the Art of Sounding Local”, Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2002 (
http://
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1014589283422253080, accessed January 2, 2014).
63
The use of pre-recorded programming is not new, as stations have used pre-recorded programming since
the 1970s. However, prior to 1987, the FCC required that a majority of non-network programming
should be produced at a local studio (FCC Report on Broadcast Localism and Notice of Proposed
Rule-Making 07–218, 2007, p. 15,
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-
218A1.pdf, accessed January 2, 2014). Recent technical innovations have also made it much easier to
attain a local sound more efficiently using out-of-market presenters (for example, allowing a 3-h music
show to be produced in less than half an hour).
64
The example that is usually cited is a 2002 train derailment near Minot, North Dakota that led to a poi-
sonous gas cloud spreading toward the town. All six local stations were owned by Clear Channel and
operated remotely, and local emergency services were unable to get information broadcast in a timely
fashion. One person died and 1000 people were injured in the disaster (
Klinenberg, 2007).
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Radio