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 NEWS  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Cir.  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  Contact:  William  J.  Friedman  February  21,  2001  (202)  418-  2300 
 PRESS  STATEMENT  OF  FCC  COMMISSIONER  GLORIA  TRISTANI 
 Re:  Application  for  Radio  License  Transfer 
 from  Titus  Broadcasting  to  Clear  Channel  Broadcasting  in  Binghamton,  NY 


 The  Mass  Media  Bureau  has  granted  a  license  transfer  that  will  permit  two  radio  station 
 group  owners  to  control  91.2%  of  the  radio  advertising  revenues  in  the  Binghamton,  New  York 
 Arbitron  market.  I  doubt  this  level  of  concentration  of  revenues,  which  indicates  corresponding 
 control  of  the  public  airwaves  in  Binghamton,  serves  the  public  interest. 


 Unlike  some  cases,  in  which  the  Bureau  has  approved  license  transfers  involving  levels 
 of  revenue  concentration  comparable  to  this  case  because  they  involved  only  the  transfer  of 
 existing  radio  station  group  combinations  from  one  owner  to  another,  this  transfer  creates  new 
 concentration  to  the  market.  This  increased  concentration  makes  it  even  less  likely  that  a  third 
 competitor  could  enter  the  Binghamton  market.  Instead,  as  a  result  of  this  approval,  Binghamton 
 will  likely  be  relegated  to  a  duopoly.  Duopolies  like  this  make  it  significantly  more  likely  that 
 there  will  be  no  real  competition  for  advertising  revenue.  Instead,  businesses  and  listeners  will 
 face  the  increasing  likelihood  that  the  two  dominant  owners  will  engage  in  advertising  price 
 discrimination  and  other  collusive  behavior  that  contravenes  the  public  interest. 


 Instead  of  simply  granting  the  license  transfer,  I  would  have  considered  other  options  -- 
 e.  g.,  a  showing  that  the  Binghamton  market  cannot  support  three  competitors,  so  the  license 
 transfer  to  Clear  Channel  was  the  only  realistic  option.  Or  consider  whether  the  station  at  issue 
 was  financially  unlikely  to  survive,  and  whether  the  current  owner  attempted  to  find  other 
 buyers?  To  my  knowledge,  such  questions  were  never  asked.  As  a  result,  we  may  never  know  if 
 the  cementing  of  a  duopoly  in  Binghamton  was  inevitable,  or  simply  another  case  of  regulatory 
 malfeasance  by  the  FCC. 


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