Press Release
Media Consolidation Spawns New Wave of Payola
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced yesterday that his office has subpoenaed nine of the largest radio conglomerates as part of his ongoing payola investigation. Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press, made the following statement:
"Attorney General Spitzer's investigation is revealing media consolidation to be the root of all the problems of commercial radio. This new wave of payola is a natural byproduct of the rampant media consolidation that has occurred since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
"When large corporations like Clear Channel and Infinity/Viacom swallow up local radio stations, pay-for-play abuses become rampant, independent artists suffer, and the radio dial becomes a mind-numbing wasteland.
"The FCC needs to take a stronger stance against payola abuses. It has been 40 years since enactment of the payola statutes. It's time the FCC and Congress determined whether the existing rules adequately stop payola in the age of big radio."
For more information on the Free Press campaign to stop payola, see www.freepress.net/payola/
To view an interactive map showing the radio stations under investigation in Spitzer's probe, visit www.freepress.net/payola/map.php
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"Attorney General Spitzer's investigation is revealing media consolidation to be the root of all the problems of commercial radio. This new wave of payola is a natural byproduct of the rampant media consolidation that has occurred since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
"When large corporations like Clear Channel and Infinity/Viacom swallow up local radio stations, pay-for-play abuses become rampant, independent artists suffer, and the radio dial becomes a mind-numbing wasteland.
"The FCC needs to take a stronger stance against payola abuses. It has been 40 years since enactment of the payola statutes. It's time the FCC and Congress determined whether the existing rules adequately stop payola in the age of big radio."
For more information on the Free Press campaign to stop payola, see www.freepress.net/payola/
To view an interactive map showing the radio stations under investigation in Spitzer's probe, visit www.freepress.net/payola/map.php
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