Quote:
Originally posted by The_Dude
i think that no government intervention would let the companies sort this out.
here is a scenario:
companies start influencing news w/ their viewpoints. so, viewers would likely switch to a different station for the news = loss of ad revenues for the biased station.
i think the "invisible hand" can work here
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In NYC one of the largest markets....
Viacom (company that I work for...)
for TV news owns CBS, UPN
radio newschannels 1010WINS, 880WCBS
radio music format over 5 stations from Oldies to TOP40
for Cable channels Nickolodeon, MTV, VH1, TNN, CMT, Showtime, BET
The invisible hand cannot work in such a tough market, with little or no selection, you just go to what you can see.
As a news machine they can "censor" or "promote" who they want through their machine.
Now, Sumner Redstone (Viacom), Mel Karmazin (Viacom), Michael Eisner (Disney), Rupert Murdoch (FOX), Steve Case (AOL/TW), all are friends. They protect each other and look out for each other's interests.
There just isn't enough room anymore for an INDEPENDANT channel... even PBS has to fight hard to compete and they get government monies and subsidies from other corporations.
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