Welcome to another installment of Radio Refuse, a series of vents/editorials about the negatives of Marconi's wonderful invention, primarily in the Boston area market.
Today we're taking a look at the largest owner of radio stations in the country, owning almost 900 stations, including 17 in my home state of Massachusetts! Today, I'm talking about iHeartMedia (or iHeartRadio), and the way they've been homogenizing and ruining the radio industry.
The company known nowadays as iHeartMedia was founded in San Antonio, TX in 1972 as Clear Channel Communications, named after the fact that their 1st station they acquired was a clear channel AM station, meaning that the station's power could remain the same at night, as AM radio signals go farther at night. A great local example is WBZ 1030, a News format station.
The then-Clear Channel also owned Live Nation, the company that produces several concerts, and A Star Is Born (the one with Lady Gaga and the cilantro of a song 'Shallow' [you either like it, or you don't, lol]).
And the Clear Channel name lives on, through the outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor. I guess they kept the Clear Channel name for that, because of the sheer amount of billboards emblazoned with the Clear Channel logo.
(Look at the bottom of the billboard, next to the "001500".)
But in this post, I'm going to talk about their radio business, and how it's causing the downfall of the industry.
Like I said, iHeartMedia was founded as Clear Channel Communications in 1972, named after the fact that their first radio station, WOAI-AM (San Antonio, TX) was a clear channel station.
Throughout the company's existance, they've gone through several mergers and acquisitions, and in their prime, owned 1,500 stations (this was after the acquisition of AMFM Holdings, who owned 500 stations). Because of their endless acquisitions, they're in so much debt that they filed for bankrupcy in 2018, only to emerge the following year.
My main gripes with iHeartMedia are the homogenization of the radio industry on their part, the fact that they give away $1,000 every hour even though they have massive debt, and the quality of their programs.
First, the homogenization of the industry on their part cannot be understated. Every few minutes on an iHeart station, there's an ad for the iHeartRadio app, an announcer gleefully stating that the station you're listening to is "an iHeartRadio station", even outside of the top of the hour station ID. It's like the folks at iHeart think that people listen to a station because of the station's ownership. That is NOT the case. People listen to a station for the music, the personalities, or just because it's a good station they grew up with. They don't go around saying "I LiSTeN To P102 bECaUSe WEeNiE BrOAdCAStInG OwNS tHe StATIoN HuRrDY DUrR!" And also, the fact that they own almost 900 stations around the country, it just shows their stance on ruining the radio industry.
Next is the fact they give away money every hour, and blow millions of dollars on the iHeartRadio Music Festival and the iHeartRadio Music Awards, even though they have a large amount of debt. Doesn't that sound like a stupid business practice?
iHeartRadio: *is in a multitude of financial issues*
Also iHeartRadio: Win a GRAND on us! Text "WINNER" to this number!
Also Also iHeartRadio: IT'S THE IHEARTRADIO MUSIC AWARDS!
Their program quality is terrible as well. Especially on their talk stations. Like I said in the post about WRKO, their talk stations are around the same league as Sinclair Broadcast Group in terms of their political stances. One show they have, that only plays on WRKO, called The Kuhner Report (obviously titled that to make it sound reliable, when honestly, it's a four-hour tantrum directed towards the middlers and leftists, broadcast live over the airwaves), embodies this to a T. This show, hosted by Jeff Kuhner, makes Sinclair's must-run propaganda stories look like Sky News in the UK. He's made misogynistic, racist remarks about Boston's mayor Michelle Wu, calling her a witch, and saying she is the one who let all the undocumented immigrants into Massachusetts. SHE DID NOT DO ANYTHING OF THAT SORT. HE'S PROBABLY MAD BECAUSE MAYOR WU IS THE FIRST ASIAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO BE MAYOR OF BOSTON!
These are the main reasons why iDon'tHeart iHeartRadio. Thanks for reading...
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