“The radio industry… is an example of an industry that was doing pretty well, and they gutted it.”
The “they” is the private equity industry, which provided the financing to companies like Clear Channel (iHeartRadio) and Cumulus to go on the epic buying sprees that resulted in today’s enormously consolidated commercial radio landscape. Investigative reporter Josh Korman explains how this happened in the documentary “Corporate.FM.”
The film debuted six years ago at the Kansas City Film Festival, when Jennifer Waits also interviewed director Kevin McKinney for Radio Survivor. The film had been in the back of my mind when I noticed that it was available for streaming on Amazon Prime. So, of course, I sat down to watch it.
Kinney told Jennifer that, “The film is about the downfall of commercial FM. I believe that community radio, college radio and even NPR do not fill the void that was left when we lost commercial radio as a medium to support the community, because these stations do not have the same audience.”
It the opening sequence, “Commercial.FM” lays out its raison d’être: “The power of radio is that our neighbors are listening to it at the same time, and together we create a critical mass of support at the local level.”
The film vividly illustrates this point, and how its promise has been mortgaged, through the voices and experience of people who work, or have worked, in the industry. Kinney spotlights talent from Kansas City, Lawrence, Kansas, and San Diego, all of whom have been affected by industry consolidation. Their stories are further illuminated by experts like journalist Eric Boehlert and Prof. Robert McChesney, who have researched and documented media consolidation.
Though I think it’s a perspective that deserves airing, I have to admit that going in I was expecting “Corporate.FM” to focus primarily on the cultural aspects of commercial radio’s decline, of how local DJs who would play local bands got replaced by nationalized playlists and voice tracking. It’s important to recognize this effect, but it’s also very well tread ground.
Instead, I was impressed at how effectively the film tells the political economic story that’s at the root of these changes. In very clear terms it lays out how ownership deregulation – in the form of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 – legalized and incentivized massive corporate buyouts leveraged with debt. These deals generated windfall profits in the short term, and enriched bankers and executives in the long term, at the expense of hundreds of jobs, the death of localism and the 20-year blood-letting of an entire industry. It does this without getting lost in jargon, or just boring the viewer to death.
As one commentator says in the first three minutes of the documentary, “The internet didn’t kill radio. The commercial radio industry is killing itself.”
“Corporate.FM” makes that case solidly.
If you have Amazon Prime it’s a must-see. If you don’t, it’s also available for rent or purchase, and I’d say it’s well worth the $1.99 rental, even if you think you know the story. Seriously, it’s a story I’ve been following for 22 years (and I’m kind of a cynical old bastard, too), and I found a lot to like and learn in “Corporate.FM.”
Watch the trailer:
