FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact:  William J. Friedman
February 6, 2001	(202) 418-2300



PRESS STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER GLORIA TRISTANI 


Re:  Applications for Radio License Transfers 
from Southard Radio, Inc. to Golden Isles Broadcasting in Brunswick, Georgia

	The Mass Media Bureau has granted license transfers that will permit two group owners 
to control 93.9% of the radio ad revenues in the Brunswick, Georgia Arbitron market.  I have 
serious doubts that this level of concentration of the public airwaves is in the public interest.

	The Bureau’s rationale for its action relies on the fact that this case involves the transfer 
of an existing station combination from one entity (Southard Radio) to another (Golden Isles 
Broadcasting).  In the Bureau’s view, because such a transfer does not change the competitive 
landscape in Brunswick, there is no basis on which the Commission could deny the license 
transfer.

	The Bureau asks the wrong question.  Under Section 310(d) of the Communications Act, 
the issue is not whether a license transfer would change the competitive landscape, but whether a 
license transfer is in the public interest.  While a public interest inquiry includes a competitive 
analysis, it also includes other vital considerations like the diversity of voices available to the 
listening public.  Here, the Bureau has approved a license transfer that will give two group 
owners control over eight of the nine stations in the Brunswick Arbitron market (representing, as 
noted above, 93.9% of the revenues).  Congress directed the FCC to license radio stations to 
specific communities, not to states or regions, because it believed local stations will best meet 
local needs.  Those needs are not well-served where the public airwaves are controlled by two 
speakers.

	Instead of simply granting the license transfer, I would have considered other options -- 
e.g., requiring the applicant to demonstrate that it attempted to find another buyer for one of the 
stations -- that would have protected the licensee’s interests while enhancing the possibility of 
bringing diversity back to Brunswick.


#  #  #
	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 12th 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).