Carl Blare

Originally the FCC put a limit on the number of minutes per hour that radio could air commercials.

Originally the FCC put a limit on the number of minutes per hour that radio could air commercials.

Now the commercial load on radio is “left to the marketplace” which means that a station can do whatever its audience will tolerate.

Originally cable TV was “commercial free” as part of its promise to subscribers.

Today cable TV costs magnitudes more than before, and is overflowing with commercials.

Non-commercial radio was funded by schools, governmental agencies and churches, only now blatant advertising is simply renamed “underwriting”.

Movie theaters once ran commercial breaks in between feature movies, but today the movies are packed with “placement ads”, products punctuated throughout.

Private home telephones are assaulted by telemarketers and e-mail boxes pack with “last chance” offers.

Part 15 radio flails in the static trying to become something that earns its own support.

Step 1. Dedicate a frequency as 100% commercial, and get it started by offering to run commercials free of charge.

Step 2. When airtime is full-up with every commercial it can fit, tell your oldest advertisers that demand is so great you are now charging a dollar a week per client.

Step 3. As paid advertising increases, the rates must go up as your all commercial station proves to be ultra popular.

Step 4. Sell your all-commercial station for $10-million dollars and buy a licensed station to become all-commercial.