In studying the market for black radio there were several items that interested me. To start, I found out that blacks, as well as, minorities have come along way in the radio industry. Although there is still much progress to be made, a lot has been accomplished over the years. The size and scope of the black radio market is rapidly and constantly expanding, along with the number of listeners and stations. There are countless genres and types of stations in America that have a large number of black listeners. There are no longer just white and just black stations anymore; they are just gender and age specific stations (i.e. kids stations, teen stations, men stations, women stations, etc.). .
It is amazing to see that there is still discrimination going on in such blatant and diverse arenas such as it is in radio and in advertising. The number of major black firms in radio is increasing as well, there are well over 100 major U.S. firms operating in over 100 major U.S. cities. .
The market structure of the overall radio industry is quite complex. With the concentration of ratings, competition, barriers to entry into the market, capital requirements, restrictions on ownership etc. it may seem almost impossible for a new firm to enter into the radio industry but many black firms have been breaking through the color barrier. With the inception of the 1996 Telecommunications Act signed by President Clinton along with tax certificates and other incentives imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, control of the radio industry is becoming decentralized. The black consumer spending power is ever increasing; along with it are the amount of doors opening for blacks in the radio industry, as well as others.
