Owners of radio stations turn on, tune in, drop out.

• Author: Willis, Mike
• Position: Consolidations in the market reducing competition

In a struggle for the hearts, ears and wallets of North Carolina's radio listeners, some of the industry's biggest players are tossing millions of dollars at buying - and, in the process, changing the formats of - dozens of stations. The consolidation here and elsewhere in the country could lead to what one wag calls the "bankification" of radio - a decrease in competition and the loss of local flavor.

For now, the typical listener may find it all little more than an inconvenience. After all, who owns the radio station isn't important or even apparent to the guy who just wants to hear Hootie and the Blowfish on his morning drive to the mill. The arcane world of Arbitron ratings and demographic profiles is about as interesting to the average person as a discussion of a root canal.

But for the companies involved, this is serious business. BIA Cos., an industry research group in Chantilly, Va., reports that through the first 10 months of 1996, 1,836 commercial U.S. radio stations changed hands in proposed deals totaling $13.1 billion. Contrast that with the same span in 1995, when 1,060 stations were sold for $4.7 billion.

Behind all this lane-changing is the federal telecommunications act signed into law in February, which loosened ownership restrictions on radio stations. Previously, one company could have no more than two FM and two AM stations in a market and no more than 20 nationwide. The national cap is now gone; companies can own as many as eight stations in the biggest markets.

Suddenly, economies of scale not only make sense, they're legal. That's critical in an industry where half the stations lose money, according to one radio executive. Another bonus: Syndicated programs are easier to place with stations you own.

What buyers are really after is the station frequency - and as Will Rogers once said about land, "They ain't making any more of it, you know." It's a classic tale of a finite resource being chased by a seemingly infinite amount of money.

The hottest battlefields are the midsize markets. In North Carolina that means Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle. They're booming but small enough that a media giant can find a station ripe for buying.

In the Triangle, for example, three of the top 10 stations have changed hands this year. New York-based SFX Broadcasting Inc. now owns four of the market's top seven radio stations. It paid a reported $75 million to get them in a market where revenues for all stations are estimated at...