Our friends at the Future of Music Coalition are set to drop a bombshell on the commercial radio biz this Monday:

On November 18, 2002 the FMC will publicly release its report documenting the effects of radio station ownership consolidation on musicians and the public. This comprehensive analysis was conducted in partnership with Media Access Project and funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

The report's findings will be announced at the following press event:

Radio Deregulation: Has It Harmed Citizens and Musicians?
Monday, November 18, 2002
11 AM - 12 NOON
The Willard Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC

If you'd like to attend this event you're more than welcome...

Intrepid Hollywood Reporter reporter Brooks Boliek snagged an advance copy of the report:

What the coalition found wasn't pretty.

"The radical deregulation of the radio industry allowed by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has not benefited the public or musicians," a copy of the report obtained by The Hollywood Reporter said. "Instead, it has led to less competition, fewer viewpoints and less diversity in programming."

The coalition's report claims that the wholesale deregulation of the radio industry has "damaged radio as a public resource."

"This research makes an overwhelming case that market consolidation intended by the act does not serve the diverse needs of American citizens," the report said. "Substantial ethnic, regional and economic populations are not provided the service to which they are entitled. The public is not satisfied, and possible economic efficiencies of industry consolidation are not being passed on to the public in the form of improved local service."