Colorful Radio Mogul Sees Threat to Freedom of the Airwaves

William O’Shaughnessy, chairman and CEO of Whitney Radio, is not only a larger-than-life figure; he’s louder than life.“Radio should be free,” said Mr. O’Shaughnessy, who has hosted an influential daily talk show on WVOX 1460 AM for five decades. WVOX and its FM sister, WRTN 93.5, have more than 5 million listeners in the New York region, the nation’s wealthiest market.“It’s the medium of the poor, the hurting, the lonely, the misunderstood, and the misbegotten,” said Mr. O’Shaughnessy, a self-styled Rockefeller Republican who openly admires Mario Cuomo. “No one should have to pay for listening to radio programs.”He’s long been a key spokesman for the broadcasting industry on First Amendment issues. But Mr. O’Shaughnessy is in particularly high dudgeon these days because of the advent and expansion of satellite radio. In cooperation with the New York State Broadcasters Association – which represents nearly 500 radio stations – Mr. O’Shaughnessy has launched a fiery campaign to convince consumers that America’s airwaves should be kept open and free.“Local AM and FM radio stations are the real deal,” Mr. O’Shaughnessy said. “Even in this high-tech cyber age, radio is still the medium closest to everyday people. Radio has gotten us through two world wars, tornadoes and natural disasters, even September 11, 2001.”There are 14,645 radio stations in America, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Of these, 9,638 are FM – or frequency modulated – stations, which transmit in continuous sine waves in a spectrum between 88 megahertz, or millions of cycles per second, and 108 megahertz. The nation’s 5,007 AM – or amplitude modulated – stations are typically confined to a band from 535 to 1,700 kilohertz.But FM signals can’t travel farther than 40 miles from their source.And that’s where satellite radio enjoys an advantage. The two networks in America, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, and the Europe-based WorldSpace, beam programs to satellites, which then transmit those programs to ground repeaters, which in turn push the channels into special receivers, whether in homes or automobiles.In the portion of the so-called “S” band spectrum set aside for satellite radio by the FCC in 1992, networks like Sirius and XM have each developed more than 150 channels, with some 2 million subscribers between them. Subscribers pay anywhere from $9 to $20 a month, depending on their choice of channels, which include pornography.And because satellite radio isn’t subject to FCC indecency fines, its channels are often raucous and raunchy, much like cable TV. Indeed, America’s most popular shock jock, Howard Stern, is moving from broadcast radio to Sirius next January. He’s been fined $475,000 by the FCC for colorful comments.The battle between satellite and traditional radio is heating up by the day, Mr. O’Shaughnessy said, because of the great amount of money at stake.Radio stations make an impressive amount of it. Last year, they attracted more than $21 billion in advertising, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. (America’s 1,724 TV stations drew $55 billion in advertising.) Moreover, each week radio reaches 94% of America’s population of 286 million, and 75% of all consumers each day of the week.In contrast, XM and Sirius together took in barely $25 million in ads last year. They’ve been trying to lure a larger audience with local traffic and weather and big-name sports. Sirius will carry all NFL games this year and XM has a deal with Nascar, which has more than 70 million followers across the country.Both radio networks are beaming racy programs. XM puts an “XL” next to channels that air adult content and charges extra for some. It offers programs such as the “Raw” hip-hop show; it features the Playboy Advisor. And it highlights a show titled “Night Calls,” in which hostesses Juli and Tiffany showcase steamy offerings.But raunchy programs elicit disapproval from Mr. O’Shaughnessy.“The America that I know, the America that I love, wants clean, wholesome fare on its radio programs,” he said. “I came of age when radio worked for the public interest.”He recalled E.B. White, the author who was also one of radio’s great voices.“Radio,” Mr. O’Shaughnessy said, “doesn’t mean an appliance in the kitchen. As White said, when people talk of the radio, they refer to a pervading and somewhat god-like presence which has come into their lives and homes.”His intensity about wholesome fare undoubtedly springs from his Jesuit education in Buffalo, where Mr. O’Shaughnessy was born and raised. At his high school, he ran the student newspaper, worked as a DJ, and performed odd jobs.At 18, Mr. O’Shaughnessy went to work at a radio station in Mount Kisco. He was paid only $65 a week, but the experience was invaluable. He met and befriended numerous towering figures in politics, broadcasting, and entertainment, including Nelson Rockefeller, William B. Williams, Scott Shannon, and William Paley, the founder of CBS.It was through serendipity that Mr. O’Shaughnessy met Jock Whitney, who owned Whitney Radio. Whitney seemed keen to sell his company, and Mr. O’Shaughnessy raised the capital to acquire it.Not only did he transform Whitney Radio into a profitable entity, Mr. O’Shaughnessy has become a ubiquitous presence on the region’s airwaves. He’s interviewed practically every major politician, author, and entertainer on the American public stage since the 1950s. His interviews have been assembled in three anthologies – a fourth is on its way – and their publisher, Fordham University Press, has reported brisk sales.“I just love these marvelous, rich characters,” Mr. O’Shaughnessy said.He could, of course, just as easily have been speaking about himself. With his sharply tailored clothes, his mane of silver hair, and his booming bonhomie, Mr. O’Shaughnessy is a fixture on the New York social scene with his wife, Nancy Curry O’Shaughnessy, whose family owns the largest independent auto dealership in the Northeast.In recognition of his contribution to radio, and to public life in New York, Mr. O’Shaughnessy will be inducted into the state’s Broadcasters Hall of Fame in a couple of weeks.

Colorful Radio Mogul Sees Threat to Freedom of the Airwaves

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