In what way has deregulation changed the radio industry and recording industry?

During Ronald Reagan’s presidency he stressed the importance of deregulation. Essentially saying that the government has no place in business, that they should act in a laissez faire manner, which in economics describes an environment that is free from state intervention. Seven years after he left presidency, in 1996, it seems as though his idea stuck. “With the 1996 Telecommunications Act the age-old limits were relaxed” (Vivian, 134). There were now no limits on how many radio stations a company could own and the government no longer acted as an “intermediary for the public”. Basically what this meant is that it was no longer necessary for the government to ensure that each radio station was performing with the publics interest in mind. This led to many changes in the radio industry. The big companies gobbled up all the little, privately owned companies which created conglomerates. Besides this people now directly controlled what they heard and what was broadcasted through the air waves. This led to questionable “shock jockeys” like Howard Stern. Since the government was not concerned with what was being aired, announcers became vulgar and the usage of the radio changed. Deregulation created conglomerates and also allowed for shock value antics to be aired over the radio to anyone who wanted to tune in. The people control what they hear, not the government.