Media

As a result of relaxed federal ownership rules, the shift toward consolidation in media has swept across the nation’s print and broadcast industries, and the Charleston market has been no exception. Local, privately owned Evening Post Publishing Co., publisher of Charleston’s daily newspaper, The Post and Courier, has expanded its holdings across the media spectrum. The company owns 11 television stations in Texas, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Louisiana, California, and Kentucky, and 10 newspapers in South Carolina, three in North Carolina, one in Texas, and internationally, one in London.

This national trend is evident in the local radio and television businesses also. Covington, Kentucky–based Jacor Communications Inc., and New York–based Wicks Broadcast Group purchased radio stations in the Charleston market. More switches took place when Clear Channel Communications of San Antonio, Texas, bought up Jacor’s four stations while adding an AM talk radio format station. Most of the stations consistently rank highly in the Arbitron ratings. Citadel Broadcasting Corp., based out of New York, gobbled up the Wicks Group’s stations in a move to grow its eastern expansion. This purchase of combined listenership is said to reach about 40 percent of the Charleston market.

Overall, the radio market is young and trendy in its tastes, and the local stations respond accordingly. There are numerous choices on the dial in the Charleston area, and formats change frequently as a result of the fierce competition among the national broadcast groups and the independent stations. One constant, however, is a large following for Christian, “family” radio in the Lowcountry.

Overview

Sinclair Broadcast Group of Baltimore, Maryland, has boosted its television holdings in midsize markets with aggressive expansions. Locally, the group purchased two stations, WTAT-TV (Fox Network) and WMMP-TV (MyTvNetwork). Sinclair, one of the country’s biggest broadcasting companies, owns or provides programming to 58 TV stations in 35 markets. Recent purchases have increased the company’s reach to about 22 percent of US television households.

The Greater Charleston area ranks 100th among the nation’s television markets. There are affiliates for all three major television networks, plus Fox Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting System. The larger cable television providers are Comcast Cablevision, serving the Greater Charleston area, Johns Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah/Seabrook, and Wild Dunes, (843) 554-4100; and Time Warner, (843) 871-7000, in the Summerville and Georgetown areas. Be sure to check in your specific area, since new cable, Internet, and mobile communications providers are springing up across the Lowcountry.