While types of media and media consumption habits change over time, media consolidation continues to occur and continues to be a source of public concern. A recent article describing the uncertain future of Washington DC public radio station WPFW declared:
Consumption habits and media consolidation mean that radio is no longer a medium around which communities gather. You tune into WAMU, or WTOP, or WOL, or WNEW for news on your morning drive. At work, you’re on Pandora, or Spotify, or Sirius XM, or you listen to your own music collection. Maybe you’re listening to a local radio broadcast over the air, or maybe you’re listening to a station from another city (or country) over the Internet. Maybe you’re in a music mood, maybe you’re in a talk-show mood. At home later, you’re cooking dinner—but there isn’t just one station that fits however you identify. There’s a whole universe of them.
With a whole universe of options for listening, media consolidation continues to threaten radio.