Cincinnati gets yet another religious radio station

Cincinnati is like other American radio markets in that 2 basic formats are vastly overrepresented. One is right-wing talk. The other is religion.

A lot of radio folks say religious radio can be great if it's done right - and I can appreciate that stance. But whether it's any good on its own isn't the main point here. The more important issue is diversity of voices.

WNOP is a Cincinnati area station that was once respected for its jazz format but now runs a satellite-fed ultraconservative Catholic format. Now WNOP's owners have purchased high school station WHSS, and they're turning it into another repeater of WNOP. (WNOP already has a simulcast for the Indiana portion of the market.)

When I studied broadcasting in college, one of the first things we learned is that the FCC is legally obligated to ensure a "diversity of voices" in radio and TV. The scuzzo Telecommunications Act of 1996 attempted to castrate this doctrine. Under constitutional law, however, the FCC is still required to enforce "diversity of voices."

The FCC needs to reject WNOP's takeover of WHSS. WHSS should be transferred to an independent owner to provide programming that is overseen by locals - not piped in from out of town.