George F. Will's article serves as a touchstone essay on the subject. As to media abundance (and variety) today, Will notes:
. . . today there are about 14,000 radio stations, twice as many as in
1969; 18.9 million subscribers to satellite radio, up 17 percent in 12
months; and that 86 percent of households with either cable or
satellite television receive an average of 102 of the 500 available
channels. . . Whereas in 1980 there were fewer than 100 talk radio programs, today there are more than 1,500 news or talk radio stations. . .
Because liberals have been even less successful in competing with
conservatives on talk radio than Detroit has been in competing with its
rivals, liberals are seeking intellectual protectionism in the form of
regulations that suppress ideological rivals. [Read more. . .]