Most communication and culture producing institutions in the United States operate more for commercial than for any other motives. This essay examines commercial radio by comparing the day-to-day work routines in that institutional setting with the principles of a theoretical communication model. Commercial radio, of course, does not meet the standards of such a model. By this thought experiment, however, we can illuminate many peculiarities of the conduct of communication by commercial radio, learn more about the application of theoretical models to the evaluation of practicing institutions, and offer assessments of commercial radio that derive from communication theory, rather than from economics, law, politics, or business concerns.
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Eric W. Rothenbuhler (1996) studied this question.
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