BUSINESS OPINION: What is the one thing 90 per cent of citizens do every day? Wash their hair? Take a bath? Read a newspaper? Watch their favourite soap?

Hard to say. But research conducted by a plethora of advertising and market research agencies has found that 90 per cent of us listen to the radio at least once a day.

Something as familiar and ubiquitous as that can easily fade into the background. You jump into the car, turn on the ignition key and there it is - live radio.

Precisely because of this immediacy, radio tends to impinge on people only at a superficial level and there is little debate about whether listeners are being short-changed.

While plenty of snide references are made here about the American media market, what about our own? How competitive, diverse and open is the Irish radio market for instance?

Take Dublin, the most competitive and coveted radio market in the State. Since the passing of the Radio and Television Act in 1988, the IRTC (now the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland) has been responsible for licensing stations in this market.

Its performance in Dublin recently is patchy, although when one looks outside Dublin there are even more controversies.

Two legal actions are before the courts involving defeated licence candidates. Yesterday, crowds gathered in Sligo town to protest at the BCI's decision to strip North West Radio of its licence for the north-west.

The influential Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications has also written a report highly critical of the BCI. Just to add to its woes, the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, has initiated a review of the organisation to see if it can be more responsive to those applying for licences.

Why the organisation attracts so much ire is probably understandable. When you award a licence, the winners will be happy and the losers aggrieved.

But the BCI does not just license stations in a mechanical way. Written into legislation is an actual remit; that it shall encourage and establish "a diversity of services in an area catering for a wide range of tastes including those of minority interests".

The legislation also says that, when licences are awarded, attention will be paid to "the desirability of allowing any person, or group of persons, to have control of, or substantial interest in, an undue amount of the communications media".

So how has the BCI done? Have new initiative radio services come on-stream? Have new bright radio entrepreneurs been given their first break? Has the small guy been given a chance to try his hand on air against the big players?

Have the young people of Dublin, who like dance, alternative rock and all sorts of eclectic music, been catered for? Have those who want jazz, blues, traditional music been given what they want?

In Dublin, according to the BCI's own website, there are 10 commercial stations. They are: RTÉ Radio One, 2 FM, 98 FM, FM 104, Lite FM, Today FM, Lyric FM, NewsTalk 106, Spin 103 and Country 106.8.

For a population of more than one million people, there would appear to be no shortage of radio. But is there really a diversity of services or voices and who has benefited from the BCI's decisions?

Well, it would seem that, unless you are a State company like RTÉ, or a high-net-worth individual and tax exile like Denis O'Brien, you have little place in the Dublin radio market, unless you operate a tiny community service.

RTÉ has its three stations: Radio One, 2 FM and Lyric. Denis O'Brien owns 98 FM via Radio Two Thousand Ltd. Mr O'Brien also has a 38 per cent stake in NewsTalk 106 and over 30 per cent of youth dance station Spin 103.

So between RTÉ and Denis O'Brien over half of the stations in Dublin are controlled or substantially influenced by the State or Mr O'Brien. So no small guys there.

What about the rest? FM 104 is owned by the aviation millionaires Ulick and Desmond McEvaddy, millionaire concert promoter Jim Aitken, accountant Pearse Farrell, managing director Dermot Hanrahan and impresario Maurice Cassidy.

Large media corporations control the next two - Lite FM is owned by UTV and Today FM by Scottish Radio Holdings. Country 106.8 is probably the only one not controlled by a large group and that station - ironically - has struggled financially.

So, based on the Dublin experience, the winners of the licensing activity since 1998, at least in terms of ownership, have been wealthy individuals and those already deeply involved in the media sector.

But so what? Surely the BCI has to give licences to people who can ensure radio stations are popular and viable.

But even on that score the BCI, at least in Dublin where the largest single group of listeners is based, does not score too well, certainly not based on the past two years.

Take the JNLR figures for 2002. NewsTalk had a market share of zero per cent and Country had 1 per cent, while Spin was not on air long enough to have a market share figure.

The BCI argues these are niche or special interest stations so you do not expect huge audiences.

But look outside the BCI structure and there are plenty of stations previously turned down and others that have never had a chance to apply.

There is an array of special interest pirate stations, some believed to have large audiences. While some of the following have been raided in recent weeks and gone off air, they all had loyal followings: Jazz FM, Phantom FM, Nova 947, Horizon, Easy 105.7 FM, City FM and Ice FM.

People listened and are listening to these stations because the stations licensed by BCI are not catering for everyone.

Why doesn't the BCI (and the Government ultimately) loosen its grip on the market and let the small players get a chance to make their mark and provide some competition to the well-heeled radio bosses?

Denis O'Brien's Radio Two Thousand company, for example, made a pre-tax profit of €516,000 in 2001. Surely he could share a little of that.

eoliver@irish-times.ie