In quot;Bowling Alone,quot; Putnam (1995) famously argued that the rise of television may be responsible for social … television (and radio), I exploit plausibly exogenous differences in over-the-air signal strength associated with the topography … spent watching television and listening to radio, is associated with substantially lower levels of participation in social …

This paper studies the market provision of a specific type of public good: radio and television broadcasts. Its main …