A planned merger that will turn CBS Radio and Entercom Communications into a media giant is the latest in a trend to shed "local flavor" for franchised programming, analyst and Chicago radio host Steve Beaman told Newsmax TV.

In an interview Thursday on "America Talks Live" with host J.D. Hayworth, Beaman said broadcast media outlets "are now being challenged by cable networks" – and nationally franchised shows now "dominate our radio."

"We've lost much of that local flavor, but they're trying to compete … maybe we need to reregulate the public airwaves," he said, adding, however, "we don't want to get back into the days of the Fairness Doctrine."

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Franchise growth has "been part of that transition we've seen in the country from an industrial Midwestern economy ruled by the auto industry to a Wall Street economy of the '80s [to] what is now becoming a Washington-dominated economy," added Beaman, author of "The Path to Prosperity."

But he said Congress will have a big part to play in helping bolster American businesses – and must focus quickly on "tax cuts" and "regulatory relief… to incentivize businesses to come back in," he added.

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