In the latest FCC report, 41 of the nation's 1,386 full-power commercial TV stations are owned by racial minorities. The study also breaks out details for women, Hispanics, Asians and whites.
FCC Releases Station Race-Gender Stats
Racial minorities owned 41 of the U.S.’s 1,386 full-power commercial TV stations in 2013, up 32% from the 31 they owned in 2011— but only nine of those stations were owned by African Americans during 2013, down 18% from the 11 they owned two years previously, according to a study of station ownership released by the FCC Friday.
The FCC report also found that Asians owned 19 full-power TV stations in 2013, up 73% from the 11 they owned in 2011. Hispanics or Latinos owned 42 full power TV stations in 2013, up 8% from the 39 they owned in 2011, the report said.
Whites owned 1,070 full-power commercial TV stations in 2013, up 14% from the 935 they owned in 2011.
Women, according to the report, owned 87 of the full-power commercial stations in 2013, down 4% from the 91 they owned in 2011.
David Honig, president of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, told TVNewsCheck that the 2013 numbers appeared similar to those from 2011. “This is not surprising since the FCC has refused year after year to rule on almost any of the comprehensive, race-neutral diversity proposals that have been placed before it over the last 10 years,” Honig said.
Added Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters: “We have not had time to fully digest the report, but NAB believes in having diverse ownership opportunities in broadcasting and a work force that is reflective of American society.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
“That’s why we support reinstatement of a minority tax certificate program that would create new opportunities for radio and television station ownership for people of color,” Wharton added. “NAB is also deeply committed to the NAB Education Foundation, which provides leadership and development training for broadcast executives looking to own stations and advance their professional careers.”
The biennial report is based on agency filings from broadcasters, the FCC said.
Read the report, here.
Comments (6)
Linda Leavell says:
June 27, 2014 at 3:47 pm
Black ownership down 18%? Cone on do better.
Jason Crundwell says:
June 27, 2014 at 3:57 pm
Why do we track this information? Who cares? Do a good job of running your business and be whatever color you want!
Sean Smith says:
June 28, 2014 at 9:04 am
Obviously, you are not in television or the broadcast industry.
These stats are important, not just because the federal government requires them (as it has for many years), but it’s also important for advertisers trying to reach target audiences.
If you don’t know anything about a subject, be careful how you comment.
Joe Adalian says:
June 28, 2014 at 1:38 pm
Newsoldie – be careful how you comment. What does the race/sex of the ownership of a local station have anything to do with the specific programming advertisers are looking for? And Chopped Liver’s last statement is so true.
Meagan Zickuhr says:
June 27, 2014 at 5:58 pm
The numbers for Low Power and Class A Television Minority Ownership is staggering! The entry point for minorities is much easier and less expensive! But the FCC didn’t bother to survey these BROADCASTERS…. yes! They are broadcasters too.
Ellen Samrock says:
June 29, 2014 at 7:30 pm
The problem with stats like these is that they can send an erroneous message: that minorities and women are somehow being deprived of owning broadcast properties. That is absolutely not the case. Whoever can afford a broadcast station can own a broadcast station (provided they have no felony convictions). Nor is it always a question of a lack of funds. Many minorities have bundles of money but invest in other businesses and industries that offer a much better return. Let’s face it: television broadcasting is not the “license to print money” business it used to be. We can thank Washington D.C. meddling for some of that devaluation. As Downtown Brown indicated, there are many minorities and women who own low power TV stations (I know of several who are female minorities). The entry point of ownership is much lower than that of a full power station. But here again, Washington D.C. meddling is making LPTV an endangered species as well as depressing the values of LPTV stations. This makes the FCC’s (and the MMTC’s) concern over minority media ownership particularly hypocritical as neither entity has expressed any serious interest in preserving LPTV. Com. Clyburn publicly wrings her hands in anxiety over the loss of LPTV and the community voices it represents but I have yet to hear her or any other Democrat commissioner offer suggestions on how to prevent this loss from happening. In the end, any attempt to “level the playing field” by giving minorities preferential treatment in broadcast property ownership would surely be met with cries of discrimination. So what good are these stats beyond giving academics and journalists something to write about? None that I can see.