FCC Releases SCU Study On Market Entry Barriers for Minority-owned Firms In Broadcast Industry.

A study prepared by Santa Clara University and the University of Missouri, released by the Federal Communications Commission this week, prompted new FCC recommendations to make it easier for women and minorities to acquire licenses for small wireless and broadcast businesses.

The SCU study, titled “Diversity of Programming in the Broadcast Spectrum,” supports that minority ownership does contribute to broadcast diversity, particularly in the broadcast of events and issues of presumed interest to minority audiences.

This study, along with four other FCC commissioned studies, prepared by Ernst Young, the Ivy Planning Group, KPMG, and the University of Washington, were released on Dec. 12, in a public forum at the FCC building in Washington, DC.

“Our study offers a clear mandate for FCC action to preserve and enhance ownership as a way to ensure that the widest variety of voices are heard on the nation’s airwaves,” said Christine Bachen, associate professor of communication at SCU.

The goal of the SCU study was to determine whether minority broadcast stations broadcast news and public affairs programming that contributes to a broader diversity of views across the airwaves, when compared to majority-owned stations.

The results of the research support the position that minority ownership does contribute to broadcast diversity, particularly in the broadcast of events and issues of presumed interest to minority audiences.

The major findings of the study are:

— Minority-owned radio stations were far more likely to choose a program format that appeals particularly to a minority
audience;

— Minority-owned radio stations were more likely to provide news and public affairs programming on events or issues of particular concern to minorities;

— Minority-owned radio stations report greater racial diversity of on-air talent;

— Of radio stations that reported tailoring national news stories to the local community, minority-owned stations were
far more likely to tailor the story to minority community concerns;

The same differences were not found in the case of television, and in most cases, including the areas noted above, there were no statistically significant differences between minority- and majority-owned television stations.

Results are based on telephone interviews with news or public affairs program directors at 92 minority-owned stations and 119 majority-owned television and radio stations. The SCU researchers used a wide-ranging set of questions, designed to tap into the quantity and type of news and public affairs broadcast, as well as questions about owner involvement and station staffing.

In 1997, SCU law professor, Allen Hammond and SCU communication associate professors, Laurie Mason and Christine Bachen, were awarded an FCC contract of just under $25,000 to conduct a research study investigating the link between the race or ethnicity of broadcast station owners (radio and TV) and the nature of their news and public affairs programming. Stephanie Craft, now at University of Missouri, joined the team after the award of the contract.

The SCU study, along with the others was instigated through FCC awarded contracts in an effort to assess whether market entry barriers were present for small telecommunications businesses, and to better understand how to further opportunities in the allocation of spectrum-based services for small business and businesses owned by women and minorities.

“This study will be an essential element in future constitutional efforts to resurrect and enhance the ownership opportunities for minorities and women in media,” said Hammond.

The SCU study was performed under contract with the FCC and augmented with grants from the College of Arts and Sciences dean’s office at SCU and from the Minority Broadcast Education and Advocacy Fund.

“While the connection between minority ownership and diversity of views was often assumed, few studies to date actually establish empirically that there is a link between the ethnicity of broadcast owners and the end result of a greater broadcasting diversity,” said Mason.

The SCU study, along with the other four FCC commissioned studies, can be viewed by visiting
http://www.fcc.gov/opportunity/meb-study/.

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