The acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission says the latest data about broadcast ownership in the United States “makes clear that women and people of color are underrepresented in license ownership.”
Jessica Rosenworcel commented on a new FCC report (PDF) summarizing data collected in 2019.
The lack of diversity, she said, “requires attention because what we see and hear over the public airwaves says so much about who we are as individuals, as communities and as a nation. However, changes in the law, technology and court decisions like FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project make addressing this complex. But we have a charge to promote diversity under the Communications Act and we need to honor it.”
She called for an effort to identify ways to encourage more diversity, including reinstatement of the Minority Tax Certificate Program.
The report covers about 4,600 AM stations, 10,900 FM stations and full-power, low-power and Class A television as of 2019.
The FCC released this chart summarizing the majority ownership interest of commercial broadcast stations in gender, race and ethnicity:
As shown above, women held a majority ownership interest in 8% of commercial broadcast stations, while men held a majority ownership interest in 65%, the FCC noted. White persons held a majority ownership interest in 76% of commercial stations while persons belonging to racial minority groups held a majority ownership interest in 4%. Hispanic/Latino persons held a majority ownership interest in 6% of commercial stations while not Hispanic/Latino persons held a majority ownership interest in 73%.
The second image assesses the same categories but for noncommercial broadcast stations:
Women held a majority ownership interest in 12% of noncom broadcast stations while men held a majority ownership interest in 75%. White persons held a majority ownership interest in 89% while persons belonging to racial minority groups held majority ownership interest in 3%. Hispanic/Latino persons held a majority ownership interest in 3% while not Hispanic/Latino persons held a majority ownership interest in 89% of noncommercial stations.
The report also provided charts specifically for various categories. For example, the image below shows majority ownership interest for commercial FM radio stations:
The full set of charts including those for noncom FMs, AM stations and various TV categories is posted on the FCC website.
