How the FCC Suppressed Minority Broadcast Ownership, and How the FCC can Undo the Damage it Caused

Although newer technologies have captured the public’s imagination and purse, the Federal Communications Commission continues to regard free over-the-air broadcasting as the lifeline for millions of Americans. Certainly, the deliberate exclusion of people of color from ownership of the airwaves would be profoundly anti-competitive. What could be a more inefficient deployment of resources than having the entrepreneurial, managerial, and creative wealth of one-third of the country unable to find expression in the nation’s most influential industries? Such exclusion would also be morally wrong. Yet, it happened—on a grand scale—from 1932 to 1978. And, in some respects, it continues to this day. Thus, it is no accident that 88 years after the FCC’s birth, when 38.7% of Americans are persons of color, minority television ownership stands at 2.6% and is dropping fast, and minority radio ownership is stagnant at about 5%. Most of these stations are small, and consequently these holdings amount to less than 1% of industry asset value. Today, although people of color often appear in front of the camera and in front of the microphone, they are seldom found in positions of authority behind the camera and behind the microphone. People of color own none of the powerful large market network-affiliated television stations that dominate public discourse. This wasn't an accident.

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