Media Bureau Releases Fourth Report on Ownership of Broadcast Stations

The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau released its fourth report on the ownership of broadcast stations. The data contained in the report provide a tabulation of station ownership based on information submitted by licensees on FCC Form 323 and Form 323-E in response to the 2017 biennial ownership report filing window, which closed in March 2018. This filing window was the first to collect information from non-commercial educational stations about the gender, ethnicity, and race of the licensee’s attributable interest holders. Accordingly, while previous reports have covered the ownership of commercial stations, this report is the first to include data for non-commercial educational stations as well. Specifically, the report contains: (1) an overview of the tabulations of the 2017 broadcast ownership data presented by gender, ethnicity, and race; (2) a comparison of 2017 and 2015 data in various categories for full power commercial television, Class A television, low-power television (LPTV), commercial AM radio, and commercial FM radio stations; and (3) detailed ownership information in tables, appendices, and accompanying spreadsheets released in conjunction with the report.

• Women collectively or individually held a majority of the voting interests in 874 commercial broadcast stations, consisting of 73 full power commercial television stations (5.3%) of 1,368 stations; 19 Class A television stations (5.8%) of 330 stations; 76 low power television stations (7.4%) of 1,025 stations; 316 commercial AM radio stations (9.3%) of 3,407 stations; and 390 commercial FM radio stations (7.2%) of 5,399 stations.
• Men collectively or individually held a majority of the voting interests in 8,736 commercial broadcast stations, consisting of 735 full power commercial television stations (53.7%) of 1,368 stations; 233 Class A television stations (70.6%) of 330 stations; 640 low power television stations (62.4%) of 1,025 stations; 2,669 commercial AM radio stations (78.3%) of 3,407 stations; and 4,459 commercial FM radio stations (82.6%) of 5,399 stations.
• Hispanic/Latino persons collectively or individually held a majority of the voting interests in 668 commercial broadcast stations, consisting of 58 full power commercial television stations (4.2%) of 1,368 stations; 45 Class A television stations (13.6%) of 330 stations; 137 low power television stations (13.4%) of 1,025 stations; 209 commercial AM radio stations (6.1%) of 3,407 stations; and 219 commercial FM radio stations (4.1%) of 5,399 stations.
• Non-Hispanic/Latino persons collectively or individually held a majority of the voting interests in 9,836 commercial broadcast stations, consisting of 850 full power commercial television stations (62.1%) of 1,368 stations; 228 Class A television stations (69.1%) of 330 stations; 719 low power television stations (70.1%) of 1,025 stations; 3,044 commercial AM radio stations (89.3%) of 3,407 stations; and 4,995 FM commercial radio stations (92.5%) of 5,399 stations.
• Racial minorities collectively or individually held a majority of the voting interests in 416 commercial broadcast stations, consisting of 26 full power commercial television stations (1.9%) of 1,368 stations; 8 Class A television stations (2.4%) of 330 stations; 21 low power television stations (2.0%) of 1,025 stations; 202 commercial AM radio stations (5.9%) of 3,407 stations; and 159 commercial FM radio stations (2.9%) of 5,399 stations. Ownership of majority interests by racial group was as follows: o American Indian/Alaska Natives owned 31 commercial broadcast stations. o Asians owned 136 commercial broadcast stations. o Black/African Americans owned 239 commercial broadcast stations. o Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders owned 7 commercial broadcast stations. o Persons of two or more races owned 3 commercial broadcast stations.
• Whites collectively or individually held a majority of the voting interests in 10,076 commercial broadcast stations, consisting of 871 full power commercial television stations (63.7%) of 1,368 stations; 264 Class A television stations (80.0%) of 330 stations; 831 low power television stations 81.1%) of 1,025 stations; 3,052 commercial AM radio stations (89.6%) of 3,407 stations; and 5,058 commercial FM radio stations (93.7%) of 5,399 stations.