WASHINGTON—The vast majority of broadcast station ownership in the U.S. is still made up of white men, per the most recent data from the FCC’s fourth biennial report on broadcast station ownership, which represents how things looked in 2017. Prior to this report, the last bit of information available was from 2015.

The reports detail station ownership among full-power TV stations, Class A TV stations, low power TV stations, and AM and FM radio stations, both commercial and non-commercial.

For commercial TV stations, as of Oct. 1, 2017, only 6.2% of the 2,725 stations were owned by women—73 full power (5.3%), 19 Class A (5.8%) and 76 low power (7.4%). Numbers were slightly better with non-commercial stations, with women owning 13.2% of the 429 stations, but no Class A stations among them. These numbers are actually down across the board for women from 2015.

Hispanic/Latino persons owned 8.8% of commercial stations— 58 full power (4.2%), 45 Class A (13.6%) and 137 low power (13.4%)—but only 8 non-commerical stations (five full power, no Class A and three low power), for 1.8%. Levels were generally flat between 2015 and 2017 for Hispanic/Lations.

Other racial minorities—which include American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asians, Black/African-Americans, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders and persons of two or more races—owned 2% of commercial stations and 3% of non-commercial stations.Black/African-Americans own the most commercial TV stations among racial minorities with 239 of the 2,725 (8.8%); American Indian/Alaska Natives’s 58 non-commercial TV stations (13.5%) lead the way in that category. Full power and low power TV station numbers were down in this group, but slightly up with Class A stations.

The full report on broadcast ownership is available online.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Stark called the results “striking—but not surprising” in an official statement.

“I have said it before: America’s broadcasters must look like America,” said Starks. “We have much work to do—and it starts with us fulfilling our direct order from the Third Circuit to implement a data program that would help understand the impact of our regulatory efforts on the ability of women and people of color to own stations.”

He also said that it is unacceptable that in 2020 we are operating off of data that is more than two years old, and they must be better at gathering this data in a timely manner.

LAS VEGAS—Three FCC commissioners shared the stage for the panel “Raining 3s: A Q&A With FCC Commissioners O’Rielly, Carr and Starks.” Gordon Smith, NAB president and CEO, introduced Michael O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, describing the panel as “unusually important.”

Moderating the session, Rick Kaplan, NAB executive vice president of legal and regulatory affairs, brought up the subject of ownership of TV stations. Carr said ownership rules were scripted when a morning paper and an evening newscast represented the extent of local news voices. “The market you all compete in today is vastly different,” he said, mentioning Pandora, Spotify and the “Silicon Valley giants” as prominent competitors to local TV. “We’re mindful of the tremendous competition you are facing.” He also described the importance for a regulator to get out and about to see how ownership groups operate.

Starks, the only Democrat of the three, mentioned the practice of some large broadcast operations of writing news scripts to be shared throughout their groups and across the country. Without singling out any companies, he lamented a lack of localism in such cases.

He also cited statistics that of more than 1,300 TV stations nationwide, 102 are owned by women, 62 by Latinos, 12 by African-Americans and 10 by Asians.

“Diversity in media ownership is something that’s become critically important to me,” he said, calling it “deeply troubling” when station ownership does not reflect the nation generally. Starks cited access to capital as an issue for minority ownership, along with access to opportunity.

O’Rielly brought up a program designed to bring more minority owners into radio. “We have an incubator program on the radio side, how do we do it on the TV side?” he said.

Carr mentioned the struggles newspaper owners are going through, and said they might have been helped by changes years ago in newspaper/station cross-ownership limitations. “It’s really incumbent on us to update our rules, to understand the marketplace,” he said.

TV station sales were lively in 2018, Starks noting that they outpaced transactions the year before. “This is still a nice, robust business,” he said.

When Kaplan asked about the TV repack, O’Rielly said he is “generally pleased with where things are at the moment.” Carr noted that he had climbed a broadcast tower in Rowena, South Dakota, and developed a new appreciation for what tower teams accomplish.

Carr said he considers the incentive auction to have been a success, and O’Rielly noted that the demand for mid-band spectrum is “off the charts.”

O’Rielly saluted his fellow Republican, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, for clamping down on pirate radio, and said some politicians advertise on illegal stations, calling it “not acceptable behavior.” On the subject of Equal Employment Opportunity, he also stressed that broadcasters don’t need a government mandate in their EEO efforts. “The vast majority of broadcasters are doing a wonderful job,” he said.

As the panel wound down, each of the commissioners saluted broadcasters for their efforts when extreme weather and other calamities hit their communities. “In times of crisis, no one stands up bigger than the broadcaster,” said O’Rielly.

Carr admired how stations that normally compete ruthlessly will work together when it comes to covering these crises. “Hopefully you’ll find the FCC a good partner in those efforts,” he said.

The FCC returned to full strength in January when the U.S. Senate confirmed Starks and approved Carr to a full term. Jessica Rosenworcel holds the remaining seat.