FCC Ownership Studies’ Release Seen Timed to Avoid Headlines
The FCC Media Bureau published late Fri. a slew of draft media ownership studies and staff reports sought by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Georgetown U.’s Institute for Public Representation (CD Dec 17 p16). The Commission is allowed to withhold the reports but due to its “current consideration of the media ownership rules and the very strong level of public interest in this proceeding,” it posted the 47 documents to www.fcc.gov/ownership/additional.html, the Media Bureau said.
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The FCC should have acknowledged it released the documents because of a FOIA request and the threat of litigation, rather than merely posting them online, said Media Access Project CEO Andrew Schwartzman. He questioned the release’s timing, just before the New Year holiday. “The manner of release makes me suspicions that there is something hidden in here that the Commission would prefer to minimize,” he said.
A draft analysis of radio markets found that “stations within the same format grew more similar in their Top Ten play lists, and that stations that switched towards similar formats also grew more similar.” That finding supports critics of media consolidation, Schwarztman said: “It’s exactly what we've been saying… Consolidation has harmed [program] diversity.” Another draft study, dated Jan. 2005, found that women owned just 60 U.S. TV stations; minorities, 15. The draft also said women owned more radio stations than minorities. Women owned 357 FM stations and 335 AM stations; minorities, 123 FM and 212 AM stations.
The FCC also published several draft studies on cable and other pay-TV ownership. One such study, apparently never completed, looked at the costs of switching pay-TV providers. Other cable studies examined vertical integration in the industry, an issue highlighted this year on Capitol Hill (CD Dec 8 p2).
The Georgetown institute’s staff and media ownership critics will study the documents but “on first review, there is at least one group of documents which we expected to see that have not shown up,” Schwartzman said, referring to a reportedly costly study on radio programming that never has been published.