**Remarks of Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate**

**NAB Special Reception Recognizing the Important Role of Women in
Radio**

**September 27, 2007**

Thank you for having me. As I look around this room, it is truly an
honor to be in the presence of such remarkable women. We have with us
Susan Davenport Austin, Vice President and Treasurer of Sheridan
Broadcasting Corporation, which manages American Urban Radio networks,
the only African-American owned national radio network, with over 400
affiliates across the country. We also have Caroline Beasley who serves
as Executive Vice President and CFO of Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc.,
which is the 18^th^ largest radio broadcasting company in the country.
Also here this afternoon is Susan Patrick, co-owner and executive Vice
President of Legend Communications. Susan has been in the media
brokerage business for more than 20 years. And then we have Mary Quass,
President and CEO of NRG Media, which operates 84 radio stations across
the Midwest.

This is quite a group. And I haven't even mentioned Edie Hilliard, Erica
Farber, Mary Bennett, Ginny Morris, and [so many]{.underline} others,
whose accomplishments I could spend the rest of the night listing. Women
like these inspire all of us\-- and provide examples for our daughters
and the young women across this country of what women today are
accomplishing in the media industry.

Just last week I was in Chicago for a hearing on media ownership, and
had the opportunity to meet with Melody Spann-Cooper, President of
Chicago's only African-American-owned radio station, WVON, and take a
tour of her station. She purchased the business in 1999 and has made
incredible improvements to the studio and facilities. Melody has been
recognized by the *Chicago Sun-Times* as one of the Ten Most Powerful
Women in Media, a well-deserved distinction. As she accurately pointed
out, her success is a model for the entire community. These are the
kinds of stories I hear all across the country.

Despite these victories, we still have many battles ahead. Women
comprise 51% of the population, yet, according to Edie Hilliard's 2007
study, women own just 3.4% of the 11,884 radio stations in this country.
Only 7% of the directors of the 14 largest radio companies are women.
Only 4 of the 42 "Most Powerful People in Radio" are women. Turn on the
television and you'll see plenty of women's programming. Radio stations
have a long way to go to catch up. The challenge before us is not to
cast blame, but to create a solution. The Minority Media &
Telecommunications Council has identified three primary hurdles that
most small businesses confront, particularly those owned by women and
minorities: lack of access to financing, both capital and debt; lack of
access to spectrum; and lack of access to opportunity. I want to partner
with each of you to make sure we are doing all that we can to remove
these obstacles. I know that we share the same goal\-- to promote
diversity at all levels of media, from management to ownership to other
"spheres of influence."

As I have said many times, if we are truly to experience diversity we
must see women not just in ownership positions, but also in the
boardroom and the control room. I want to see more women in broadcasting
who are, like you, making decisions, making deals, and truly making
history. Programs like NAB's Education Foundation give me reason to
believe we will turn the tide, and the next generation will see
diversity at all levels of media organizations. Last year I spoke to one
of the NAB Broadcast Leadership Training Classes. The success of that
program speaks for itself---18 graduates currently own their own
stations; 28 have moved up to senior management or larger markets;
several are in the process of acquiring stations. In addition to the
Education Foundation, NAB's Ownership Forum provides aspiring broadcast
station owners with vital contacts and information, and the Station
Disposition Forums work closely with the Minority Media
Telecommunications Council to host meetings which connect women and
minorities from all across the country.

As a Commissioner I want to again pledge to do what I can regarding our
own policies, so I am looking for your ideas, your vision, your
successes and your failures regarding these policies. There are a number
of race- and gender-neutral initiatives that I believe the Commission
could undertake to remove barriers to market entry by small businesses
and promote diversity of media voices. Some are informal and more
immediate in their impact -- the use of our time and efforts to champion
the issue of ownership diversity, to call attention to it and raise the
level of conversation. Others require formal action, including
Congressional legislation and Commission rulemaking. However change is
accomplished, I hope we all agree with the end goal. We just need to get
to work!

Perhaps the most effective action the Commission could take is to
establish a new tax certificate program similar to the one in effect
from 1978 -- 1995. In the years following its inception, the program
contributed to an increase in minority broadcast ownership from 60
stations to over 300 stations. I also hope that the Commission will act
soon to consider the use of FM translators by AM stations. As of 2001,
more than half of all minority-owned radio stations were AM stations.
Chairman Martin and I have also discussed allowing tv stations to lease
new, unused digital programming streams. This is precisely how Melody
Spann-Cooper has been so successful. She has a leasing agreement with
Clear Channel, with an option to buy. After the DTV Transition, which I
hope we are all talking about, spectrum will be left over and available
for new uses. Allowing spectrum leasing would provide women and minority
owners new opportunities for distribution of their own programming
streams.

Finally, Minority Media Telecommunications Council has suggested
relaxation of the Commission's equity-debt plus, or EDP, attribution
standard. An in-market party providing more than 33% of the total assets
of a licensee is considered to have enough control over the licensee to
create an attributable interest in the licensee's stations, resulting in
those stations counting toward the financier's ownership limits in that
market. Raising the EDP attribution threshold could help small
businesses attract the debt financing they need to enter the broadcast
market.

Additionally, we need to challenge all broadcasters---large, small,
independent, and network-owned, to reassess the content we are providing
to women listeners. Women are the primary decision makers when it comes
to the purchase of consumer goods. For example, women make 75% of
decisions about buying new homes, and 81% of the decisions about buying
groceries. They influence at least 80% of all household spending. We are
talking about literally billions of dollars. Broadcasters need to
realize that tailoring programming to women is a pro-business decision.

With regard to women in management positions, 90% of programming
directors are male, and 84% of general managers are male. We can't
expect women to own stations or even have access to capital if they
haven't had CEO experience. There are new and hopefully successful
business models being tried, such as internet streaming, which perhaps
may give women and other minorities another avenue for leadership.

Rather than allowing women radio listenership to continue to decline,
maybe we need to challenge the industry to look at the numbers, the
spending patterns, and actually invest in this revenue stream.

While many of you here today have made it, you broke the glass ceiling.
We cannot be complacent and we have to ensure that we keep moving in the
right direction. I challenge the businesses and industries that come
before the FCC to bring us creative ideas. We cannot merely accept the
statistics and status quo. I had hoped we would have a real
conversation, compiling real concepts and maybe even a few solutions,
the possibility of industry support or a developing a new Quetzel type
fund. So while I want to praise those of you who have met with success,
I also want to recognize our failures and take some action. Please help
me use my time effectively---whether policy, rules or bully pulpit.

Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing
that ever has." As I look around this room tonight, I see the very
people who [are]{.underline} changing the world. I encourage you to
continue toward the goal of creating radio stations that reflect the
diversity of America. Thank you.