***[Federal communications commission]{.underline}***

***media bureau staff research paper***

***Media Ownership Working Group***

A Comparison of Media Outlets and Owners for

Ten Selected Markets

(1960, 1980, 2000)

By Scott Roberts, Jane Frenette and Dione Stearns

September 2002

**A Comparison of Media Outlets and Owners**

**For Ten Selected Markets**

**(1960, 1980, 2000)**

**By Scott Roberts, Jane Frenette and Dione Stearns\***

\* Scott Roberts is a senior economist in the Industry Analysis Division
of the Media Bureau, Jane Frenette is a staff accountant in the Industry
Analysis Division of the Media Bureau, Dione Stearns is a law student
intern in the Media Bureau. The views expressed in this paper are those
of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
Federal Communications Commission, any Commissioners, or other staff.

**I. Executive Summary**

The purpose of this study is to compare the availability and ownership
of media in ten different radio markets[^1] at three different points in
time. This report contains a count of the number of broadcast outlets,
cable systems, direct broadcast satellite systems and daily newspapers
located in 10 selected radio markets for the years 1960, 1980 and 2000.
We also count the number of owners for each of the above and the number
of unique owners across all these media.

Collectively, the number of media outlets and owners increased
tremendously over the 40-year period from 1960 to 2000. The percent
increase in the number of outlets averaged almost 200 percent across all
ten markets. The percent increase in owner count, somewhat less dramatic
due to consolidation, averaged 140 percent. For each media we find:

-   The number of broadcast outlets increased dramatically from 1960
    to 2000. The number of broadcast owners also increased significantly
    from 1960 to 1980 but, from 1980 to 2000, the count of owners was
    generally, relatively stagnant. This is mainly due to tremendous
    consolidation, especially in the radio industry, [^2] since passage
    of the 1996 Telecom Act.[^3]

-   In 1960, cable was present only in two of the selected markets. By
    1980, cable was available in all ten markets and about one-third of
    TV households, on average, subscribed to cable. Cable subscription
    doubled in these markets by the year 2000, to about two-thirds of TV
    households, on average. Cable ownership has also experienced
    significant consolidation especially in the last several years.[^4]

-   Direct broadcast satellite (DBS), which was unavailable in 1960 and
    1980, is now available nationwide. DBS was available from two
    companies in 2000.

-   The count of daily newspapers/owners has, in general, remained flat
    in the ten markets since 1960.

**II. Methodology**

Selection of markets:

There are 285 Arbitron radio Metro markets.[^5] In order to have 10
observations, representing both large and small markets, we started with
market #1 \[NY\] and every 28^th^ market thereafter for a total of 10
markets. The counties that made up the radio markets for the year 2000
as designated by Arbitron were used to generate comparable data for the
two prior dates, 1980 and 1960.

Compilation of data:

All commercial and non-commercial TV stations in the DMA[^6] and all
commercial and non-commercial radio stations licensed to communities in
the radio Metro market were counted. If cable was available within the
radio Metro, it counted as one system and one owner. DBS counts as two
available outlets and two owners for all ten markets for the year 2000
only. Daily newspapers published in the radio Metro principal city were
also tallied. All data were cross-checked for common ownership. For data
sources, see Appendix.

**III. Results**

Table 1 - Summary of Media Outlets and Owner Count for 10 Selected Radio
Markets

This table is a count of media outlets and unique owners for 1960, 1980
and 2000, for the ten selected markets with the percent increase in the
number of outlets and owners from 1960 to 2000. The number of media
outlets and owners increased tremendously over the 40-year period from
1960 to 2000. The percent increases in outlets ranged from 79% in
Lancaster PA to a whopping 533% in Myrtle Beach SC with an average
increase of almost 200% across all ten markets. The percent increases in
owner count, somewhat less dramatic due to consolidation, ranged from
67% in Altoona PA to a huge 283% in Myrtle Beach SC resulting in a 140%
average increase in the number of owners for all ten markets from 1960
to 2000.

While the number of media outlets increased dramatically from 1960 to
2000 in all ten markets, the New York market (#1) experienced a net loss
of two owners by 2000 from peak year 1980. The number of owners in the
Kansas City market (#29) remained the same from 1980 to 2000. The other
eight \[smaller\] markets experienced moderate increases, averaging
about 25%, in unique owner count from 1980 to 2000.

Table 2 -- Outlet Count by Media for 10 Selected Radio Markets

This table is a breakdown of the outlet count; separating broadcast,
cable, DBS and newspaper counts for each market and year. The broadcast
numbers account for virtually all of the dramatic changes in the overall
media counts in Table 1.

Table 3 -- Count of Broadcast Outlets for 10 Selected Radio Markets

This table focuses on the broadcast outlet count from Table 2. The
broadcast count is divided into radio and television, commercial and
non-commercial, counts for each market and year, further illustrating
the consolidation in the commercial radio industry between 1980 and
2000.

Table 4 -- Summary of Cable System Availability for 10 Selected Radio
Markets

This table exhibits the tremendous growth of cable in each of the ten
markets, not only in the number of communities served, but also in
channel capacity and subscriber count. Cable, virtually non-existent in
1960, has grown to be the dominant video delivery vehicle in the U.S.
This table also depicts the declining number of cable system owners,
reflecting recent consolidation.

Appendix -- Data Sources

BIA Associates, BIA Master Access Data Base (March 2002);

FCC's Cable Operations and Licensing System (COALS) data base;

Television Digest, Inc., Television Factbook, Services Volume, 1967
Edition No. 37, Services Volume, 1980 Edition No. 49, 1966 Edition No.
36, Services Volume and Stations Volume, 1981-82 Edition No. 50, Edition
No. 30 and 31 (1960);

Television Digest, Inc., 1961 Radio Station Directory;

Warren Publishing, Television & Cable Factbook, Cable Volume No. 68,
Vols. 1 and 2;

Nielsen Media Research, *U. S. Television Household Estimates,*
September 2000;

Television Digest, Inc. Cable & Station Coverage Atlas, 1980-81;

Warren Publishing, Cable & Station Coverage Atlas, 1993;

Broadcasting Publications Inc., Broadcasting Yearbook, 1972, 1974, 1981;

R.R. Bowker, Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook, 2000;

Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals (1960); Ayer Directory of
Publications (1980); 2000 Ayer Directory of Publications.

[^1]: The radio market represents a core geographic area where most
    consumers reside. Virtually all media is available from the
    perspective of these residents.

[^2]: *See* FCC, Mass Media Bureau, *Radio IndustryReview 2002: Trends
    in Ownership, Format and Finance*, September 2002.

[^3]: Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996).

[^4]: Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for
    the Delivery of Video Programming, *Eighth Annual Report*, CS Docket
    No. 01-129, 17 FCC Rcd 1244 (2002), at para. 28.

[^5]: An Arbitron radio Metro market is a specific geographic area
    consisting of one or more contiguous counties that generally
    coincide with a Metropolitan Statistical Area as specified by OMB.
    The terms radio Metro market and radio market are used
    interchangeably.

[^6]: Designated Market Area (DMA) is the television market as specified
    by Nielsen Media Research. For this exercise, we assume all TV
    stations located in the DMA are receivable in the radio market. We
    did not count low-power TV stations.