Diversity in Broadcast 15

type of public affairs programming as compared to 47 percent or
14 of 39 majority-owned television stations.

Asked whether a station broadcasts shows about culture, music or
the arts designed to appeal especially to certain racial or
ethnic minority groups, 55 percent of all radio respondents and
51 percent of all television respondents said yes. Majority- and
minority-owned radio stations differ significantly, with 72
percent of minority-owned and 35 percent of majority-owned radio
stations reporting they broadcast programming of this nature.
Television stations do not show such a difference (64 percent for
minority-owned stations and 45 percent for majority-owned; while
this presents a similar pattern as do the radio stations, these
data miss statistical significance due to smaller numbers
overall) .*° Fifty-eight percent of all radio stations report
broadcasting shows about issues of concern to senior citizens and
40 percent of all television stations report a similar effort.
Minority-owned radio stations were no more likely to do this than
majority-owned stations, but for television, minority ownership
signaled a significantly greater likelihood (60 percent or nine
of 15) compared to majority ownership (30 percent or nine of 30
stations) .*

Asked if a station does live broadcasts of community events such
as government meetings or parades, 64 percent of radio
respondents and 69 percent of all television respondents
indicated that their station did so. Minority radio station
ownership significantly predicted this response, with 73 percent
of those stations carrying such live broadcasts compared to 55
percent of majority-owned radio stations.‘*? For television, no
such significant difference emerged, with 67 percent of minority-
owned stations and 71 percent of majority-owned stations making
this claim.*

% x?(1, N=111)=0.07, p=.79; x?(1, N=45)=4.55, p<.05,
respectively

» x2(1, N=110)=15.42, p<.001

40

x
Pp
iz

=43)=1.43, p=.23
“ x2(1, N=111)=0.29, p=.59; x?(1, N=45)=3.75, p<.05
x?(1, N=146)=4.88, p<.05

° x2(1, N=62)=0.11, p=.74


Diversity in Broadcast 36

Three other measures that might have helped explain any link
between owner race and ethnicity and programming diversity did
not significantly enter the model for radio or for television.
As noted above within bivariate analyses, involvement of the
owner in day-to-day station activities related to news and public
affairs programming was correlated, for radio but not for
television, with race or ethnicity of station owner where
minority owners tended to be more involved with their stations
than were majority owners. Despite this association, no
relationship appeared in the regression to independently link
owner involvement to programming diversity.

The other two failed measures - group ownership and station
revenue - were attempts to capture the concept of a station’s
ability to budget for diversity programming efforts. As such,
these measures leave something to be desired. For example, a
group-owned station may be able to draw resources from the group,
or may be constrained in its ability to budget resources at the
local level. Similarly, high station revenues may reflect a
policy of cost-cutting or may represent resources upon which a
newsroom could draw. Broadcast revenue issues are complex,
particularly when viewed in a minority context.”

* See, e.g., Raymond Suarez and Robert Cull, CAPITAL

FORMATION AND INVESTMENT IN MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN THE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRIES, U.S. Department of Commerce
(1995); Joann Anderson, project director


Diversity in Broadcast 32

Table 2 presents how, for radio, programming diversity breaks
down across categories of each independent variable. For
independent variables that consist of continuous measures, data
were split at the median so as to illustrate differences in
condensed tabular form. Table 3 presents the same information
for television.

Table 2: Separate comparisons between each independent variable
and the dependent measure of programming diversity for radio
Mean s.d. (N)
Owner Race
Minority 6.14 2.15 71
Majority 3.06 2.43 77
Owner Involvement
Higher 5.14 2.75 71
Lower 4.04 2.65 76
Staffing
More Diverse 6.03 2.33 70
Less Diverse 2.90 2.13 69
Station Revenue
Higher 4.36 2.80 55
Lower 4.62 2.80 55
Structure
Group-owned 4.27 2.82 79
Not group-owned 4.86 2.68 69



Diversity in Broadcast a1

diversity of views and information on the airwaves serves First
Amendment values...[{and] the benefits redound to all members of
the viewing and listening audience.” The Court also stated that
“{a] broadcasting industry with representative minority
participation will produce more variation and diversity than will
one whose ownership is drawn from a single racially and
ethnically homogeneous group.”** The Court determined that the
federal government had a substantial interest in promoting the
diversity of viewpoints via broadcasting. In addition, the Court
found that ownership of broadcast stations by minorities promoted
the government's substantial interest.

Five years later, in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, a
reconstituted Supreme Court overruled the Metro Broadcasting
Court's use of intermediate scrutiny to analyze the
constitutionality of federal government programs that rely on
racial criteria.®*’ That Court held that any federal program
using racial or ethnic criteria as the basis for decision making
is subject to strict judicial scrutiny. According to the
Adarand Court, racial classifications used in federal programs
“must serve a compelling governmental interest, and must be
narrowly tailored to further that interest.”

More recently, in the context of broadcast employment, the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit held in Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod v. FCC that the
promotion of broadcast diversity does not constitute a compelling
government interest.°? The court, citing the O’Connor dissent in
Metro Broadcasting, found that the government's arguments that a
nexus exists between minority employment in broadcast stations
and greater diversity in broadcast programming had not been

%6 Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, 497 U.S. 547, 568

(1990), at 579.

07

515 U.S. 200 (1995).

98 Id at 235.

° Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod v. FCC, 141 F.3d 344
(D.C. Cir.), petition for reh’g denied, 154 F.3d 487 (D.c. Cir.
1998), petition for reh’g en banc denied, 154 F.3d 494 (D.C. Cir.
1998).


Diversity in Broadcast 9

station owner (83 percent of majority-owned television stations
are group owned while 95 percent of minority-owned television
stations are group owned) .**

BIA’s measurement of “owner rank” - a formula based partly on
estimates of an owner’s annual revenues - was collapsed due to
skewness in the data into “high” and “low” categories according
to midpoint for each medium. These data revealed a difference
between minority- and majority-owned radio stations but not for
television. Within radio, 67 percent of the majority owners fall
into the more-highly ranked category, as compared to 27 percent
of minority owners.** By contrast, 46 percent of majority
television owners and 50 percent of minority television owners
fall into that higher category.\* Within both samples of radio
and television stations, however, majority owners on average own
more broadcast stations (of either type) than do minority owners
(for radio, majority owners own, on average, 51.21 broadcast
stations while minority owners own 12.75 stations; for
television, majority owners own 12.07 stations on average
compared to the 7.03 stations owned by minority owners.*’

Station gross revenues are also higher for both radio and
television majority-owned stations. Majority-owned radio stations
brought in an average of $4,278,500, compared to the minority-
owned radio station’s average of $1,786,200.*® Majority-owned
television stations brought in an average of $24,745,950 in 1997
while minority-owned television stations grossed $10,570,580.
These comparisons should be viewed with some caution, however, as
the BIA database constructs its information using a system of
estimates across markets over time that leaves many stations
without data. This situation could not be improved by augmenting
with the study’s survey data as most respondents did not provide
this information.

" x2(1, N=61)= 1.49, p=.22
6 x? (1, N=116)= 18.61, p<.001

6 x?(1, N=57)= 0.07, p=.79

£(122.58)= -4.01, p<.001; £(53.87)= -2.24, p<.05,
respectively
8 t(87.62)= -2.36, p<.05

® £(44.08)= -2.57, p<.01


Diversity in Broadcast 68

two groups did not vary with respect to radio station format, >?°
region of the country where station is located,’ presence or
absence of group ownership (where owner owns stations in more

observed between the sample groups is unlikely to be attributable
to sampling error but is more likely attributable to a true
difference between population groups. Thus, when the report
indicates no significant difference between groups on a given
comparison, the difference observed between the samples does not
rise to the necessary level to be considered statistically
significant. Number of cases in a comparison will vary based on
a number of factors. Sometimes a question was not put toa
respondent because of responses to previous questions. For
example, a television station would not have a format, thus the
total number of responses to the format question reflects only
the radio stations in the survey. In addition, respondents are
encouraged to skip any item to which they do not know the answer.
Number of cases is reported as “N” in a Chi-Square (see, for
example, Footnote 120 shows a statistic concerning 172 cases that
produces a small statistical difference (0.139) and a large and
insignificant p (.71)). A t-test displays number of cases in
terms of degrees of freedom, a number that is either N-2 when
group variances are not significantly different from each other
according to Levene’s test or a lower number when the test needs
to accommodate unequal variances (in this case, degrees of
freedom are often non-integer). For example, in Footnote 123,
based on equal variances, the test involves an N of 172,
resulting 170 degrees of freedom producing in this case a small t
statistic (0.32) and an insignificant p value (.75)). Footnote
124, presents a t-statistic from an analysis with unequal
variance: the test involves 172 cases but only 108.81 degrees of
freedom, producing a t-statistic of 1.70 and an insignificant p
value of .09.

120 x?(1, N=172)= 0.139, p=.71. Following the lead set by
the Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy in its January
1999 report (“When Being No. 1 is Not Enough: The Impact of
Advertising Practices on Minority-Owned & Minority-Formatted
Broadcast Stations,” Ofori, Kofi A.), this study categorized
program formats as either general market appeal or minority
appeal based on categories employed by BIA Research Inc.
Specifically, formats denoted as Black, Ethnic, Spanish or Urban
were categorized as minority appeal. These general
classifications include subcategories (for example, Ethnic
encompasses Asian, Greek, Hawaiian, International, Japanese,
Korean, Polish, Spanish/Portuguese and Portuguese). All other
formats were categorized as general market appeal.

x?(8, N=172)= 4.86, p=.77


Diversity in Broadcast 51

such as how a station goes about assessing and meeting the needs
of its audience. Themes include (See survey instrument, Appendix
III):

1. Amount and type of news broadcast (local, state,
national, international; produced or purchased by the
station);

2. Efforts of a station to find a local news angle within

a regional, national or international news story,
especially when attempting to meet the needs of a
particular audience;

3. How a station distinguishes itself from its perceived
primary competition, and whether such efforts are
related to meeting the needs of a particular audience;

4. Amount and type of public affairs reporting, and
whether this coverage was approached with the needs of
a particular audience in mind;

5. How a station defines its intended audience;

6. How the station assesses the needs of its intended
audience, including attention paid to direct feedback
from audience members;

7. Decision-making processes at the station;

8. Ownership characteristics and involvement of owners in
various levels of station activity;

9. Composition of the station’s staff, including diversity
in terms of gender, ethnicity and race;

10. A station’s efforts to compete within its market, with
particular attention to audience concerns.

Archival Data

Data on station format, ownership, revenues, market and audience
exist in above-mentioned and other databases (including a
commercial database produced by the Broadcast Industry
Association (1998 version)). These data were gathered for three
purposes:

. To create a basis for assessing response bias between


Diversity in Broadcast 49

station that was still in operation under minority ownership, *%
devoting air time to news or public affairs programming," and
with a news director who was not already on the list with a
sister station.‘ Pretesting of the survey instrument then began
with respondents at minority-owned stations.

Cost estimates from the survey firm (based on pretest interview
length and robust availability of respondents) suggested the
possibility of completing 150 interviews with news directors or
their equivalents at minority-owned stations. Having obtained
approval for the study from the U.S. government’s Office of
Management and Budget, we directed the survey firm to enter the
field on July 15, 1998, to begin augmenting pretest data with
some new questionnaire items and to begin interviews from both
populations.

MS Initially, the study additionally aimed to estimate

effect of female and small-business ownership on news and public
affairs programming, as all three criteria have historically been
used by the FCC to the advantage of such license applicants.
However, as no lists of license holders by gender or business
status were available, that portion of the project was abandoned.

ie As the study focused on dependent measures surrounding
news and public affairs programming, data-gathering focused only
on those stations that would provide useful data. Before an
interview began, potential respondents were asked about news and
public-affairs broadcasting among other screening questions.
Potential respondents who indicated no such programming were
thanked for their time and the interview was not begun.

ns Ninety-five radio stations shared 43 news directors.

M6 Once a minority interview was completed, the survey
firm located that minority-owned station in its market and
consulted the list of majority-owned stations in that same
market. They then selected the subset relevant to the minority
station in terms of radio versus television and for radio, a.m.
versus f.m.; for example, if the minority interview was with an
a.m. radio station, the majority sample frame for the matching
interview was reduced to all majority-owned a.m. radio stations
in the same market. If that list included more than 10 stations,
a subset of 10 was pulled at random and the order then randomized
before the list was placed in the CATI system. If the list
contained 10 or fewer, that list was likewise randomized before
being placed in the system. Interviewers would then begin
calling stations for a matching interview; when one was


SURVEY 7-22-98 OMB 3060-0839
Basic information (interviewer fills in before beginning interview)

Date of interview: Starting time: Interviewer

Respondent ID#__-__ __. Station ID
Location (city, state)

Title of respondent: [ ] owner [ ] station manager [ ] news director
[ ] program director [ ] other

If radio, type of format: If TV, network affiliation:
[] AM [] FM [] VHF [] UHF

Introduction

Hello, my name is ____. I am calling on behalf of researchers at Stanford University and Santa
Clara University who are working on a study about news and public affairs programming. We
are surveying hundreds of broadcast stations nationwide. We would like to interview you about
your station's programming. This interview is voluntary. You have the right to skip any
question you prefer not to answer, and to stop at any time. The Federal Communications
Commission is one of the funding sources for the study, which has been approved by the Office
of Management and Budget. However, your responses will be kept confidential; nothing you say
will be connected to you personally or to your station. We foresee no risks associated with
participation in this study. The interview takes about 45 minutes. In addition, to thank you for
your participation, we will send you, via email, a copy of the results that will be made public at
the conclusion of our study. Shall I begin, or do you have questions first?

[Note to interviewer: If at any time during the survey, respondent has questions about his or her
rights as a study participant or expresses dissatisfaction with the study, advise respondent that
he or she may call the Administrative Panels Office at Stanford University collect at
650-723-4697)

1. [Note: radio respondents only}
What is your station's predominant programming format?
[All respondents]
2. For how many hours a day is your station on the air?___
3. Does your station broadcast news of any kind? [] yes [] no

-->[If yes, go to Q4]
-->[If no, go to A]

4, Does your station broadcast news about local events?
[] yes [] no
5. Do you broadcast news about events in your state or region that happen outside your
community? [] yes [] no
6. Do you broadcast news about national or international events? [] yes [ ] no
7. Which of the following best describes how the news is presented? Is it [ ] presented in a

continuous, or 24-hour news format, [ ] on regularly scheduled news programs, [ ] or does your
station broadcast only brief newsbreaks throughout the day?
-->[If continuous, go to QI1]


65. In general, does your station try to attract a particular kind of audience?
[] yes [] no [ ] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q66]
-->[If no or DK, go to Q67]
66. Can you describe that intended audience in a few words?
67. Does your station use rating services, such as Nielsen or Arbitron, to help you find out
who is in your audience? [] yes []no [] DK
-->[If yes, go to Q68]
-->[If no, go to Q69]
-->[If DK go to Q73]
68. How often do you look at information from one of these services? Would you say it's [ ]
once a week, [ ] once a month, [ ] a couple of times a year, [ ] once a year, or [ ] less than that?
[GO TO Q73]
69. Do you know any reasons why your station doesn't use rating services?
[lyes [] no
[If yes, go to Q70]
Lf no, go to Q73]
70. Is one reason because it is too expensive? [] yes [] no
71. Is one reason that the information would not be very useful in making decisions? [ ] yes
[] no
72. Is one reason because you feel you know your audience better than anyone else does?
[]yes [] no
73. Does your station conduct formal audience research of its own, such as local focus groups
or surveys? [] yes []no [] DK
-->[If yes, go to Q74]
-->[If no, go to Q75]
-->[If DK, go to Q79]
74. Would you say you do that [ ] once a year, [ ] more often, or [ ] less often than that?

[GO TO Q79]
75. Do you know any reason why your station doesn't conduct its own audience research?
[]yes []no

-->[If yes, go to Q76]
-->[If no, go to Q79]
76. Is one reason because it is too expensive? [] yes [ ] no
77. Is one reason that the information would not be very useful in making decisions? [ ] yes
[] no
78. Is one reason because you feel you know your audience better than anyone else does? [ ]
yes []no
79. How about other market studies, such as government or Chamber of Commerce reports
about local income levels and the like? Does your station use that kind of information? [ ] yes
[]no [] DK
-->[If yes, go to Q80]
-->[If no, go to Q81]
-->[If DK, go to Q85]
80. Would you say you use them [ ] once a year, [ ] more often, or [ ] less often than that?
[GO TO Q85]
81. Do you know any reason why your station doesn't use that kind of information?
[] yes [] no
Uf yes, go to Q82]


Diversity in Broadcast 47

METHODOLOGY

Of the total of 11,475 broadcast stations licensed in the United
States in August 1997, 322 (or 2.8 percent) were reportedly
licensed by individuals or groups mainly comprising individuals
of ethnic or racial minority status. Most - 193 or 1.7 percent
of the total - were owned by Blacks. Another 120, or 1 percent,
were owned by Hispanics. The remainder fell to Asian or Native
American ownership; four stations were listed as being Asian-
owned and five, by Native Americans.'!”

Sampling the Populations

Minority- and majority-owned broadcast stations were regarded as
separate populations for the purpose of this study. The vastly
smaller group of minority-owned stations were approached as a
census effort. Once the minority list produced a completed
interview, one or two majority stations were selected for
interview from the same geographical area, an approach that would
control for a number of potentially confounding variables such as
market demographics and regional economics.

Minority Commercial Broadcast Ownership, produced annually by the
United States Department of Commerce National Telecommunications

and Information Administration, provides a complete national
listing of commercial minority-owned television and radio

me August 1997 figures are derived from the August 1998

Minority Commercial Broadcast Ownership in the United States, an
annual publication of the United States Department of Commerce
National Telecommunications and Information Administration.



Diversity in Broadcast 19

difference emerged between minority- and majority-owned
television stations.”

In terms of staffing this most-popular show, minority-owned radio
stations report significantly smaller numbers of on-air employees
(2.03 compared to the majority-owned stations’ average of 3.28),
a difference that does not emerge in the data from television
stations (6.85 compared to 5.62, respectively) .*° Station
ownership appears to bear no relation to ratio of women to men
on-air for this popular program,® but minority-owned radio
stations report significantly greater proportions of on-air
personnel who are members of minority groups. On average 89
percent of the on-air staff in minority-owned radio stations are
members of ethnic or racial minority groups, compared to just
one-third (33 percent)for the majority-owned radio stations.”

No such difference emerges for television stations, who report 47
percent minority on-air staff at minority-owned stations versus
30 percent at majority-owned stations.®©

As another measure of their approach to public affairs
programming, respondents were asked if their stations used call-
in formats for any of their public affairs shows. The use of
call-in formats represents an important feedback mechanism by
which audience members can contribute to conversations about
topics that interest them. Most stations report using such
formats, with 77 percent of all radio stations versus 45 percent
of all television stations making this report. Ownership
predicts this response for radio but not for television, as 86
percent of minority-owned radio stations as compared to 68
percent of majority-owned radio stations use call-in formats and

» x@(1, N=135)= 20.81; p<.001 and x?(1, N=58)= 0.77;
p=.38, respectively

“ £(103.79)= -2.23, p<.05; £(58)= 1.08, p=.29,
respectively

° £(120)= 1.70, p=.09; £(52)= -0.28, p=.78,
respectively

° £(112.83)= 9.18, p<.001. See, however, Footnote 8.

ss £(52)= 1.67, p=.10. However, see Footnote 8.


Diversity in Broadcast 37

SUMMARY and CONCLUSIONS

The question that directed this study was whether race or
ethnicity of a broadcast station’s owner has a meaningful
influence on the contribution by that station to broadcast
spectrum programming diversity. While particularly for radio
there were many indicators of such a relationship at the
bivariate level, it is the multivariate analysis reported in the
final portion of the results section that offers the most
challenging and focused test of our research question.

Programming diversity - a complex measure comprising 13 or 14
indices of station attention to minority audience needs - varied
greatly across stations. One television and 11 radio stations
scored zero, indicating no effort to program to appeal especially
to racial or ethnic minority audience members. One radio station
scored a 12 on the scale where 13 was the maximum; on their 14-
point scale, the two highest-scoring television stations earned
11 points each. The fundamental question posed by this study is
whether minority-owned stations exhibit more of this type of
programming diversity than their majority-owned counterparts.

For radio, the answer is yes. In addition, radio stations
(regardless of who owns them) are more likely to program for
diversity if their news staffs include ethnic and racial minority
composition.

For television, only the latter measure - staffing diversity - is
associated with greater programming diversity. The more the
station’s staff includes members of racial or ethnic minorities,
the more diverse appears the programming from that station, on
average. But ethnicity or race of station owner did not emerge
as a significant factor.

Added to the regression were three additional measures that could
have significantly improved the explanatory power of the model,
yet none did. As discussed above, owner involvement did not
significantly predict programming diversity. For reasons likely
linked to measurement ineffectiveness, neither did ownership
structure nor station revenue. Future research could attempt
more precise measures of a station’s ability to budget resources
for creative and audience-specific programming, a concept that


Diversity in Broadcast 67

Interviewing non-respondents about non-response
Sub-sampling of non-respondents

Substitution for non-respondents

Extrapolation based on difficulty

Conversion adjustments

+ Fe HOF

One promising avenue — considering temporary refusals as
resembling ultimate refusals more than they resemble immediate
completers — was equally soundly rejected by Ellis, Endo and
Armer (1970) .**® While the literature presents a dismal picture
of non-response investigation, this study is in a better position
than most in its access to relevant archival data for a
respondent/non-respondent comparison. Such data as radio station
format, station owner size, market, race and ethnicity for market
population, and region of the country in which a station is
located are available for respondents and non-respondents alike.

Radio and television differ as media fundamentally, both in terms
of technology (sound versus pictures and sound; delivery chiefly
through broadcast versus cable; ability to reach large and
diverse audiences being less with radio than with television) and
how expectations for a medium have shaped choices of station
operators (i.e., radio tends to specialize in format while
television offers a wider range of programming throughout the
broadcast day, typically). Recognizing this circumstance, this
study separates the data on this basis and reports findings for
radio and television separately.

Minority-Owned Radio Station Non-Response Bias
Little evidence of response bias arose in archival data

comparisons between the 71 respondent minority-owned radio
stations and the 101 non-respondents from that population.'!® The

us Ellis, Robert A.; Calvin M. Endo; and J. Michael Armer.
“The Use of Potential Nonrespondents for Studying Nonresponse

Bias.” Pacific Sociological Review pp. 103-109, Spring 1970.

no The statistics that follow will be of two types. A

comparison of two categorical variables such as respondent /non-
respondent by format requires a Chi-Square statistic (appearing
as x’ in footnotes) that contrasts the pattern of distribution
expected when no relationship exists between the variables with
the pattern obtained in the data. When the dependent variable is
continuous, such as percent of Asians in a market (which could
conceivably range from zero to 100), a t-test is employed to
compare the means of the two groups with reference to their
sample variance and number of cases. In both cases, significance
is reported as a “p” value. Small p values (conventionally,
anything less than .05 or five percent) indicate the difference


Table of Contents

Executive Summary ....----- seer cette eee i
Introduction 2.2... cece eee eee eet tte 1
Methodology and ResultS ....----+seee erect etree 5
Summary and Conclusions .....-.- eee eer etree 37

List of Tables

Table 1: Summary statistics for dependent
and independent measures ..-----.e+ rere eer erect 31

Table 2: Separate comparisons between each
independent variable and the dependent measure
of programming diversity for yadio .... cc ee eee eee 32

Table 3: Separate comparisons between each
independent variable and the dependent measure

of programming diversity for television ..........- 33
Table 4: Results of regression for radio sample ... 35
Table 5: Results of regression for TV sample ...... 35

List of Appendices

Appendix I: Legal Analysis
Appendix II: Methodology
Appendix III: Survey Instrument

Appendix IV: Non-Response Bias Analysis

ii


Diversity in Broadcast 70

television stations as that group (ultimately only 25 in all) was
so small. These efforts succeeded in producing 21 completed
interviews, leaving insufficient power to evaluate differences
between these stations and their four non-respondent
counterparts.

Majority-Owned Radio Station Non-Response Bias

A comparison of archival data between the 77 respondents and 80
non-respondents from the majority-owned radio stations produced a
similar pattern as the one reported for minority-owned radio
stations, above. Format choice was not significantly different
across the radio stations within the two response groups,’’* nor
was region of the country where station was located,?”? presence
or absence of group ownership, number of stations owned by a
station’s owner,TM! or market racial or ethnic demographics.*”

Like the comparison of minority-owned radio stations, rank of
majority-owned station owner’’’ did not differentiate between
majority-owned station respondents and non-respondents, nor did
station revenues.'34 But, following the trend in the minority-
owned radio station data, Arbitron rank of a majority-owned
station’s market showed a tendency to significantly vary across
response groups, with non-respondents coming from bigger markets
more frequently than expected (as was the trend with the
minority-owned stations). This relationship misses significance

m8 201, N=157)= .57, p=.40
m9 -y2(6, N=157)= 6.4, p=.075
m0 4@(1, N=157)= 2.58, p=.11
BI £(155)=-.15, p=.88

1 Percent Asians in the market, t(155)=-0.97, p=.82;

percent Blacks in the market, £(155)=0.20, p=.81; percent Whites
in the market, £(129.09)=-1.46, p=.15; percent Hispanics or
Latinos in the market, t(155)=-0.68, p=.50; percent Hispanics or
Latinos adjusted to account for outliers, t(155)=-1.00, p=.32.

83 t(132)=.43, p=.67; x27(1, N=134)= 0.00, p=1.0

a £(119)=-0.05, p=.96


Diversity in Broadcast 69

than one market or three or more within any one market)?”
(although this comparison approaches a significant relationship
with respondents less often working for stations that are owned
in conjunction with other stations than do non-respondents),
number of stations owned by station’s owner,” or in percent of
Asians, Blacks or African Americans, Whites, or Hispanics or
Latinos in station’s market.’

Likewise, no differences emerged between respondent and non-
respondent minority-owned radio stations in terms of BIA’s “owner
rank” - a formula based partly on estimates of an owner’s annual
revenues’ - or 1997 station revenues. Differences approached
but did not achieve significance with respect to Arbitron ranking
of stations’ markets, with the tendency toward non-respondents
working in bigger markets than respondents.**’

Minority-Owned Television Non-Response Bias

Survey interviewers were instructed to spend the maximum time
securing completed interviews with respondents at minority-owned

x2(1, N=172)= 3.50, p=.06

123 £(170)=0.32, p=.75

a t(108.81)=1.70, p=.09; £(170)=0.52, p=.61; £(170)=1.16,

p=.25, and t(170)=.79, p=.43 respectively. Because of a few
outliers, the distribution of percent Hispanics in a market was
severely skewed. Normalizing this variable through recoding of
all data over 50% to a category of “50% and above” did not
produce a significant difference between respondents and non-
respondents (t(170)=.78, p=.44).

125 £(123)=-0.97, p=.33; in addition, adjusting for
skewness in the data by separating cases into categories at the
median (the mid-way point in the data) produced no difference in
results: x?(1, N=125)= 0.83, p=.77.

ne £(109) =0.95; p=.34; This comparison should be viewed
with some suspicion, however, as respondents were generally
unwilling or unable to provide this data to interviewers, and the
BIA database constructs its information using a system of
estimates across market over time that leaves many stations
without data.

Rr £(118.34)=1.85, p=.07. Collapsing this rankings into

two categories (1-100 = “big” and 101+ = “small”) did not change
these results: x?(1, N=120)= 2.83, p=.09.


Diversity in Broadcast 72

Non-Response Bias Summary

For the most part, no significant differences arose between
respondents and non-respondents, whether they be from minority-
owned or majority-owned radio or majority-owned television
stations. This includes comparisons based on market
demographics, choice of radio format, region of the country and
for ownership characteristics. Only market size appeared to
differentiate, sometimes to a point of statistical significance,
putting non-respondents consistently in larger markets, on
average, than their respondent counterparts.


Diversity in Broadcast 30

regardless of race or ethnicity. Putting both potential
independent variables into one common model will help determine
the relative strengths of both.

Another factor is the race and ethnic composition of the staff,
including the news and public affairs director. The ratio of
minority members of a station’s news and public affairs staff (a
measure that could range from zero to one) was added to the
measure of respondent race or ethnicity (zero for Whites, one for
racial or ethnic minority members) to create an index that ranged
between zero and two. Once again, adding this element to the
model will help answer the question of the true role of owners’
race and ethnicity in station programming. Do owner
characteristics affect programming diversity chiefly through the
intermediary of newsroom personnel? Or, apart from owner race or
ethnicity, could another explanation (based solely on newsroom
staffing) emerge to account for differences in programming
outcomes?

Finally, we examine two other factors that could affect a
station’s ability to diversify its programming should those
efforts prove time- or money-consuming. These are station
revenue and ownership structure (group-owned or not). Each of
these measures was selected for its potential to help clarify why
programming in a majority or minority-owned station would differ,
and to query whether some other factor — aside from race or
ethnicity of owner — was not the real predictor of programming
diversity (for example, a measure related to the station’s
resources).

Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for each of the
independent variables presented above, plus statistics for the
dependent measure of programming diversity.


Diversity in Broadcast 16

Respondents were next asked if, during the past year, they had
broadcast special programming related to certain holidays or
events in addition to any news coverage of those events. Some of
these questions produced differences according to station
ownership. Events of concern to African Americans were reported
to be broadcast by 59 percent of all radio stations and 38
percent of all television stations. Among radio stations,
minority ownership significantly predicted this response as 71
percent of these stations said they aired such broadcasts versus
47 percent of their majority-owned counterparts.‘4 For
television stations, the relative proportions - 71 percent of
minority-owned stations versus 56 percent of majority-owned
stations - were not significantly different from each other.‘

Programming of special interest to Native Americans follows a
similar pattern. Twenty-one percent of all radio stations and 22
percent of all television stations report this programming.
Twenty-nine percent of minority-owned radio stations report this
programming versus 13 percent of majority-owned radio stations, a
significant difference.*® As with African American programming,
television does not differ significantly by ownership (for
minority-owned stations, 20 percent or four of 20 stations report
this programming as compared to 22 percent or nine of 40
majority-owned stations make a similar report) .*”

Programming of interest to women, such as programs dealing with
women’s health, presents a slightly different pattern. Sixty-nine
percent of all radio stations and 62 percent of all television
stations report programming of particular interest to women. For
radio, minority-owned stations are significantly more likely to
offer this programming (81 percent of minority-owned stations
versus 57 percent of majority-owned stations) .** For television,
minority-owned stations report this programming 47 percent (nine
of 19 stations) of the time while majority-owned stations report

“ x?(1, N=143)=8.29, p<.01
“5 x?(1, N=60)=1.30, p=.25

“6 x?(1, N=144)=5.34, p<.05

47 2

(1, N=60)=0.049, p=.82

48

x@(1, N=145)=9.82, p<.001


Diversity in Broadcast 22

having hired these consultants, compared with 30 percent of
minority-owned radio stations.*

Audience Feedback

Station ownership does not predict reported frequency of contact
initiated by audience members about news or public affairs
programming although this contact appears to be more frequent for
television than for radio. For television, audience contact
occurs at least several times a week - with many reporting call-
ins or letters nearly every day - for 79 percent of stations
while only 59 percent of radio stations report this level of
contact. However, the type of program (news or public affairs)
that generates the most audience feedback does vary between
minority- and majority-owned radio stations, a difference absent
for television stations. Whereas 80 percent of the respondents
from minority-owned radio stations identify most audience
feedback coming in response to public affairs programming
(compared to 50 percent of majority-owned radio stations so
indicating), it is news programming that prompts an equally
strong response from both minority-owned and majority-owned
television stations (95 percent minority-owned and 84 percent
majority-owned stations say this is where the bulk of their
audience response focuses) .”

Majority-owned radio stations are more likely to report receiving
calls from audience members offering suggestions or ideas for
programs (43 percent of majority-owned stations report this
happens “frequently” compared with 21 percent of minority-owned
stations), a difference not reflected among television
stations.” Praise, however, appears to come more often to
minority-owned radio stations, with 65 percent responding this
happens frequently compared with 42 percent of the majority-owned
stations doing so; again, a difference that is not reflected

6 x?(1, N=140)= 5.51; p<.05; x?(1, N=60)= 1.13; p=.29,

respectively

7 x?(1, N=127)= 12.74; p<.001; x?(1, N=57)=1.52; p=.22,
respectively
7 x°(2, N=130)= 7.11; p<.05; x?(2, N=58)= 3.84; p=.15,
respectively


Diversity in Broadcast 18

overall, with 52 percent of radio stations and 29 percent of
television stations reporting such coverage, yet no
differentiation by ownership.

Respondents were asked if stations ever broadcast programs ina
language other than English. Thirty-one percent of radio
stations and 19 percent of television stations report such
broadcasts. This question broke down along ownership lines for
radio stations, with minority-owned stations significantly more
often reporting such broadcasts (43 percent)and majority-owned
stations reporting a lower percentage of non-English broadcasts
(20 percent) .** For television, 29 percent or six of 21
minority-owned stations and 15 percent or six of 41 stations
report such broadcasts, not a significant difference.*’ Nearly
every case of alternative language programming involved Spanish.
Two stations (one minority- and one majority-owned) program in
Asian languages; majority-owned stations broadcast in Polish and
Italian (one each) and minority-owned stations broadcast in
Navajo and Haitian (one each).

Most respondents could name the news or public-affairs show they
broadcast that draws the largest audience. These tended to be
described in mainstream terms, yet sizeable numbers were reported
as appealing especially to women and minorities. While for
neither radio nor television does station ownership predict
whether this popular show held special appeal for women (just
over a quarter of each group agreed it did) ,*® minority-owned
radio stations reported more often that their most popular show
appealed especially to minority audiences (69 percent compared to
30 percent of the majority-owned stations). While no significant

owned by Asians.

3 Again, ownership does not predict differences among

radio stations (x?(1, N=142)=2.35, p=.12) or among television
stations (x?7(1, N=62)=0.003, p=.95) on this item.

*° x2(1, N=146)=9.13, p<.01
7 y2(1, N=62)=1.73, p=.19

8 x? (1, N=134)=1.62, p=.20; y?(1, N=56)=0.22, p=.64,

respectively


Diversity in Broadcast

31

Table 1: Summary statistics for dependent and independent
measures

Measure Sample Mean Standard (N)
Deviation

Programming Radio 4.54 2.76 148
Diversity Television 4.79 2.55 63
Owner Race/ Radio 0.48 0.50 148
Ethnicity+ Television 0.33 0.48 63
Owner Radio 7.85 5.70 147
Involvement Television 4.16 3.43 63
Staffing Radio 1.19 0.85 139
Diversity Television 0.60 0.59 51
Station Radio : 3,145,636 5,960,958 110
Revenue Television 20,283,333 27,219,158 54
Ownership Radio 0.53 0.50 148
Structure+ Television 0.87 0.34 61

+ Owner Race/Ethnicity and Ownership Structure are 0/1
variables, with racial/ethnic minority owners and group-
owned stations coded as 1.


Diversity in Broadcast 13

ethnic or racial minority audience while one of three respondents
from majority-owned television stations made such a report.

A similar pattern appears when respondents considered whether
they had approached a recent news story (covered by both)
differently from their chief competitor in news. Forty-six
percent (63 of 136) radio respondents and 63 percent (34 of 54)
television respondents said yes to this question. Of those, 52
percent (33 of 63) radio respondents and 41 percent (14 of 34)
television respondents said they based their different approach
on having in mind a particular audience. For radio, minority-
owned stations significantly more often than majority-owned
stations had a racial or ethnic minority audience in mind (14 of
18 minority-owned stations gave this response as opposed to only
two of 15 majority-owned stations).** For television this
pattern did not emerge, with one of six minority-owned stations
reporting this intent while two of eight majority-owned stations
reported similarly.

Respondents were also asked about their mission as news directors
and were given three options: Primarily to reach out to the
widest possible audience, to a particular audience, or that
neither goal described their mission. For radio respondents, 48
percent responded that their goal was to attract the widest
possible audience, 34 percent said they aimed at a particular
audience, and 18 percent said neither was their goal. For
television respondents, 54 percent aimed at a wide audience, 18
aimed for a particular audience and 28 percent said neither was a
goal. Among those who aimed either at a wide or ata particular
audience, differences emerged between majority- and minority-
owned radio stations such that majority-owned stations tended to
aim for wide audiences (68 percent) while minority-owned stations
tended more toward particular audiences (52 percent) .**
Majority-owned television stations also leaned toward attracting
a wide audience (20 of 24 stations made this report) compared to
nine of 15 minority-owned stations. A statistical comparison of
majority- and minority-owned television stations was not
performed due to low cell counts.

In summary, radio and television minority and majority owners
show similar approaches to the amount of news broadcast, the
composition of the news in terms of wire versus self-produced and

a x2(1, N=32)= 12.70, p<.001

a4

x2@(1, N=112)= 4.72, p<.05


Diversity in Broadcast 71

when the data are collapsed into “high” and “low” market
categories, however.*®

Majority-Owned Television Station Non-Response Bias

The 42 respondent and 31 non-respondent cases in this category
provide sufficient data for non-response bias comparisons. These
comparisons mirror the trend - absence of significant differences
between respondent and non-respondent stations - set in the radio
station analyses, above.

Format choice does not apply to television programming. Region
of the country where station was located provided no significant
differences across response groups,° nor did presence or absence
of group ownership,?” number of stations owned by a station’s
owner, #38 or market racial or ethnic demographics.'*?

Like the above comparisons of minority-owned and majority-owned
radio stations, rank of majority-owned television station owner?*°
did not differentiate between majority-owned station respondents
and non-respondents, nor did station revenues.*4? But, following
and sharply enlarging upon the trend in the radio station data,
market rank (as measured by Nielsen) of a majority-owned
television station’s market varied significantly across response
groups, with non-respondents coming from bigger markets more

frequently than expected (as was the trend with the radio
stations) .*?

135 t(131.20)=1.98, p=.05; x?(1, N=149)= 3.34, p=.068

136 x2(7, N=73)= 7.67, p=.36

7 x2(1, N=73)= 0.20, p=.66

Bs £(71)=-.37, p=.71

139 Percent Asians in the market, t(71)=-1.57, p=.12;

percent Blacks in the market, t(71)=-0.17, p=.86; percent Whites
in the market, t(71)=.86, p=.39; percent Hispanics or Latinos in
the market, t(71)=-1.09, p=.30; percent Hispanics or Latinos
adjusted to account for outliers, t(71)=-1.65, p=.10.

40 t(67)=.75, p=.46; x2(1, N=69)= .75, p=.39

mi £(62)=-0.37, p=.71

12

t(70.59)=3.21, p<.005; x?(1, N=73)= 6.6, p<.05


-->[If no, go to Q30]
27. What was the most recent news story you covered differently from [competition]?

28. Was your decision about the approach to take with that story made with a particular
audience in mind? [] yes [] no [If no, go to Q30]

29. Who was the intended audience?

30. Is your mission as news director primarily [ ] to broadcast news and public affairs
programming that appeals to the widest possible audience, [ ] to serve the needs of a particular
audience, [ ] or do neither of these statements describe your mission?

31. All things being equal, do you think journalists should [ ] report events objectively, or [
Jprovide interpretation of events?

A. Next, I'd like to ask about public affairs programs. The term "public affairs" is
sometimes used to describe programs that consist of talk, commentary, discussion, speeches,
editorials, documentaries, forums, panels, roundtables or similar programs that deal mostly with
local, national or international issues of political or public importance.

32. Would you say that definition [ ] includes more types of programs than what you consider
to be “public affairs," [ ] fewer types of programs, or [ ] is it about right?
33. Does your station broadcast any regularly scheduled public affairs shows?
[lyes [] no
-->[If yes, go to Q34]
-->[If no, go to Q50}
34, Does your station broadcast any shows about health or medicine? [ ] yes
[] no [] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q35]
-->[If no/DK, go to Q37]
35. About how many hours a week are these shows broadcast? ___
36. Are any of the health or medical shows produced by your station? [ ] yes
[]no [] don't know
37. Does your station broadcast any political or current events show other than the news? [ ]
yes []no [] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q38]
-->[If no/DK, go to Q40]
38. About how many hours a week are these shows broadcast? __
39. Are any of the political or current events shows produced by your station?
[] yes []no [] don't know
40. Does your station broadcast any shows about culture, music or the arts designed to appeal
especially to certain ethnic or minority groups? [ ] yes [ ] no
[ ] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q41]
-->[If no/DK, go to Q43]
41. About how many hours a week are these shows broadcast? __
42. Are any of the culture, music or arts shows produced by your station? [ ] yes
[] no [] don't know
43. Does your station broadcast any shows about issues of concern to senior citizens?
{] yes []no []don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q44]
-->[If no/DK, go to Q46]



Diversity in Broadcast 5

METHODOLOGY and RESULTS

The study’s focus on news and public affairs reporting led to a
decision to query not station owners but the people in their
employ most likely to have detailed information about programming
and audience assessment. News directors or public affairs
programming directors thus became the target pool. Telephone
interviews were conducted with these individuals at radio and
television stations across the country between July and October
1998. The small population of minority-owned radio and
television stations drove the sampling effort; after an interview
was completed with a news director (or someone similarly titled)
at a minority-owned station, an interview was attempted at a
majority-owned station in the same market and of the same medium.
Of 197 attempts, 92 interviews were obtained at minority-owned
stations for a response rate of 46.7 percent. Of 230 attempts
with majority-owned stations, 119 interviews were completed for a
response rate of 51.7 percent.

For a more complete discussion of the study methodology, see
Appendix II. A copy of the questionnaire is included under
Appendix III.

In addition to data from the survey instrument, this study
incorporates data from the Broadcast Industry Association
November 1998 database. These data allowed for an investigation
of the possibility that respondents differ in important ways from
non-respondents (e.g., in terms of station revenue, ownership
structure, or choice of format in the case of radio stations).
This investigation uncovered few differences between the groups
(See Appendix IV).

Comparison of minority- and majority-owned broadcast stations

This section provides a comparison of minority- and majority-
owned commercial broadcast stations that broadcast news or public
affairs programming, beginning with station characteristics such
as size, staffing, revenue, and then moving to the more central
question of how ownership is related to production of news and


Diversity in Broadcast 28

ownership structure or racial or ethnic composition of the staff
are factored in? In other words, perhaps the observed
differences in programming might really be a function of
ownership structure (group or not group owned) or, alternatively,
a function of the racial or ethnic composition of the staff.
Either way, once these variables are controlled for, race or
ethnicity of owner could offer very little additional predictive
power.

The final analyses presented here attempt to answer the question
of how these elements interrelate and which, once the others are
accounted for, remain significant predictors of programming
diversity.

As a concept, programming diversity has no single clear
definition. Scholars speak of diversity across the radio or
television dial and of diversity within a single channel or
station. Diversity has also been studied as an issue of content,
sometimes in terms of format or program type, sometimes in terms
of demographics of those featured within programs, and sometimes
as a question of ideas and viewpoints expressed. It has been
investigated as an issue of audience selection rather than the
menu offered to the audience at any given moment. See Napoli
(1999) for a discussion.®** We combined a number of these
elements to conceptualize programming diversity as any
programming efforts related to race or ethnicity. We measured
this concept using questionnaire responses that queried a
station’s efforts to include ethnic or racial perspectives in
programming, to shape broadcast content with ethnic or minority
audiences in mind, to engage in community activities geared
toward women or minorities, or to include racial or ethnic
minorities in on-air positions. For radio, responses to 13 such
questions were combined into a single measure, where stations
would receive a 0 if they registered no programming diversity on
any of the 13 items, and a 13 if news directors responded
affirmatively to all diverse programming aspects. Across all
radio stations, the mean response was 4.54.%

85 Philip M. Napoli, Deconstructing the Diversity
Principle, 49 J. Comm. 7 (1999)

86 Items that made up the dependent measure of
programming diversity for radio were: Q16 (localization based
upon appeal of story to ethnic or racial subgroup within
audience); Q23 (for story competition didn’t cover, was target
audience ethnic or racial minority); Q28 (for story covered
differently from competition, was target audience ethnic or


[] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q158]
-->[If no/DK, go to D]
158. Do minority owners hold a controlling interest in the station? [] yes [] no
[ ] don't know

[Note: If respondent is owner, skip to E]

Dz. Now, thinking about just the owner or owners of your station, tell me how much you
agree or disagree with the following statements. Remember, your responses will be kept
confidential.

160. The owner's image in the community represents me as well.

Would you say you [ ] strongly agree, [ ] agree, [ ] neither agree nor disagree, [ ] disagree, or
[] strongly disagree with that statement?

161. Ihave a lot in common with the station owner(s).

Do you [] strongly agree, [ ] agree, [ ] neither agree nor disagree, [ ] disagree, or

[ ] strongly disagree with that statement?

162. I find it difficult to agree with the owner's policies on important matters.

[ ] strongly agree, [ ] agree, [ ] neither agree nor disagree, [ } disagree, or

[ ] strongly disagree

163. I find that my values and the values of the owner(s) are not very similar.

[ ] strongly agree, [ ] agree, [ ] neither agree nor disagree, [ ] disagree,

[ ] strongly disagree

164. In general, the owner(s) and J are working toward the same goals.

[ ] strongly agree, [ ] agree, [ ] neither agree nor disagree, [ ] disagree, or [ ] strongly disagree

E. Now I would like to know about your station's market. I want to reassure you that your
answers will be kept confidential, so please try to be as specific as possible when answering.
First, some stations compete with rival local stations for each time slot by providing similar
programs. Other stations try to capture a specific segment of the audience with specialized
programs targeted just to that segment.
165. Which of these strategies describes your station better, the [ ] head-to-head competitor
approach, [ ] the market-segment approach, or is your station's strategy
[ ] somewhere in-between?
166. Do any stations in your market compete directly with you for listeners or viewers? [ ] yes
[] no

-->[If yes, go to Q167]

-->[If no, go to Q171]
167. | What are the call letters for those stations?
168. What types of programming are those competitors providing?
169. Are any of those competitor stations owned by minorities? [ ] yes [] no
[] don't know
170. Are any of your competitors owned by women? [] yes [ ] no [ ] don't know
171. Do any stations in your market compete directly with you for advertisers?

[lyes [] no

-->[If yes, go to Q172]

-->[If no, go to Q173]
172. What type of programming are those competitors providing?
173. Approximately what are your station's total annual advertising revenues? ___


APPENDIX IV

Non-Response Bias Analysis


Diversity in Broadcast 66

NON-RESPONSE BIAS

When a substantial number of attempted interviews fail to result
in completion, the question of response bias - of how
representative the sample is of its population - emerges. Put
simply, people missed by the survey might have provided a
different pattern of answers than those the survey captured.

The 46.7 percent response rate reported above for news and public
affairs directors at minority-owned stations is a conservative
calculation as it combines 29 outright refusals with 76 cases
involving either the ambiguity of unresponsive answering machines
or, and for the most part, potential interviewees who plausibly
pleaded being too busy yet interested in participating at some
later time that, unfortunately, outlasted the survey window.

But even a creative reassessment of non-response without
reference to the hard-to-get-but-"willing” and the silent
prospects, a tactic that provides a much more satisfactory 76
percent response rate, places the study among those that have
prompted public opinion researchers and others to investigate
with great concern the potential of distortion to inference
inherent in a sample that missed many attempts within its sample
frame. The problem, of course, in assessing response bias is
that the data needed for such an analysis — the answers from non-
respondents to compare with answers from respondents — is
missing.

Smith (1990)**’ reviews and rejects numerous methods found in the
literature to estimate attributes of non-respondents, including:

* External population checks
Geographic/aggregate level data
* Interviewer estimates

7 Smith, Tom W. “The Hidden 25 Percent: An Analysis of

Nonresponse on the 1980 General Social Survey.” Public Opinion
Quarterly 47:386-404, 1983.


Diversity in Broadcast 25

their audience as wealthier than average compared to the market,
while only 20 percent of minority-owned radio station respondents
did the same.” For television, the trend is similar but not
significant, with 29 percent (12 of 41) majority-owned television
stations and 16 percent (three of 19) minority-owned television
stations classify audience on average as wealthier than the
market average.”

Respondents were asked whether advertisers consider the station’s
audience to be different from the overall market in terms of
purchasing habits. Station ownership did not significantly
differentiate on this question. Overall, 57 percent of radio
respondents agreed, compared to 46 percent of those at television
stations. Those who answered “yes” to this question were asked if
they would attribute this perceived difference to any of three
factors: advertiser perception of audience income, gender or
cultural background. No differences emerged by station ownership
for income or gender for either radio or television data.
However, for those who said advertisers consider their station’s
audience to differ from the market, radio station ownership did
correlate with perception that advertisers were focusing on their
audience’s cultural background, with 93 percent of minority-owned
stations perceiving this to be the case compared to 56 percent of
majority-owned stations.®° A similar trend (five.of six
minority-owned stations versus six of 15 majority-owned stations)
was not statistically significant for television.

Respondent Characteristics

Most respondents were news or public affairs directors; others
listed their role as programming director, general manager or
some title that indicated decision-making authority over
programming content.

Most respondents - 204 of 211 - gave a response when asked their
ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic). Respondents’ ethnicity was
correlated with radio station ownership but not television
station ownership, with 37 percent of Hispanics as respondents in
minority-owned radio stations as compared to 17 percent in

7 xX?(1, N=139)= 5.29; p<.05

” x?(1, N=60)= 1.26; p=.26

° x2(1, N=74)= 13.75; p<.001


Diversity in Broadcast 2

As political and judicial philosophies have changed during the
past two decades, some members of Congress and the judiciary are
increasingly challenging FCC minority ownership and employment
policies. Among the questions raised is whether increased
minority representation among owners and staffers actually
increases broadcast spectrum diversity. For a more extensive
discussion of the FCC’s rationale and the courts’ response, see
Appendix I.

This judicial scrutiny has prompted the FCC to seek empirical
data to answer the question of effectiveness of its policies.
Specifically, does a link exist between station owner race or
ethnicity and the contribution of that station to spectrum
programming diversity? Does a link exist between staffing
diversity and contribution to broadcast diversity?

Studies that directly address these questions are rare. The
findings are not consistent, and perhaps this is largely due to a
lack of definition for the term “diversity.” The most relevant
effort was conducted in 1987 by the Congressional Research
Service and was based upon responses to a questionnaire mailed to
all broadcast license-holders.* The questionnaire announced
itself as an FCC product, which could be responsible for the low
response rate and perhaps could have affected answers from those
who chose to respond. The CRS study found that minority-owned
stations reported programming to suit the interests of minority
audience members, but the study authors, who had not designed the
survey instrument, tempered their claims about the results.

While stations differentiated by ownership on a question
regarding number of hours of programming targeted to minorities,
this single measure reveals little about the nature of
programming offered.

Dubin and Spitzer’? undertook a reanalysis of the FCC data,
dropping television stations from the sample and including census
data on the demographic composition of audiences in radio
broadcast markets. After offering the repeated caveat that the
definition of minority programming employed in the survey was
deficient (unlike the CRS, they relied solely on format labels),

1 Congressional Research Service, Minority Broadcast
Station Ownership and Broadcast Programming: Is There a Nexus?
(On file with the Library of Congress, 1988)

2 J. Dubin & M.L. Spitzer, Testing minority preferences
in broadcasting, 68 S. CaL. L. Rev. 841 (1994).


INTRODUCTION

As the 20% Century draws to a close, the racial and ethnic
diversity of American society is rapidly growing. Accompanying
this growing diversity of individuals, groups, languages and
beliefs, is the potential for the expression of diverse
viewpoints and the friction such expression can engender. This
uniquely American diversity resonates with the “Marketplace of
Ideas,” view of a healthy democracy that finds its most prominent
expression in the guarantees of free speech and free press
provided by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The courts have interpreted the speech and press clause as
granting rights upon message senders and recipients. Through the
articulation of opinions we grow as individuals; by exposing
ourselves to the divergent opinions of others we grow as a
society. The spirit of the First Amendment is perhaps best seen
as it protects unpopular, controversial, and minority
perspectives.

This report examines a critical forum for the exercise of such
speech: the mass media of radio and television.

Along with their role of assigning licenses, government
regulatory agencies have promulgated standards for broadcasting
in the public interest. These have included political
broadcasting rules and the Fairness Doctrine, which required
broadcasters to seek out controversial issues and to broadcast a
balanced account of the viewpoints that surround them. The
courts have accepted these governmental efforts to facilitate
viewpoint diversity in broadcasting.

In addition, the Federal Communications Commission has for years
attempted to foster diversity of programming through intermediate
routes. One effort has been to increase the number of radio and
television stations owned by racial and ethnic minorities.
Another is to expand minority representation among broadcast
station staff. The explicit expectation is that increasing the
number of minority owners or minority representation in the staff
will increase the diversity of viewpoints expressed in the
broadcast spectrum.


Diversity in Broadcast 14

tendency to localize. But a more specific line of questioning
reveals significant differences between majority and minority
owners of radio stations and a similar but not statistically
significant trend among television owners. Minority radio owners
are more likely to localize based on audience ethnicity, and to
think of a particular racial or ethnic group when choosing to
cover different events, or the same events differently, from
their competition. Their different approach is reflected also in
how respondents describe their job as news director, with
minority-owned stations employing people who more often seek
particular audiences as compared to news directors working for
majority-owned stations. Again, this difference is statistically
significant for radio but not for television.

Public Affairs Programming

Most stations regularly broadcast public affairs programming, but
minority-owned radio stations are significantly more likely to
report doing so than their majority-owned radio counterparts (87
percent vs. 70 percent).** For television, 76 percent of both |
majority- and minority-owned stations report such broadcasts.

(It should be recalled that stations were chosen for this survey
only if they regularly broadcast news or public affairs
programming. )

Respondents were also asked about types of public affairs
programs they broadcast. Seventy-four percent of radio
respondents said they broadcast programs concerning health or
medicine while 41 percent of respondents at television stations
said they do likewise. No significant differences emerged
between minority- and majority-owned stations, be they radio or
television, on this measure.*’ Sixty-seven percent of radio
respondents said they broadcast political or current event shows
other than the news while 58 percent of television respondents
said they did so. For radio, no significant difference emerged
between majority- and minority-owned stations, but a
significantly greater proportion, 80 percent or 12 of 15,
minority-owned television stations reported broadcasting this

8 x2(1, N=146)=6.45, p<.01

36

x°(1, N=62)=0.002, p=.96

7 x2(1, N=111)=0.80, p=.37; x?(1, N=46)=2.26, p=.13,
respectively


Diversity in Broadcast 4

as these studies have not factored in owner race or ethnicity or
racial make-up of a station’s staff, a picture of the relative
contributions of all these factors has yet to be drawn.

The goals of this study are to provide a more in-depth and
focused measure of news and public affairs programming that would
encompass minority issues and perspectives, to individually
examine relationships between these measures and a host of
potential independent factors including owner and staffing race
and ethnicity, organizational structure and station resources,
and examine all these elements in a model that attempts to assess
relative impact with regards to programming diversity.


Diversity in Broadcast 20

43 percent (nine of 21) minority-owned television compared to 46
percent (19 of 41) majority-owned television use this format.®

Stations define themselves principally through their programming,
but they are also visible to their audiences through their
participation in community events or projects where they may help
sponsor or underwrite certain events. While 91 percent of all
radio and 90 percent of all television stations reported such
community participation, and minority-owned radio stations were
more likely to participate in projects targeted to women or
minority groups (92 percent vs. 70 percent), this difference did
not emerge for television (84 percent versus 92 percent) .®

For radio stations, then, a significant difference emerges such
that minority-owned stations pay special attention in public
affairs broadcasting to events or issues of greater concern to
ethnic or racial minority audiences. They report putting greater
effort toward live coverage of government meetings; to issues
concerning women, particularly health issues; and to broadcasts
in languages other than English. The public affairs show that
draws a station’s largest audience is one that minority-owned
radio stations say more often than majority-owned radio stations
appeals to a minority audience and is staffed by a greater
proportion of minority on-air talent. In addition, minority-
owned radio stations feature call-in formats, which enhance
audience participation, and are more likely to themselves take
part in minority-related events in their community than are their
majority-owned counterparts. For television, some of these
trends appear, though many fail to reach statistical
significance. In two instances, minority ownership significantly
predicts greater attention to political/current events coverage
and issues of special concern to senior citizens, findings absent
in radio.

Intended Audience and Audience Assessment

Respondents were asked if their station attempted to attract a
particular audience; 73 percent of all radio respondents and 57
percent of all television respondents said their station did. Of
the 107 radio respondents who said “yes” to this question, 68

“ x?(1, N=146)=6.10; p<.01; x?(1, N=62)=.068; p=.79,
respectively

6 x2(1, N=130)=10.58; p<.001; x?(1, N=56)=0.77; p=.38,

respectively


SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY

Diversity of Programming
in the Broadcast Spectrum:

Is there a Link between Owner
Race or Ethnicity and News
and Public Affairs Programming?

A report prepared by
Christine Bachen
Allen Hammond
Laurie Mason
Santa Clara University
and
Stephanie Craft
University of Missouri
submitted to the
Office of Communications Business Opportunities

Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C.

December 1999



Diversity in Broadcast 43

since Metro Broadcasting was decided based on inter alia the
Congressional Research Study in the late 1980's. The
Telecommunications Act of 1996 further relaxed the Commission's
multiple ownership rules.'4 The radio and television mergers
made possible by this Congressionally mandated relaxation, as
well as the existence of television Local Marketing Agreements
(LMAs) ,*°° are alleged to have affected the ability of minority
and majority broadcasters to compete and maintain their presence
in the market .?°° These changed circumstances are problematic in

tos The Telecommunications Act of 1996 set off a torrent of

mergers in the radio industry by relaxing the limits on radio
ownership. Subsequently, the diversity and number of owners has
decreased. Andrea Adelson, Minority Voice Fading For Broadcast
Owners, The New York Times, May 19, 1997, Sec. D; P. 9; Col. 1.
It has been argued that television ownership would be adversely
affected in a similar manner. Kim McAvoy and Don West, The
Battle Over Bigness: Broadcasting's Fatal Attraction;
Broadcasting & Cable, May 22, 1995, p. 50. Over the years the
Commission has established various limits on the number of AM, FM
or television stations that could be owned by any one party.

See, for example, Report and Order, 7 FCC Red 2755 (1992) (radio)
and Memorandum Opinion and Order, 100 FCC 2°? 74 (1984) (radio
and television) .

105 The Commission’s ownership attribution rules permit a
television licensee in a local market to have a financial and
program supply (LMA) relationship with another television station
in the same market. The Commission is considering whether to
attribute such relationships for purposes of the television
duopoly rule. See MM Docket No. 91-221 and MM Docket No. 94-150.

106 From 1997 to 1998 the nationwide, percentage of radio
stations owned by minorities dropped from 3.1 to 2.8 percent.
Fahizah Alim, Fading Signal, Sacramento Bee, May 6, 1998, p. El.
"The Telecommunications Act of 1996...has opened the door to
media concentration. Matt Pottinger, BET President Says Telecom
Act Damaging Minority Ownership Prospects, States News Service,
January 16, 1997, (quoting Debra Lee, President and Chief
Operating Officer of BET Holdings, Inc.). Also see Andrea
Adelson, Minority Voice Fading For Broadcast Owners, The New York
Times, May 19, 1997, Sec. D; P. 9; Col. 1. In its recent report
on minority ownership trends, the National Telecommunications
Information Administration has stated that:

If media concentration continues at its current rate, small

and less well capitalized minority broadcasters will find it

increasingly difficult to compete with group owners and will


Diversity in Broadcast 7
Station staffing characteristics

By many measures, majority-owned radio stations are bigger than
minority-owned stations. Respondents from majority-owned radio
stations report significantly more people in their employ: an
average of 30.64 persons compared to an average of 19.17 persons
at the minority-owned stations.® They also have significantly
more people working in the news or public affairs programming
division (a mean of 10.57 in majority-owned stations compared to
the minority-owned stations’ average of 3.28).° Majority- and
minority-owned radio stations do not differ significantly in the
proportion of the news and public affairs staff who are women (44
percent for minority-owned stations and 35 percent for majority-
owned stations).’ However, minority-owned stations do have a
higher proportion of news and public affairs staff who are
members of racial or ethnic minority groups. Respondents indicate
that 85 percent of the staff in minority-owned stations are
minorities, compared to 35 percent in majority-owned stations.®

5 t(105.81)= -2.73, p<.01

6 £(77.51)= -2.92, p<.01

7 t(145)= 1.81, p=.07

8 £(138.18) = 9.01, p<.001. This last outcome must be

viewed with caution, particularly with regards to the percentages
of minority employees working in news or public affairs on
average across the two types of stations. Eight cases were
omitted from this calculation because the reported number of
minority news team members was larger than the reported number of
total news staffers. For these data to exist, the CATI screen
for such mathematical impossibilities (that appeared to work
properly on other such question sets) must have failed. While
much of the data for this item (Q141) is likely valid, additional
hidden errors may exist in the following form:

Question Response
Q138: About how many people work at your station? 70
Q139: And about how many of these employees work

On news or public affairs programming? 20
Q140: About how many of the news and public

affairs employees are women? 5

Q141: About how many of the news and public
affairs employees are members of racial
and ethnic minorities, for example ... 19


Diversity in Broadcast 6

public affairs programming.‘ As licensing preferences have
historically been based upon race or ethnicity of a station’s
owner, this study focuses on station ownership throughout this
section. The sample includes 71 minority-owned radio stations,
21 minority-owned television stations, 77 majority-owned radio
stations and 42 majority-owned television stations. Separate
analyses were performed for radio and television.

4 The statistics that follow will be of two types. A

comparison of two categorical variables such as respondent/non-
respondent by format requires a Chi-Square statistic (appearing
as x? in footnotes) that contrasts the pattern of distribution
expected when no relationship exists between the variables with
the pattern obtained in the data. When the dependent variable is
continuous, such as percent of Asians in a market (which could
conceivably range from zero to 100), a t-test is employed to
compare the means of the two groups with reference to their
sample variance and number of cases. In both cases, significance
is reported as a “p” value. Small p values (conventionally,
anything less than .05 or five percent) indicate the difference
observed between the sample groups is unlikely to be attributable
to sampling error but is more likely attributable to a true
difference between population groups. Thus, when the report
indicates no significant difference between groups on a given
comparison, the difference observed between the samples does not
rise to the necessary level to be considered statistically
significant. Number of cases in a comparison will vary based on
a number of factors. Sometimes a question was not put to a
respondent because of responses to previous questions. For
example, a television station would not have a format, thus the
total number of responses to the format question reflects only
the radio stations in the survey. In addition, respondents are
encouraged to skip any item to which they do not know the answer.
A t-test displays number of cases in terms of degrees of freedom,
a number that is either N-2 when group variances are not
significantly different from each other according to Levene’s
test or a lower number when the test needs to accommodate unequal
variances (in this case, degrees of freedom are often non-
integer). Footnote 5 presents a. t-statistic from an analysis with
unequal variance: the test involves 147 cases but only 105.81
degrees of freedom, producing a t-statistic of -2.73 anda
significant p value of less than .01. Footnote 7, based on equal
variances, involves an N of 147, resulting 145 degrees of freedom
producing in this case a smaller t statistic (1.81) that just
misses significance (p=.07). Number of cases is reported as “N”
in a Chi-Square (see, for example, Footnote 13 shows a statistic
concerning 148 cases that produces a significant statistical
difference (12.92; p<.001)).


-->[If programs or newsbreaks, go to Q8]

8. About how many hours of local news do you broadcast in a week? __

9. How about state and regional news? About how many hours of that do you broadcast in a
week?

10. And about how many hours of national and international news? __

ll. Roughly how much of the news your station broadcasts is produced or created solely by

members of your staff? Would you say [ ] most of it, [ ] some of it,
[] or none at all?
12. Does your station broadcast news produced by any wire services or networks? [ ] yes
[] no
-->[If yes, go to Q13]
-->[If no, go to 17]
13. How many wire services does your station subscribe to, [] 1, [ ] 2, [] 3, or
[ ] more than that?
14. Does your station localize news from wire services or network feeds? [ ] yes
[] no [ ] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q15]
-->[If no/DK, go to 17]
15. Would you say that happens [ ] a couple times a month, [ ] about once a week,
[ ] a couple times a week, or [ ] more often than that?
16. Are decisions about which stories to localize ever based mostly on the appeal of a story to
specific ethnic or minority groups in your audience? [] yes [ ] no
[ ] don't know
17. What are the call letters for the station you consider your chief competition when it
comes to news?
18. Can you think of any major news stories in the past three months that your station
covered but [competition] didn't? [] yes [] no
-->[If yes, go to Q19]
-->[If no, go to Q24]
19. About how often in the past three months would you say that happened,
[ ] once, [ ] two or three times, or [ ] more often than that?
-->[If once, go to Q20]
-->[If two or more times, go to Q21]
20. What story was that?
[SKIP TO Q22]
21. What was the story the most recent time that happened?
22. Was your decision to cover that story made with a particular audience in mind? [ ] yes
[] no
-->[If yes, go to Q23]
-->[If no, go to Q24]
23. Who was the intended audience?
24, In the past three months, has [competition] covered a story you didn't, but wished you
had? [] yes [] no
-->[If yes, go to Q25]
-->[If no, go to Q26]
25. What story was that?
26. Can you think of any news stories that you and [competition] both covered, but
differently? [] yes [] no
-->[If yes, go to Q27]


APPENDIX I

Legal Background


Diversity in Broadcast 27

minorities. While both minority radio and television station
owners own fewer stations per person, it is only the minority
radio station owners who appear to be more integrated in their
stations, holding more titles and becoming more actively involved
in decision-making regarding news and public affairs. Television
owners are, for the most part, not involved in their stations’
day-to-day programming decisions. In short, from choosing a
program format that appeals to minority audiences through a range
of decisions pertaining to news and public affairs, minority-
owned radio stations and, to a lesser extent, television
stations, depart from their majority-owned counterparts.

The differences between radio and television responses may be due
to a number of factors that separate the two media. In some
cases, it appears that smaller numbers of cases for television
accounts for the difference between significant and non-
significant findings. Often, however, the data seem to spell a
truly different pattern traceable to sharp differences in
ownership structure. Finally, the single area of potential
confound due to non-response bias appears most powerfully among
the majority-owned television stations (the minority-owned non-
respondent stations being too few for comparison). This factor -
market size - puts respondents in smaller markets than non-
respondents and leaves open the question as to whether data
generated for television stations is representative of all
minority-majority comparisons in the population.

These questions regarding the findings for television aside, the
data from radio stations show support for the FCC’s historic
programs promoting minority ownership of broadcast stations in an
industry historically dominated by Whites. These data show
minority radio station owners are more directly involved in day-
to-day programming, that they hire for such positions as news and
public affairs director people who are racial and/or ethnic
minorities, and that together, these decision-makers create
programming that is particularly tailored to minority audience
interests and needs.

A Multivariate Approach to Predicting Programming Diversity

A number of significant differences (especially for radio) have
emerged between minority-owned stations and majority-owned
stations in their programming of ethnically or racially diverse
content, as well as in some of their station characteristics such
as ownership structure or staffing composition. But does the
race or ethnicity of the station owner continue to be a
significant predictor of minority-oriented programming once


Diversity in Broadcast 44

that there has been no study to determine whether and/or how they
may have affected programming decisions made by minority or
majority owned stations and the diversity of programming choices
available to the public.’” There is concern (see, e.g., Scott
1993) that service to minority communities may have suffered as a
result.*°® Second, prior studies! tended to analyze the
diversity of entertainment programming rather than the diversity
of news and public affairs programming. Historically the FCC
has considered the provision of news and public affairs
programming to be essential to the provision of broadcast service
in the public interest.**° Consequently, the study provides a

be more likely to sell their stations and exit the industry.
Financial barriers, increased competition, and higher
station prices, are likely to be significant obstacles to
new minority entrants to this marketplace. A significant
loss in the number of minority broadcast owners may result
in fewer employment opportunities for minorities in
broadcasting and less diverse media. Minority Commercial
Broadcast Ownership in the United States, August 1998.

07 Geraldine Fabrikant, Slow Gains by Minority
Broadcasters, The New York Times, May 31, 1994, p. D1 (quoting
Dr. Rubin). Regardless of the state of empirical analysis,
minority communities become concerned when minority talent and
minority oriented programming are dropped from a station's
format. See Valerie Fields, Leaders taking concerns to FCC, The
Dallas Morning News, November 18, 1998, Pg. 1A. Also see Tracy
Dingmann, Black Groups Question TV Hiring , Albuquerque Journal,
May 30, 1998, Pg. B2.

108 Matthew S. Scott, Can Black Radio Survive an Industry
Shakeout? Black Enterprise, June, 1993, p. 254.

109 See, e.g., Dubin, Jeff and Matthew L. Spitzer, “Testing
Minority Preferences in Broadcasting,” 68 Southern California Law
Review 841, 1995.

m0 See generally, In the matter of the Revision of
Programming and Commercialization Policies, Ascertainment
Requirements, and Program Log Requirements for Commercials
Television stations, 98 FCC2d 1076 (1984); and In the Matter of
formulation of Rules and Policies Relating to renewal of
Broadcast licenses, Final Report and Order, 43 FCC2d 1, 87-88
(1973). Also see Deregulation Comes to Television, Broadcasting,
July 2, 1984, p. 31; Patricia Koza, FCC Deregulates Radio, UPI,
April 3, 1981; and Associate Press, FCC. Ends Curbs on Radio


Diversity in Broadcast 26

majority-owned radio stations.®' For television station
respondents, 16 percent or three of 19 working for minority-owned
stations were Hispanic versus 12 percent or five of 41 at
majority-owned stations.

Race of respondent was also queried, with offered categories
being White, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African
American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Asian, or
something else. Respondents could indicate more than one
category. Of the 202 who responded as to their race, 110
indicated being White. Race of respondent correlated with radio
station ownership in that respondents were White in 71 percent of
the majority-owned stations compared to just 17 percent of the
minority-owned stations.®* For television, racial diversity is
less prevalent. Majority-owned television stations have 78
percent or 32 of 41 White respondents as compared to 68 percent
or 13 of 19 White respondents working for minority-owned
television stations, not a significant difference.®

Station ownership did not predict whether the news director was
male or female.** Seventy-five percent of the radio station
respondents and 68 percent of those at television stations were
male.

Summary of bivariate results

This series of individual comparisons has highlighted some
important differences in the news and public affairs programming
of minority- and majority-owned stations that regularly broadcast
some news or public affairs programming; in particular, radio
stations. Despite the fact that minority-owned stations report
having fewer resources at their disposal, they report delivering
a wider variety of news and public affairs programming and more
ethnic and racial diversity in on-air talent, although some of
these differences achieve statistical significance within only
one medium. Minority-owned radio stations do more public affairs
programming, perhaps because they reportedly spend more time
thinking about particular audience subgroups’ interests and
needs. In particular, they appear to focus on ethnic and racial

8 x?(1, N=144)= 7.70; p<.01

® x?(1, N=142)=42.09; p<.001

8 x?(1, N=60)=0.64; p=.42

x?(1, N=145)=0.18; p=.67;x°(1, N=62)=0.10; p=.75


135. How involved are the owners in daily news meetings, [ ] very involved,

(] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved?

136. And how involved are the owners in hiring news and public affairs staff,

[ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved?
137. Who communicates your station's news values to employees, [ ] the owner,

[ ] the news director, [ ] or someone else?

The next questions deal with the composition of your station's staff. If you work at a company
that owns more than one station, just answer for the one you, personally, work at.

138. |About how many people are employed at your station?

139. And about how many of those employees work on news or public affairs programming?

140. About how many of these news or public affairs employees are women? ___
141. About how many of the news and public affairs employees are members of racial and
ethnic minorities, for example, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American,
Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Asian? ___

-->[If more than 0, go to Q142]

-->[If none, go to Q149]
142. Are any of the minority news or public affairs employees women?

(] yes [] no
149. Do any of the news or public affairs employees speak a language other than English as
their first language? [] yes []no [] don't know
150. Were any of the news or public affairs employees born outside of the United States?
{]lyes []no [] don't know
151. About how many of the people who work on news and public affairs would you say went
to a journalism school or have a degree in journalism or communication? ___
152. Did you, personally, go to a journalism school, or major in communication?

[]yes [] no
153a. What is your ethnicity? [ ] Hispanic or Latino, or [ ] Not Hispanic or Latino
153b. What is your race? Are you [ ] White, [ ] American Indian or Alaska Native,
{] Black or African American, [ ] Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, [ ] Asian, or
[ ] something else?
[Note to interviewers: It's possible for respondents to pick more than one category for Q's 153a
and 153b ]

Now I'd like to ask you some questions about the ownership of your station.
154. Do you know who owns the station? Is it[ ] a person, [] a family,
[] a small group of individuals, [ ] a company that owns more than one media outlet,
[ ] a corporation that owns holdings that are both media and non-media, [ ] or do you not know?
-->[If know, go to Q155]
-->[If don't know, go to E]
155. Thinking just of the person or people at the ownership level who directly control this
station, are any of them women?
[] yes [] no [ ] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q156]
-->[If no/DK, go to Q157]
156. Do the women owners hold a controlling interest in the station? [] yes [] no
[] don't know
157. Are any of the station's owners members of minority groups? [] yes [ ] no


Diversity in Broadcast 3

Dubin and Spitzer reported that “minority ownership has a
distinct and significant impact on minority programming, even
after [controlling for] the composition of minorities in the
marketplace” (p. 869). The researchers also found that simply
increasing the number of radio stations in a market did not
increase the amount of minority programming. However, the
presence in a market of stations programming for one minority
group increased the total amount of programming for all minority
groups in that market.

Dubin and Spitzer also analyzed the integration of owners into
station management based on responses to a question asking the
job title and number of hours per week owners worked at the
stations, an analysis not attempted by the CRS. They found the
number of hours owners worked at their stations had no apparent
effect on the amount of minority-oriented programming broadcast.

The few studies specifically addressing minority broadcast
ownership indicate that stations owned by minorities offer more
minority-oriented programming than other stations. But this
research focuses on entertainment programming, and not news - the
kind of programming that is arguably most consonant with the
purposes the marketplace of ideas is meant to serve. Moreover,
the inconsistent and superficial definitions of “minority
programming” found in the literature suggest that a broader
approach to the concept may be in order.

Diversity of programming has also been examined in connection
with other factors such as ownership structure and competition
within a market. Some have found interesting connections.* But

See, e.g., K.J. Nestvold, Diversity in local television
news, 17 J. B’Cast 345 (1973); J.C. Busterna, Television station
ownership effects on programming and idea diversity: Baseline
data, 2 J. Media Econ. 63, 71 (1988); J.M. Bernstein & S. Lacy,
Contextual coverage of government by local television news, 69
Journalism Q. 329 (1992); P.W. Cherington, L.V. Hirsch & R.
Brandwein, TELEVISION STATION OWNERSHIP(1971); J.C. Busterna,
Ownership, CATV and expenditures for local television news,

57 Journalism Q. 287 (1980); J.M. Bernstein, S. Lacy, C. Cassara
& T. Lau, Geographic coverage by local television news, 67
Journalism Q. 663 (1990); W.R. Davie & J. Lee, Television news
technology: Do more sources mean less diversity?, 37 J. B'cast &
Elec. Media 453 (1993); D. Berkowitz, Assessing forces in the
selection of local television news, 35 J. B'cast & Elec. Media
245 (1991).


Diversity in Broadcast 17

this programming 69 percent of the time (27 of 39 stations), not
a statistically significant difference.*’

Forging a similar pattern to that presented with women’s
programming are the data with respect to programming of
particular interest to Hispanic audiences. For radio, 39 percent
offer this coverage while 45 percent of all sampled television
stations report doing so. Minority-owned radio stations dominate
here, with 54 percent reporting coverage of particular interest
to Hispanics while only 25 percent of majority-owned radio
stations do so.*° For television, in a trend that just misses
statistical significance, 54 percent or 22 of 41 majority-owned
stations report programming for Hispanic interest while only 29
percent or six of 21 minority-owned stations do so.

Coverage of religious events or holidays was reported by a
majority of stations, with 61 percent of both radio and
television offering such programming. Station ownership did not
significantly differentiate on this question, with 67 percent of
minority-owned radio stations compared to 56 percent of majority-
owned radio stations featuring such programming.** For
television, 76 percent or 16 of 21 minority-owned stations offer
religious programming as compared to 52 percent or 21 of 40
majority-owned stations, a comparison that misses statistical
significance.*?

Two programming areas - shows of particular interest to Asians
and special programming about political or civic holidays -
resulted in clearly non-significant differences by station
ownership. Only 10 percent of all radio stations and 23 percent
of television stations report offering programming of particular
interest to Asians.*4 Political programming fares better

#42 (1, N=58)=2.59, p=.11
0 x?(1, N=142)=12.54, p<.001
a x2(1, N=62)=3.53, p=.06

2 x?(1, N=144)=1.72, p=.19

8 x?(1, N=61)=3.24, p=.07

s Majority versus minority ownership does not

differentiate radio station responses (x*(1, N=144)=0.45, p=.50)
nor television responses (x?(1, N=62)=0.027, p=.87) to this item.
The NTIA report for 1998 listed only five stations - all radio -




101. How often does your station rely on your staff's professional training and judgment to
learn about the audience and what it wants, [ ] frequently, [ ] sometimes,

[] rarely, or [ ] not at all?

102. How much does your station rely on information gathered at professional conferences or
seminars to learn about the audience, [ ] frequently, [ ] sometimes,

{] rarely, or [ ] not at all?

103. Does your station rely on information obtained from talking to colleagues and
competitors [ ] frequently, [ ] sometimes, [ ] rarely, or [ ] not at all?

104. How often does your station rely on comments overheard "on the street" to get an idea of
who is in the audience, [ ] frequently, [ ] sometimes, [ ] rarely, or [ ] not at all?

105. Now I'd like you to think of the news or public affairs show you produce that draws the
largest audience. What program would you say this is?

[Jf not clear... Is that a newscast, talk show....? If continuous news is broadcast, ask respondent
to consider the time slot that draws the largest audience. ]

106. Does that program appeal especially to women? [ ] yes [] no [ ] don't know

106b. Does that program appeal especially to minorities? [] yes [] no [] don't know

107. How many of your staff regularly appear on this show? ___

107b. Of those, how many are women? ___

108. And how many are members of minority groups? ___

109. During the time this news or public affairs program airs, are other stations in your market
also airing news or public affairs programs? [ ] yes [] no [] don't know

110. Are the primary advertisers for your station's show [ ] local merchants,

[ ] regional companies, [ ] national chains, or [ ] are you not sure?

[Note: Interviewer skips to Q118 if R is at a radio station.]
111. Now think about the children's programming your station broadcasts that is designed to
meet the requirements of the Children's Television Act . About how many hours of children's
programming that meets these requirements do you broadcast in a week? ____ [ ] don't know
112. What programs are these? [ ] don't know, skip to Q118.
113. Are any of these programs produced by your station? [] yes [] no
{ ] don't know
114. Do any of these programs feature live actors? [] yes []no[ ] don't know

-->[If yes, go to Q115]

-->[If no or DK, go to Q117]
115. Are any of the characters or hosts on these shows girls or women? [ ] yes
[] no [] don't know
116. Are any of the characters or hosts members of minority groups? [] yes [ ] no
{ ] don't know
117. What about the children's shows the station purchases? Who makes the decisions about
which programs to buy, the [ ] owner [ ] the program director, or
[] someone else? [ ] don't know
118. Next, we are interested in who is involved in making decisions at your station. First, do
owners of the station hold management positions with the station?

[] yes []no[ ] don't know

-->[If yes, go to Q119]

-->[If no or DK, go to Q120]
119. Please tell me the job titles for the management positions the owners hold. Are any of
them [ ] general manager, [ ] station manager, [ ] program director, [ ] news director, [ ] music
director, [ ] producer, or [ ] director? [Jnterviewer marks all that apply.]


Diversity in Broadcast 34

group contributes significantly to that result — the diversity of
newsroom staff. As ethnic or racial diversity of a newsroom
increases, so does programming diversity.

When the race or ethnicity of the station owner is added to the
equation, explained variance increases significantly (R* equals
0.429; Adjusted R®° equals 0.417). Status of owner as a racial
or ethnic minority member or group persists as a factor leading
to greater programming diversity independent of the previous
significant factor. None of the other factors — station revenue,
ownership structure of the station, or degree of involvement of
the owner - emerge as statistically significant.”

context of a study has much to do with expectations for R-square.
Considering the challenges of measuring complex concepts in
social science, Ramsey & Schafer characterize an R-square of 50%
as “remarkably good.”

” Adjusted R-square is a conservative version of R-square
that includes a penalty for additional explanatory variables.

” Regressions were performed using SPSS set to pairwise
deletion with entry at the .05 level. Results indicate no
difference whether the model was tested using stepwise entry of
variables, forced entry of all Block 1 variables followed by
forced entry of the main independent variable in Block 2, or (not
shown in tables 4 and 5) when variables were released from the
equation using the backward function of SPSS. In addition,
natural log transformations were performed for the dependent
measure, for the measure of station revenue and for owner
involvement. These, combined with a transformed measure of
staffing diversity (collapsed into three categories - no, some,
or maximal inclusion of ethnic or racial minority staff members),
were subjected to additional regression tests. No significant
departures from Tables 4 and 5 were observed.


Diversity in Broadcast 35
Table 4: Results of Regression for Radio Sample
Variable Forced Entry Stepwise
Beta Beta
Block 1: Owner Involvement 0.035 0.065
Staffing Diversity 0.457*** 0.445***
Station Revenue 0.088 0.106
Ownership Structure 0.044 0.07
Block 2: Owner Race/Ethnicity 0.310** 0.274**
** indicates p-value below .01; *** indicates p-value below .001

Table 5 presents the results for the analysis of television

stations.

Following the same procedure outlined above,

the

results demonstrate that staffing diversity significantly and
positively correlates with programming diversity (R’? equals

0.2233).
fails to join the equation.

When entered in the second block,

owner race/ethnicity

No other factor is significant.

Table 5: Results of Regression for Television Sample

Variable Forced Entry Stepwise

Beta Beta

Block 1 Owner Involvement -0.217 -0.199
Staffing Diversity 0.437** 0.473**

Station Revenue 0.215 0.147

Ownership Structure -0.074 -0.021

Block 2 Owner Race/Ethnicity 0.150 0.080

** indicates p-value below

Thus,
radio stations.

-O1

television stations did not follow the same pattern as
While both samples showed a significant

relationship in the regression for staffing diversity - the more

the staff was made up of racial or ethnic minority members,

the

more diverse the programming - only radio stations showed a
significant additional explanatory power for station owner race

or ethnicity.

For radio stations,

ownership predicted

programming in that minority owners were more likely to be

associated with diversity.


Diversity in Broadcast 50

The survey firm reported few outright refusals ~ at least in the
early days of fieldwork - but a substantial number of potential
respondents who could not begin or conclude an interview when
called. On Oct. 16, 1998, as completion rates dwindled and
expense per interview rose (some completions coming at the cost
of nearly 50 attempts), the survey window closed. At that point
the data set included interviews from 99 news directors at
minority-owned stations and 112 from majority-owned stations in
matching markets. Of the interview attempts among minority-owned
stations, 29 attempts ended in outright refusals, 12 dead-ended
with repeated attempts at contact via answering machines, and
another 64 resulted in no data because the survey window ended
before willing but busy subjects found time for the interview.
Of attempts made to obtain a majority sample, 38 ended in
outright refusals, and 73 stations were listed as willing but
busy at the time the survey left the field.

As the data from these interviews merged with data from archival
sources, discrepancies as to status of minority station owner
emerged in several cases. Investigation led to seven cases
moving from minority ownership to majority ownership. For the
most part, this shift was necessitated by a change in ownership
relevant to the time between when the minority list was first
reduced and the onset of the survey itself.

Thus, of 197 attempts, 92 interviews were obtained with news
directors at minority-owned stations for a response rate of 46.7
percent. Of 230 attempts with majority-owned stations, 119
interviews were completed for a response rate of 51.7 percent.

Dependent Measures

Given the historic tendency of the FCC to focus upon non-
entertainment programming when discussing contributions of
broadcasters in the public interest, the study operationalized
the concept “diversity of programming” strictly along the lines
of news and public affairs reporting. Through close to 200
questions, the survey instrument measured many facets of this
concept, from descriptions of what a station has chosen to cover
in the months preceding the survey to more preliminary issues

completed, the remaining cases were returned to the main list
should that market again produce a like minority interview.
Occasionally two interviews would be completed from the list when
one interview, begun but suspended, was completed after another
had been started and successfully concluded.


Diversity in Broadcast 23

among television stations.” Finally, neither radio nor
television stations demonstrate an ownership difference (though
for radio the trend is similar to those reported above and just
misses significance) when questioned about reliance upon audience
feedback as a way of knowing the audience and what it wants.
One-third of minority-owned radio stations report relying
frequently upon audience feedback in contrast to 18 percent of
majority-owned radio stations, while for television stations a
similar trend (40 percent or eight of 20 minority-owned stations
reporting frequent reliance versus 26 percent or 10 of 38
majority-owned stations) does not result in a significant
difference.”

Decision-Making Processes at the Station

Station ownership — minority or majority — strongly predicts
whether a radio station owner holds a management position with
the station. Of radio stations sampled, 66 percent of minority
owners are reported to play a direct role at their radio station
compared to 32 percent of majority owners.” A similar
significant difference does not appear among television station
owners, 90 percent of whom are reported to have no management
role in their stations.”

Respondents identified up to seven positions held by owners
(e.g., general manager, station manager, program director). The
number of hats worn by minority owners of radio stations, while
tending to be greater than the average worn by majority owners,
misses statistical significance. Minority owners averaged 2.00
positions, while majority owners averaged 1.44.7© Such a
comparison is not possible for television owners, given the
scarcity of owners who play any managerial role at their
stations.

x°(2, N=132)= 7.13; p<.05; x?(2, N=58)=0.13; p=.94;
respectively

TM x?(2, N=133)= 5.23; p=.07; x?(2, N=58)= 1.44; p=.49,
respectively

" x2(1, N=147)= 16.23; p<.001

* x7(1, N=62)=0.77; p=.38

7 £(69)= 1.87; p=.07


APPENDIX III

Survey Instrument


120. Are you as [respondent job title] involved in making decisions about what your station
broadcasts on the news and on public affairs shows?

[ lyes[ ] no

-->[If yes, go to Q121]

-->[If no, go to C]
121. Would you say you are [ ] very involved, { ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or
[ ] not at all involved in those decisions?

Cc. I'm going to read a list of other people who might be involved in making decisions about
what your station broadcasts on the news and on public affairs shows. For each one, please tell
me whether that person is very involved in such decisions, somewhat involved, not very
involved, or not at all involved. If there is no one at your station with one of these job titles, just
let me know and we'll move on. [Note: Omit respondent job title from list]

122. First, the general manager. Is that person [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ]
not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved in making decisions about news and public affairs?

[ ] no such job title

123. Is the station manager [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or
[ ] not at all involved in decisions about news and public affairs shows? [ ] no such job title

124. Is the program director [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or
[ ] not at all involved in those decisions? [ ] no such job title

125. How about the news director? [ ] Very involved, [ ] somewhat involved,

[ ] not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved [ ] no such job title

126. Is the executive producer [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved,
or [ ] not at all involved in decisions about news and public affairs shows?

[ ] no such job title

127. Is the assignment editor [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or
[ ] not at all involved in decisions about news and public affairs shows?

[ ] no such job title

128. How involved is the news producer? Is that person [ ] very involved,

[ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved in decisions about news
and public affairs shows? [ ] no such job title

129. Are [anchors or disc jockeys] [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, { ] not very
involved, or [ ] not at all involved in deciding what your station broadcasts on news and public
affairs shows? [ ] no such job title

130. Are reporters or writers [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or
[ ] not at all involved in decisions about news and public affairs shows? [ ] no such job title

Now I'm going to read a list of activities related to news and public affairs programming. For
each one, tel] me how involved the owners of your station are in that kind of activity.

131. How involved are the owners in setting the overall direction of news and public affairs
programming, [ ] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or

[ ] not at all involved?

132. How involved are the owners in scheduling news and public affairs programs,

[] very involved, [ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved?
133. How involved are the owners in suggesting topics and stories, [ ] very involved,

[ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved?

134. How about doing on-air editorials? Are the owners [ }] very involved,

[ ] somewhat involved, [ ] not very involved, or [ ] not at all involved?


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This study provides empirical evidence of a link between race or
ethnicity of broadcast station owners and contribution to
diversity of news and public affairs programming across the
proadcast spectrum, a finding stronger for radio than for
television. In addition, a link was found for both media between
racial and ethnic composition of newsroom staff and contribution
to spectrum diversity. Minority ownership and minority presence
jn the newsroom predicts greater attention to topics of presumed
interest to minority audience members.

Broadcast industry data were merged with data from 211 telephone
interviews of news directors or public affairs programming
directors at minority- and majority- owned radio and television
stations across the country between July and October 1998.

Analyses point to important differences in the news and public
affairs programming of minority- and majority-owned stations that
regularly broadcast some news or public affairs programming; in
particular, radio stations. Despite the fact that minority-owned
stations report having fewer resources at their disposal, they
report delivering a wider variety of news and public affairs
programming and more ethnic and racial diversity in on-air
talent, although some of these differences achieve statistical
significance within only one medium. Minority-owned radio
stations do more public affairs programming, and in particular,
they appear to focus on ethnic and racial minorities.

While both minority radio and television station owners own fewer
stations per person, it is only the minority radio station owners
who appear to be more integrated in their stations, holding more
titles and becoming more actively involved in decision-making
regarding news and public affairs. Television owners are, for
the most part, not involved in their stations’ day-to-day
programming decisions. In short, from choosing a program format
that appeals to minority audiences through a range of decisions
pertaining to news and public affairs, minority-owned radio
stations and, to a lesser extent, television stations, depart
from their majority-owned counterparts.

These findings support Federal Communication Commission policies
to increase numbers of minority owners and staffers in broadcast
stations, a practice long-assumed to increase diversity within
the broadcast spectrum.


Diversity in Broadcast 42

proven, and that the government does not appear to have a
compelling interest in fostering such diversity.*°

The Lutheran Church opinion relied heavily on the dissent in
Metro Broadcasting, which argued that the nexus between ownership
and diversity had not been established,**? and that the market
controls ownership expression even if a minority owner might
prefer to program differently.** As a consequence, the Lutheran
Church opinion questions the nexus between equal employment
opportunity and diversity, and, by implication, the nexus between
ownership and diversity as well.

However, because the Adarand decision only overruled Metro
Broadcasting to the extent that it applied intermediate rather
than strict scrutiny, the question of whether the diversity
interest can survive strict scrutiny has yet to be addressed by
the Supreme Court.** For this reason, the FCC has commissioned
this study as part of its efforts to develop a factual record
that will help determine whether the FCC has a compelling
interest in promoting broadcast diversity. Specifically, the
FCC, through this study, seeks to begin the examination of
whether there is an empirical nexus between the race of station
owners and the content of programming on radio and television
stations.

In addition to the FCC’s reasons for commissioning this study,
the researchers note that there are others as well. First, there
have been potentially significant changes in the broadcast market

100 Id. Also see Frank W. Lloyd and Janell F. Coles, D.C.
Circuit Overturns FCC Broadcast EEO Rules, Cable TV & New Media
Law_& Finance, April 1998, Pg. 1.

ol Dissent by Justice O'Connor, with whom the Chief

Justice, Justice Scalia, and Justice Kennedy joined. Metro
Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, 497 U.S. 547 (1990).

102 Ia. A number of legal scholars have taken issue with
the Metro dissent’s reasoning. See Rogovin, The Regulation of
Television in the Public Interest: On Creating A Parallel
Universe in Which Minorities Speak and are Heard, 42 Cath. Univ.
L. Rev. 51 (1992); Hammond, Diversity and Equal Protection in the
Marketplace: The Metro Broadcasting Case in Context, 44 Ark. L.
Rev. 1063 (1991); and Williams, Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC:
Regrouping in Singular Times, 104 Harv. L. Rev. 525 (1990).

108 See 515 U.S. at 257-58 (Stevens, J., dissenting).


Diversity in Broadcast 40

LEGAL BACKGROUND

Since the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia's
“TV-9" decision,*’ the Federal Communications Commission
developed and subsequently maintained policies that sought to
increase the employment of minorities in the broadcast industry
and the ownership of broadcast facilities by minorities. The
Commission has argued that a nexus exists between minority
employment and viewpoint diversity, and that such employment
promotes minority ownership by creating an experienced cadre of
individuals possessing the requisite industry background to
manage and own broadcast facilities. Similarly, the Commission
has argued that a nexus exists between minority ownership and
viewpoint diversity and that such ownership serves the public
interest in democratic representation.

Two components of the ownership policy - awarding an enhancement
for minority ownership in comparative hearings to allocate
broadcast licenses and providing through a distress sale policy
special procedures for the transfer of the licenses of
broadcasters designated for a hearing on disqualifying issues -—
were affirmed by the Supreme Court in Metro Broadcasting.°** In
affirming the policy components, the Court found that “a

% TV 9, Inc. v. FCC, 495 F.2d 929, 937-938 (D.C. Cir.
1973), rehearing en banc denied 495 F.2d 941, cert. denied, 419
U.S. 986 (1974). In TV 9, the court held that “when minority
ownership is likely to increase diversity of content, especially
on opinion and viewpoint, merit should be awarded” and found that
“it is upon ownership that public policy places primary reliance
with respect to diversification of content, and that historically
has proved to be significantly influential with respect to
editorial content and presentation of news.” Id. at 937-38.

ad The Commission’s judgment that a nexus exists between
rules fostering minority ownership and fostering viewpoint
diversity was affirmed by the court in Metro Broadcasting, Inc.
v. FCC, 497 U.S. 547, 569-600 (1990).

8s Metro Broadcasting, Inc. at 568.


174. Would you say that most of your station's advertising revenue comes from
[{ ] national accounts, [] local accounts, or [ ] are you not sure?
175. What is the total amount, approximately, that your station spends on programming in a
year, not including salaries?
176. About how much is spent just on news and public affairs programming? ___
176b. Are news or public affairs employees offered any financial incentives, such as stock, that
are tied to the performance of the station? [] yes [] no [] don't know
177. How does your station's audience compare with the market as a whole in terms of income
or wealth? Would you say your audience is [ ] about average
[ ] below average, [ ] above average, or [ ] are you not sure?
178. Do advertisers consider your audience to be different from the overall market in terms of
purchasing habits? [ ] yes [] no [] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q179]
-->[If no/DK, go to F]
179. Do you think that is a reflection of the audience's income? [ ] yes [] no
[ ] don't know
180. Do you think that is a reflection of the audience's cultural background? [ ] yes
[] no [] don't know
181. Do you think that is a reflection of how many women are in the audience? [] yes [ ] no
{ ] don't know

F. Now I'd like to ask about the public inspection files that all radio and television
broadcasters maintain. Every quarter, information about the programs a station broadcast dealing
with significant community issues is included in the file.

182. What is the job title of the person responsible for compiling the information for the public
file? Is it the [ ] owner, [ ] station manager, [ ] program director, { ] news director, [ ] a reporter,
[ ] a producer, [ ] someone else, or [ ] are you not sure who does the report?

As part of our research project, we'd like to receive a copy of the most recent report from your
station's public inspection file. Could you fax or send a copy to the researchers? [Interviewer: If
yes, provide fax number 408-554-4913 or address, Prof. Laurie Mason, Communication
Department, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053)

Conclusion

Thank you, these are all the questions I have. We appreciate your help. Do you have the
information you need to send us the latest report from the public inspection file? [Interviewer: If
necessary, again provide fax number 408-554-4913 or address, Prof. Laurie Mason,
Communication Department, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053

Do you have any questions or comments about the survey?

Thanks again. You've been very helpful to our study.

Ending time


Diversity in Broadcast 10

It should be recalled that the majority-owned stations were
selected for interview from the same or similar markets as
minority-owned stations providing completed interviews. This
strategy was successful with both radio and television stations,
as shown in an analysis of radio through Arbitron and television
through Nielsen rankings,*® and thus these differences do not
appear to be attributable to market factors.

In summary, the data for radio point to significant differences
in the ownership structure, human and financial resources
associated with stations, with minority-owned stations
registering as smaller on these measures. For television,
significant differences appear only for station revenue and
number of stations owned by a station’s owner, once again
favoring majority owners.

Station Service and Format

While most stations are broadcasting around the clock, a
significant difference did emerge between majority-owned and
minority-owned radio stations. Respondents at majority-owned
radio stations report being on the air on average 23.18 hours per
day, whereas minority-owned radio stations report service of
21.34 hours per day.*4 Majority-owned television stations run an
average of 23.05 hours per day while their minority-owned
counterparts average 23.43 hours per day, not a statistically
significant difference.”

Drawing upon the BIA’s assessment of radio station format and
following the recoding of format described in Appendix IV
(Footnote 120), 61 percent of the minority-owned radio stations
can be classified as delivering minority-format programming,
compared to only 14 percent of majority-owned radio stations.
This means that minority-owned radio stations are delivering
programming classified as Black, Ethnic, Spanish or Urban -
including subcategories that emphasize national, religious and
linguistic perspectives - in far greater amounts than their
majority-owned counterparts.

* x?(1,N=134)=0.09, p=.76; x°(1 N=61)= 1.60, p=.21
respectively
a £(113.87)= -3.02, p<.01

“ £(60)= 0.80, p=.43

. x?(1, N=148)= 34.14, p<.001


Diversity in Broadcast 52

actual respondents and those who refused or were unable
to complete an interview;

To double-check and supplement responses from stations;
To explore differences that appear in bivariate

comparisons of minority- and majority-owned stations on
the dependent measures derived from the survey.


44. About how many hours a week are these shows broadcast? __
45. Are any of the shows for senior citizens produced by your station? [ ] yes
[] no [] don't know
46. Are there any other kinds of shows your station broadcasts that you would consider news
or public affairs programming? [ ] yes [ ] no
-->[If yes, go to Q47]
-->[If no, go to Q50]
47. Can you describe in a few words what those shows are about?
48. About how many hours of these other shows do you broadcast in a week? ___
49, Are any of these shows produced by your station? [ ] yes [ ] no
50. Does your station ever air live broadcasts of community events, such as government
meetings or parades? [ ] yes [] no[ ] don't know
Sl. Do you broadcast any programs in a language other than English?
[]yes [] no
-->[If yes, go to Q52]
-->[If no, go to Q55]
52. About how many hours of foreign language shows do you broadcast in a week? __
53. In which other languages do you broadcast? [ ] Spanish, [ ] Mandarin or Cantonese,
[ ] Tagalog, [] Korean, [ ] Japanese, [ ] Vietnamese, [ ] French,
[ ] Portuguese, or [ ] something else?
54. Are any of the foreign language shows produced by your station? [{ ] yes [ ] no
55. For any of the kinds of programs we've mentioned, does your station use a call-in format,
where [viewers/listeners] can ask questions or state opinions? [ ] yes [] no
[ ] don't know
56. Other than providing news and information, does your station participate in community
events or projects by, for example, sponsoring events or underwriting scholarships? [ ] yes
{]no [] don't know
-->[If yes, go to Q57]
-->[If no or DK, go to Q58]
57. Are any of those events or projects targeted to women or minority groups?
[] yes []no[ ] don't know
58. Stations sometimes broadcast special programming related to holidays or events in
addition to any news coverage of those events. In the past year, has your station broadcast any
special programming about political or civic holidays, such as President's Day or the Fourth of
July? [] yes []no []DK
59. How about religious events or holidays? In the past year, did your station broadcast any
programs, other than news, related to holidays, such as Christmas or events like religious
gatherings? [] yes []no []DK
60. Did your station broadcast any programming about holidays or topics of particular
interest to Hispanics, such as Cinco de Mayo? [] yes[]no [] DK
6l. How about programming about holidays or topics of particular interest to African
Americans, such as Black History Month? Anything like that in the past year?
[ ]yes[ ]no [ ] DK
62. Did your station broadcast any programs about holidays or topics of particular interest to
Asian Americans, such as Chinese New Year? [] yes[]no [] DK
63. Did your station broadcast any programs about holidays or topics of particular interest to
Native Americans, such as Native American Month? [] yes[]no []DK
64. And how about programming about holidays or topics of particular interest to women,
such as programs dealing with women's health? [ ] yes []no []DK


Diversity in Broadcast 12

radio, 69 percent of stations report localizing wire news while
90 percent of television stations report this practice.”

However, of stations that localize, the race or ethnicity of
radio station owners successfully predicted whether a respondent
would say his or her station opted to tailor a national or
regional wire story to minority community concerns. Seventy-—
three percent of the minority-owned radio stations localize on
this basis, compared to 36 percent of the majority-owned
stations.*® The same was not true of television, where, 61
percent of both the minority- and majority-owned stations
localize with this concern in mind.*

Just over one third (35 percent) of all respondents reported that
they could think of a major news story in the past three months
that their station had covered but their chief competitor in news
had not.3! When asked to think about the most recent story in
which this occurred, respondents from both minority-owned radio
and television stations were significantly more likely than their
majority-owned counterparts to say that they decided to cover
this story with a particular audience in mind (15 of 22 minority-
owned radio stations vs. 9 of 26 majority-owned radio stations;
five of seven minority-owned vs. three of 12 majority-owned
television stations) .?? Of the 15 respondents from minority-
owned radio stations who gave as their reason for covering the
event the fact that it would appeal to a particular audience
segment, 11 indicated they were thinking of a racial or ethnic
minority audience. Of the eight respondents from majority-owned
stations, only one reported having a racial or ethnic minority
audience in mind. For television, three of the five respondents
from minority-owned stations reported thinking specifically of an

38 This factor produced no differences between owners for

radio (x2(1, N=101)= 0.26, p=.61) or for television (x*(1, N=48)=
1.47, p=.22).

” x2(1, N=69)= 9.52, p<.01

* x2(1, N=41)= 0.002, p=.96

3 x2(1, N=136)= 0.007, p=.93 for radio; x’(1, N=54)

= 0.0005, p=.98 for television stations
ae x2(1, N=48)= 5.37, p<.05; for television, a chi-square
cannot be performed due to insufficient cell count; however, the
pattern emerges in raw numbers reported above.




Diversity in Broadcast 33

Table 3: Separate comparisons between each independent variable
and the dependent measure of programming diversity for TV
Mean s.d. (N)
Owner Race
Minority 5.24 2.88 21
Majority 4.57 2.37 42
Owner Involvement
Higher 5.08 2.53 26
Lower 4.59 2.58 37
Staffing
More diverse 5.50 2.13 28
Less diverse 3.52 2.06 23
Station Revenue
Higher 5.30 2.18 27
Lower 4.26 2.94 27
Structure
Group-owned 4.66 2.55 53
Not group-owned 5.62 2.82 8

To test the effect of each independent variable while controlling
for the others, a stepwise multiple regression analysis® was
performed for radio and television separately. All variables
except race or ethnicity of owner were first entered into the
statistical model so that their explanatory power could be seen.
Then race or ethnicity of owner was entered to see if, once these
other related variables were factored in, race or ethnicity had
any further predictive power.

Table 4 presents the results for the analysis of radio stations.
The four variables entered in the first step of the analysis
accounted for more than one-third of the variance in programming
diversity (R?? equals 0.384), but only one variable among the

88 Multiple regression analysis, a widely used statistical

tool, models the mean of a response variable (in this case,
programming diversity) as a function of several explanatory
variables. For a user-friendly text on the subject, consult Fred
L. Ramsey & Daniel W. Schafer, THE STATISTICAL SLEUTH, Duxbury
Press (1997)

* R-squared (R?), or coefficient of determination, is the
percentage of the total response variation explained by the
explanatory variables. Statisticians acknowledge that the


Diversity in Broadcast 21

percent of those working at a minority-owned station said that
their station tries to attract a Black or Hispanic audience
compared to 50 percent of the respondents at majority-owned :
stations reporting efforts to attract a similar audience.® This
significant difference is not reflected among television
stations, where 29 percent or four of 14 minority-owned stations
and 20 percent or four of 20 majority-owned stations sought a
Black or Hispanic audience. A statistical comparison was not
performed due to small numbers.

A commonly used tool for assessing audiences is the commercial
information offered by such groups as Nielsen (for television)
and Arbitron (for radio). According to respondents, majority-
owned radio stations are significantly more likely to use such a
service than minority-owned radio stations (75 percent of
majority owners versus 49 percent of minority owners), a
difference that does not emerge among television stations (where
nearly every station reports using Nielsen data: 93 percent among
majority-owned versus 91 percent among minority-owned
stations) .*”

An alternative or supplement to subscribing to Nielsen or
Arbitron is to do audience research in-house, and most
respondents (63 percent of radio and 66 percent of television
stations) reported such a practice. Station ownership did not
correlate with presence or absence of this activity.®

Fewer than half of respondents reported hiring programming
consultants. This expensive but potentially effective practice
is correlated with radio but not for television station
ownership, with 40 percent of majority-owned radio stations

66 x?(1, N=107)= 31.42; p<.001. This measure should not

be confused with previously reported data on station format. A
station may have a majority format yet intend to attract a
minority audience, or may have a minority format in hopes of
attracting non-minority audience members.

” x?(1, N=144)= 9.88; p<.01; x?(1, N=62)= 0.09; p=.76,
respectively

6 x?(1, N=141)=0.01; p=.92; x?(1, N=61)=2.47; p=.12,
respectively


Author Notes

This study was performed under contract with the Federal
Communications Commission (2700-FCC-97-P-0722) and augmented with
grants from the College of Arts and Sciences dean’s office at
Santa Clara University and from the Minority Broadcast Education
and Advocacy Fund.

Christine Bachen (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1982) and Laurie
Mason (J.D., Santa Clara University School of Law, 1997; Ph.D.,
Stanford University, 1991) are associate professors in the
Communication Department, Santa Clara University.

Allen Hammond (J.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Law,
1975)is a professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Stephanie Craft (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1999) is an
assistant professor at the University of Missouri School of
Journalism.

Contribution of the authors to this study is equal.

Correspondence concerning the legal analysis contained in this
report should be addressed to Prof. Allen Hammond, School of Law,
Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053.

Correspondence concerning the study research methodologies and
findings may be addressed to Prof. Laurie Mason, Department of
Communication, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053.

The authors wish to thank colleagues Paul Soukup and Pedro
Hernandez-Ramos for their help with data entry, and George Fegan
and Robert Mason for their assistance with methodological issues.

Steve Wildman provided consultation on broadcast industry
economic issues.

prof. Hammond wishes to thank Jennifer Hodges and Laura Arsaga
for help with the legal history encompassed in Appendix I.


Diversity in Broadcast 45

critical opportunity to examine the relationship between
ownership and the provision of news and public affairs which the

FCC, minority owners and others assert is at the heart of service
to communities.TM?

Stations, New York Times, January 15, 1981, p.1.
m Andrea Adelson, Minority Voice Fading For Broadcast

Owners, The New York Times, May 19, 1997, p. Also see KJLH-FM's
General Manager Says Minorities Want Information that is Relevant
to Their Lives; “Our Listeners Hold Us Accountable,” Los Angeles
Times, March 21, 1993, p. 22. Also see Kim McAvoy and Don West
The Battle Over Bigness: Broadcasting's Fatal Attraction,
Broadcasting & Cable, May 22, 1995, p. 50 [Bill Ryan Interview];
Laura Castaneda, Turning Up the Volume; Radio Duopolies Spark a

Boom, but Draw Criticism, The Dallas Morning News, January 7,
1995, p. 1F.


Diversity in Broadcast 29

Television programming diversity was similarly measured, with the
addition of one question pertaining to children’s educational
programming.®’ Thus, a television station’s score could range
from 0 to 14. Across all television stations, the mean response
was 4.79.

The chief independent variable in our study is race/ethnicity of
station owner (minority or majority). This variable has, as
already noted, surfaced as a significant correlate of a variety
of programming and station characteristics. To challenge or,
perhaps to clarify, the relationship between ownership and these
other factors, we examine a host of variables that could act as
intermediaries or as the true causal factors driving a station's
level of programming diversity. One such factor is the
involvement of the owner, measured on a 7-element scale. The
level of involvement of station owner included how active the
owner was perceived to be in decisions concerning hiring,
scheduling, setting overall direction, topic selection, editorial
production, daily news meetings, and communicating news values to
the staff. Owner involvement may affect a station’s programming
diversity as an intermediary between station owner’s race or
ethnicity; in other words, minority owners may be philosophically
committed or economically constrained to adopt such practices.
Or, we may find that any involved owner will push for diversity

racial minority); Q40 (does station cover culture, music or arts
to target ethnic or racial minority audience); Q51 (does station
broadcast in language other than English); Q57 (does station
participate in community events targeted toward women or
minorities); Q60 (does station broadcast programming about
holidays, etc., of interest to Hispanics in particular); Q61
(does station broadcast programming about holidays, etc., of
interest to African Americans in particular); Q62 (does station
broadcast programming about holidays, etc., of interest to Asian
Americans in particular); Q63 (does station broadcast programming
about holidays, etc., of interest to Native Americans in
particular); 066 (is station’s intended audience racial or ethnic
minority?); Q106b (does most popular news or public affairs show
aired by station appeal especially to ethnic or racial
minorities); Q108 (for that most popular show, is there on-air
talent representing ethnic or racial categories). Cronbach's
Alpha (a measure of the reliability of the scale) equals 0.734.

7 The added item, Q116, dealt with whether any characters
or hosts of children’s programming were members of ethnic or
racial minorities. Alpha equals 0.646.


Diversity in Broadcast 38

may truly belong in a model of how ownership characteristics
affect programming diversity.

Beyond the measure of race- and ethnicity-linked programming
diversity, a number of other aspects of a station’s programming
were associated with station owner race or ethnicity. For radio,
minority-owned station were significantly more likely to present
programming in the areas of women’s concerns and live coverage of
government meetings. They were significantly more likely than
their majority-owned counterparts to adopt a minority format in
their music programming. For television, minority-owned stations
were significantly more likely than their majority-owned
counterparts to air programming related to current events and
issues of special concern to senior citizens.

Policy Implications

For television, owner race does not appear to be linked with
programming content oriented toward issues of concern to
minorities. Perhaps the failure of the television data to mirror
radio data in all respects is due, at least in part, to the
smaller numbers of interviews that were conducted. In addition,
the greater public visibility of persons involved in television
news-gathering efforts may predispose the television industry to
a greater sensitivity to differential audience needs. Finally,
the lone signal of a potential response bias occurred with the
television data, as respondents were significantly more often
from smaller markets than were non-respondents.

For both television and radio, the data show a connection between
the racial composition of staff and the content of programming;
as racial and ethnic minorities compose more of a radio station’s
staff, greater attention to minority issues is the result.

Additionally for radio, this study provides considerable
empirical support for historic assumptions linking owner race and
ethnicity to diversity of the broadcast spectrum. Minority-owned
stations, on average, focused more of their news and public
affairs programming on issues and events of presumed interest to
minority audience members.


Diversity in Broadcast 24

Regardless of whether an owner works at a station, he or she
could impact how a station’s newsroom operates. Thus all
respondents were asked to comment on this potential for owner
involvement. While neither radio nor television respondents
reported differences between minority and majority station owners
in terms of setting the overall direction of news and public
affairs, radio owners appeared to be more involved than their
television counterparts (34 percent of radio owners were reported
to be “very involved” and 29 percent were seen as “somewhat
involved”; 13 percent of television owners were seen as very
involved while 33 percent were seen as somewhat involved).

For radio, the greater presence by minority owners at the station
is reflected in specific tasks in the newsroom. Minority-owned
radio stations report their owners tend to be significantly more
involved in suggesting topics and stories (62 percent are very or
somewhat involved compared to 40 percent of the majority owners),
doing on-air editorials (39 percent are very or somewhat involved
compared to 10 percent of the majority owners), attending daily
news meetings (30 percent versus five percent) and in hiring news
and public affairs staff (59 percent versus 44 percent) .”’ Small
numbers of involved television owners - be they majority or
minority - prevent a statistical comparison of the owners on
these items.

Competition with Others in Market

Respondents from minority-owned stations describe their station’s
approach in the marketplace in terms that do not significantly
differ from their majority counterparts. For all radio stations
sampled, 17 percent take a head-to-head approach to competition
within the market; 32 percent take a market segmentation
approach; and 51 percent describe their approach as somewhere in
between these two strategies. For television, 29 percent favor a
head-to-head competition approach, 24 percent try for a segment
of the market and 48 percent attempt something in between.

Respondents were asked to estimate how their audience compared to
the market as a whole in terms of income or wealth. Majority-
owned radio stations tended to estimate their audience to be
“more wealthy than average” significantly more often than did
minority-owned stations. More than one third (38 percent) of
respondents from the majority-owned radio stations characterized

7 x2(2, N=148)= 9.06, p<.01; x?(2, N=148)= 16.95,

p<.001; x2?(2, N=148)= 15.75, p<.001; x?(2, N=148)=
15.35, p<.001, respectively


Diversity in Broadcast 8

Employee data from television stations did not reveal these same
@ifferences between majority- and minority-owned stations. In
terms of number of station employees, majority-owned television
stations average 91.51; minority-owned stations, 89.71.° For
news and public affairs workers, majority-owned stations count an
average of 36.07 while minority-owned stations count an average
of 32.14. Of those workers, majority-owned stations count 51
percent to be women while minority-owned stations count 54
percent to be women.*+ Of the news and public affairs workers,
majority-owned stations count 34 percent to be racial and/or
ethnic minority members while minority-owned stations count 40
percent of their news and public affairs staff in those
categories.

Station ownership, size and revenue

According to Broadcasting Industry Association data, a larger
proportion - 68 percent - of majority-owned radio stations are
group-owned (owner owns stations in more than one market or three
or more within any one market), compared to 38 percent of
minority-owned stations being group-owned.'? This relationship
does not emerge within television station data, where the vast
majority are group-owned regardless of race or ethnicity of

Where "19" in response to Q141 actually is keyed to Q138 — total
staff — rather than Q139 — total news staff. As this sort of
error is not likely to differ across minority- and majority-owned
stations, the difference observed between the two groups is
probably worth relying upon. Indeed, it comports with previous
findings (see, e.g., Akousa Evans, Are Minority Preferences
Necessary? Another Look at the Radio Broadcasting Industry, 8
yale Law & Policy Review 380, 407-8 (1990)). But the raw
percentages should be viewed with suspicion on this comparison
and on those involving women and those later in the paper that
relate to questions regarding employees working for the station’s
top-rated public affairs show.

° t(60)= -0.10, p=.92
0 t(61)= -0.45, p=.65
" £(59)= 0.54, p=.59

° t(50) = 0.62, p=.54

x?(1, N=148)= 12.92, p<.001


[If no, go to Q85]
82. Is one reason because it is too expensive? [] yes []no
83. Is one reason that the information would not be very useful in making decisions?
[yes [] no
84. Is one reason because you feel you know your audience better than anyone else does?
Ll yes [] no
85. Does your station ever hire consultants to help you decide which programs to air? [ ] yes
[]no []DK

-->[If yes, go to Q86]

-->[If no, go to Q88]

-->[If DK, go to Q92]
86. | Would you say you do that [ ] once a year, [ ] more often, or [ ] less often than that?
87. How much would you say you rely on consultants' advice regarding your audience's
preferences, [] a lot, [] alittle, or [ ] not at all?

[GO TO Q92]
88. Do you know any reason why your station doesn't use consultants?
Llyes [] no

[If yes, go to Q89]

[If no, go to Q92]
89. Is one reason because they are too expensive? [] yes [] no
90. Is one reason that the information would not be very useful in making decisions? [ ] yes
[] no
91. Is one reason because you feel you know your audience better than anyone else does?
Llyes [] no
92. Aside from call-in shows, do [viewers/listeners] ever call in or write to the station about
news or public affairs programs? [ ] yes [] no

-->[If yes, go to Q93]

-->{If no, go to B]
93. Would you say that happens [ ] nearly every day, [ ] a few times a week, [ ] about once a
week, [ ] a few times a month, or [ ] less often than that?
94, Thinking about only news and public affairs programming, which kind of program
prompts [viewers/listeners] to call or write the most? Would you say that [ ] news or [ ] public
affairs shows prompt the most response? [ ] Don't know
95, Do [viewers/listeners] contact the station to complain about a show's topic or content?
[] frequently [] sometimes [] rarely [ ] not at all [ ] don't know
96. Do [viewers/listeners] contact the station to complain about an advertiser? [ ] frequently
[] sometimes [] rarely [] not at all [ ] don't know
97. Do [viewers/lsteners] contact the station to offer suggestions or ideas for programs?
[] frequently [] sometimes [ ] rarely [ ] not at all [ ] don't know
98. Do [viewers/listeners] contact the station to praise or compliment a program?
[] frequently [] sometimes [] rarely [ ] not at all [ ] don't know
99. Do [viewers/listeners] contact the station to seek additional information about a show or
show topic? [] frequently [] sometimes [] rarely [ ] not at all [ ] don't know
100. How often would you say you rely on people writing in or calling the station to form your
idea of the audience and what it wants? Would you say you rely on that kind of contact
[] frequently [ ] sometimes, [ ] rarely, or [ ] not at all?

B. Now I'm going to list a few ways stations might use to determine what their audiences
want. For each one, tell me how much your station relies on it.


APPENDIX II

Methodology


Diversity in Broadcast 4s

stations. The listing includes call letters, location and
telephone number, and whether the station is television or radio.
The August 1997 edition listed 322 such stations, 38 televison
and 284 radio. This list, upon inspection, contained only 300
usable cases, others dropping out because of duplication within
that database or because a station, upon further checking,
appeared to be out of business. This initial culling left 265
radio and 35 television stations. All were scheduled for
interview.

A sample frame for the majority population - those majority-owned
stations existing in markets containing at least one minority-
owned station ~ was created in the following ways: For radio,
each minority station’s market was identified in the Spring 1996
American Radio, a commercial guide to broadcast stations
published annually by James H. Duncan, Jr. (This worked when a
station’s “location” in the Minority Commercial Broadcast
Qwnership report was synonymous with its market; that is, when
the city in which the station was located was also considered a
market in the Duncan guide. When this failed - chiefly the case
with smaller or non-rated minority stations - the 1997
Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook was employed to identify each
minority station’s market.) For television, each station's
market could be obtained through this latter source. Through
these efforts, a list of all other commercial stations sharing a
market with a minority station, along with name and telephone
number of each station’s news director or public affairs director
(if available), was obtained. The majority-owned station sample
frame contained 1,554 radio and 163 television stations.

Interviewing Procedure

The study’s focus on news and public affairs reporting led to a
decision to query not station owners but the people in their
employ most likely to have detailed information about programming
and audience assessment. News directors or public affairs
programming directors thus became the target pool. The Portland,
Oregon, survey firm Bardsley & Neidhart began in June 1998 to
train interviewers on a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview
(CATI) version of the questionnaire, which would take an average
of 40 minutes to administer. As they did so, the firm tackled the
list of 300 minority-owned stations, calling each to verify
names, titles, numbers and probe for interview availability.

This process reduced the list to 204 stations - only 28 being
television stations - fitting the study’s triple criteria of a


Diversity in Broadcast 11
News Programming

As stated earlier, the sample was limited to stations that
regularly broadcast news or public affairs programming. No
differences emerged between minority- and majority-owned stations
in the amount of news they produce overall, nor in the major
types of news (local, state or regional, or national or
international) they broadcast. Respondents at majority-owned
radio stations reported an average of 8.9 hours of local news per
week, 4.0 hours of regional news, and 6.1 hours of national or
international news while their counterparts at minority-owned
radio stations reported 6.4 hours of local news per week, 4.6
hours per week of regional news and 6.6 hours per week of
national or international news.** For television, respondents at
majority-owned stations reported 14.8 hours per week of local
news, 5.7 hours per week regional news and 8.5 hours per week
devoted, on average, to national and international news while
their counterparts at minority-owned television stations reported
13.6 hours of local news, 4.3 hours of national news and 6.9
hours national and international news broadcast per week on
average.*®

Similarly, minority- and majority-owned stations are equally
likely to utilize wire services (overall, 77 percent of all radio
stations and 91 percent of all television stations do so) .*®
Neither majority nor minority ownership differentiates radio or
television in terms of how much news a station creates or
produces. For radio, 40 percent of stations report creating
“most” and 60 percent report creating “some” of the news they
broadcast; for television, 87 percent report creating most and 13
percent report creating some of the news they broadcast .*”
Ownership also did not predict whether a station would opt to
localize wire news (bring out a community angle to a story that
begins as a regional, national or international story). In

a £(127)= -0.83, p=.41; £(127)= 0.47, p=.64; £(127)=
0.26, p=.80, respectively

3s t(51)= -0.44, p=.66; £(51)= -0.56, p=.58; t(51)=
-0.61, p=.54, respectively

x?(1, N=136)= 0.45, p=.50; x?(1, N=54)= 1.24, p=.26,
respectively

7 Minority versus majority ownership differentiates
neither radio stations (x*(1, 136)= 0.50, p=.48) nor television
stations (x°(1, N=54)= 0.12, p=.73) on this factor.