FCC: Women Have Majority Stakes in 10% of Commercial Stations

TV station transmitters
(Image credit: Pixabay)

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has released a new study of U.S. broadcast TV and radio station ownership that shows women held a majority interest in 10% of commercial broadcast stations, while men held a majority interest in 59% of commercial broadcast stations.

The FCC was not able to determine majority ownership in all stations. As a result, totals for men and women or totals for all races do not add to 100%.

The FCC also found that white persons held a majority ownership interest in 74% of commercial broadcast stations, while persons belonging to racial minority groups held a majority ownership interest in 5% of commercial broadcast stations.

Hispanic/Latino persons, who can be of any race, held a majority ownership interest in 6% of commercial broadcast stations while non-Hispanic/non-Latino persons held a majority ownership interest in 72% of commercial broadcast stations.

The FCC’s “Seventh Report on Ownership of Broadcast Stations” released on Jan. 10, is based on information from FCC Form 323 and Form 323-E ownership data as of Oct. 1.

The FCC began publishing aggregated ownership data in reports separate from rulemaking orders in 2012, responding to criticism from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Government Accountability Office that its ownership data collection and dissemination was flawed.

The Seventh Report covers commercial and noncommercial stations in five broadcast services—full-power television, Class A television, low-power television, AM radio and FM radio. As of Oct. 1, 2023, there were approximately 1,760 licensed full-power television stations, 380 licensed Class A television stations, 1,880 licensed low-power television stations, 4,450 licensed AM radio stations and 10,930 licensed FM radio stations.

In terms of full-power television stations, women held a majority stake in 8% of such stations while men had majority stakes in 49%. Whites had majority stakes in 73%, versus 3% for Blacks/African Americans and 1% for Asians. Hispanics had majority ownership of 3% of full-power TV stations while non-Hispanics had 59%

Women held a majority stake in 6% of Class-A TV stations while men had majority stakes in 67% of the stations. Whites had majority stakes in 79%, versus 2% for Blacks/African-Americans and 2% for Asians. Hispanics have majority ownership of 5% of the Class A TV stations while non-Hispanics had 72%

Women held a majority stake in 8% of low-power TV stations, while men had majority stakes in 66%. Whites had majority stakes in 82%, versus 2% for Blacks/African-Americans and 5% for Asians. Hispanics had majority ownership of 10% of LPTV while non-Hispanics had 78%.

Women held a majority ownership interest in 17% of noncommercial broadcast stations, while men held a majority ownership interest in 77% of noncommercial broadcast stations. White persons held a majority ownership interest in 95% of noncommercial broadcast stations, while persons belonging to racial minority groups held a majority ownership interest in 4% of noncommercial broadcast stations. Finally, Hispanic/Latino persons held a majority ownership interest in 3% of noncommercial broadcast stations, while non-Hispanic/Latino persons held a majority ownership interest in 96% of noncommercial broadcast stations.

The full report, with more data, is available here.

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.