RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

ownership is important if only because there has been a concerted effort in recent years by the federai government and private groups to address minority ownership. As expiained by Juanita Krebs , the Secretary of the Department of Commerce under President Carter , "In addition to serving the needs anđ interests of the minority population and increasing diversity of viewpoints , minority ownership would promote economic growth and employment opportunities" (Broadcasting, 2/6/78, p.47). Both the Carter and Reagan adminfetrations have claimed a commitment to increasing minority ownership, and the FCC under both administrations created and expanded incentives anđ resources to minorities . On the surface, these incentive programs appear to be an extraordinary success . Before 1977, blacKs owneđ 39 radio stations in the United States . Incentives were approved in Мау of 1978, and during the next six years black ownership increased about 150 percent to over 100 stations . Looking more closely at this increase, however, several guestions emerge; First, were the increases in black ownership a reflection of the use of incentives or were they a reflection of the general expansion occurring within the broadcasting industry as a whole? In 1978, for example, more broadcast properties were acguired than in апу other уеаг in history . Second , was the increase in black ownership egual to or greater than that of white ownership during the period 1978-1983 or was there actually a decline in real growth of black ownership compared to white ownership? Third , did the increases in black ownership occur in the top fifty markets where the largest number 6f blacks live? And finally , did these added resources арреаг to give blacks enough financial power to continue purchasing stations of comparable ог greater worth , on the average , than white owned stations? In order to understand this increase of black owned radio stations , it is important first to examine both the incentives used and changes occurring in the broadcasting industry during the time these stations were acguired. II INCENTIVES/LOAN PROGRAMS EXAMINED There are two incentive programs enacted by the federal government for the stated purpose of expanding minority ownership in broađcasting : a ) đistress sales , and b ) tax incentives . The f ollowing is a brief description of these incentives and their hypothesized effects on the level of minority ownership .

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