FCC Needs Better Data ‘Hard and Fast’ to Increase Minority Ownership, Clyburn Says
The FCC needs better data “hard and fast” to create policy that would increase the number of minority-owned broadcast stations, said acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn at the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters conference. Of several FCC commissioners and bureau personnel who had been scheduled to speak at the event, she was the only one to show up, due to the government shutdown. A panel meant to consist of FCC bureau chiefs instead was staffed by a broadcast attorney and officials from NAB and the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, and a “Dialogue with Commissioners” event Friday that was planned to include commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel will be reformatted, NABOB said. Clyburn and conference panelists briefed attendees on several proposals at the FCC and in Congress that might address the difficulties of minority broadcasters, but she said the FCC’s collection of data is a prerequisite for changes. “A complete picture of the media landscape is necessary to entertain … any major policy adjustment in the short term,” she said.
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Clyburn said minority broadcasters need help. “Society benefits from diversity,” she said. The NABOB conference should be “celebrating the steady climb in African-American owned broadcast stations in this county right now,” she said. “But sadly we are not in the most celebratory mood this afternoon when it comes to the number of stations we own and the financial condition of our property."
An “effective” tool for helping minority broadcasters would be the reinstatement of the minority tax credit, Clyburn said. The tax credit -- enacted in 1978 but taken away by lawmakers in 1995 -- exempts sellers of stations from capital gains tax if the buyer is a minority or female. “Congress should consider restoring the minority tax credit,” said Clyburn. Rosenworcel has also expressed support for its return (CD July 11 p3). Legislators may take up the credit as part of a larger discussion on tax reform, said panelist Timothy Robinson, senior policy counsel for Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill.
Before its demise, the minority tax credit was “largely responsible for maintaining healthy numbers of minority ownership across broadcast properties,” said Robinson. However, he said the current legislative tension over U.S. fiscal health might make a restoration of the credit unlikely. “A policy such as that would be discussed in a pretty rigorous fashion,” said Robinson. “Arguments could be made that you're taking revenues away from the federal treasury.” He said arguments in favor of the credit from Rush’s office would be “couched in diversity terms."
NABOB Executive Director Jim Winston and several panelists pointed to a bill to require radio stations to pay performance royalties as an issue of concern by NABOB Executive Director Jim Winston and several panelists. Many NABOB members are radio station owners, and Winston said the bill, introduced by Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., Monday (CD Oct 1 p7), would hurt stations’ bottom lines. Robinson said Rush supported NABOB and NAB’s stance against the measure.
Winston said one way the federal government could help out minority broadcasters would be to direct advertising dollars their way. Winston said little of the money from an extensive advertising campaign associated with the Affordable Care Act had been spent with minority broadcasters. He also chided the Department of Defense, which he said has a $450 million budget for advertising, but spends less than 2 percent on radio advertising. He complained that while DOD wasn’t helping radio stations, it was paying to sponsor a race car for NASCAR. “The Treasury [Department] is spending millions on commercial advertising and we're not getting our share,” said Winston.