Market Competition, Station Ownership, and Local Public Affairs Programming on Broadcast Television

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between competitive conditions in television markets, ownership characteristics, and commercial broadcast television station provision of local public affairs programming. The results from an analysis of a random sample of 285 fullpower television stations showed that half of the stations in the sample did not air any local public affairs programming during the 2-week sample period. Among the study’s other findings are that competitive conditions and station financial resources do not necessarily increase the provision of local public affairs programming and that ownership characteristics bear little meaningful relationship to local public affairs programming provision. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00320.x In the U.S. system of broadcast regulation, the provision of locally produced informational programming traditionally has been considered an important component of a station’s fulfillment of its obligation to serve the public interest (Federal Communications Commission [FCC], 1999b), with informational programming generally defined as local news and public affairs programming. It is through the provision of such programming that stations are able to serve the informational needs and interests of their local communities. This localism principle refers to media policy makers’ long-standing commitment to assuring that media services effectively serve and reflect the needs and interests of local communities—as opposed to having a primarily national or regional orientation in the services that they provide (FCC, 2004). The manifestation of this principle at one point took the form of specific FCC-imposed requirements for minimum levels of local news and public affairs programming (FCC, 1976). The FCC traditionally has operated under separate definitions of news and local public affairs programming. The commission has defined public affairs programming (the focus of this analysis) as ‘‘programs dealing with local, state, regional, national or