Media Contact: 
Diane Holland, 
diane.holland@fcc.gov

For Immediate Release

STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER GEOFFREY STARKS ON 
FIFTH BROADCAST STATION OWNERSHIP REPORT

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2021—FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks issued the following statement on the release of the Fifth Report on Ownership of Broadcast Stations: 

“I have been talking about these ownership numbers for a long time, in particular about the need for this Commission to take action to address the lack of progress toward increasing the diversity among broadcast station owners to include more people of color and women.  

Although the numbers show some slight improvements in majority ownership of full power commercial broadcast television stations by African Americans (up from 12 in 2017 to 18 stations in 2019), the percentage of ownership still rounds to an anemic 1%.  Moreover, that number significantly worsened for Asian American owners (from 9 full power TV stations in 2017 to four stations in 2019).  Women had majority ownership in four more full power TV stations in 2019 (77) than in 2017, but that is still only 5.6% of 1,369 total stations, far below their representation in our overall population.  The numbers don’t lie – we must ensure that ownership at broadcast stations better reflects the rich diversity of the communities that they serve.

We still have work to do, and we have to do better.  That is why I strongly support initiatives like Congressman G.K. Butterfield’s renewed efforts to increase opportunities for diversity in broadcast ownership and viewpoints by reintroducing H.R. 4871, the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act of 2021, which would promote diversity of ownership in the broadcast industry by reestablishing the FCC’s Minority Tax Certificate Program.“ 

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Office of Commissioner Geoffrey Starks: (202) 418-2500 
ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @GeoffreyStarks 
www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/geoffrey-starks

This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).