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Dec. 14, 2006

Local ownership not key to public affairs TV programming

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Commercial television stations that are locally owned are too often leaving the majority of the community programming to the public television stations, a new study says.

The finding is contrary to the notion that local station owners are more likely than large network-owned operations to broadcast informational programming, such as local public affairs, said Michael Yan, an assistant professor of communication studies and study's lead author. Philip Napoli, director of the Donald McGannon Communication Research Center at Fordham University, co-authored the study.

Yan examined the relationship between competitive conditions in television markets, ownership characteristics and local public affairs programming. His study focused on 285 television stations, and found that half of the stations did not air any local public affairs programming during the two-week sample period.

A commercial station aired about 45 minutes of local public affairs programming during the two weeks compared with seven hours during the same period by public stations, he said.

"It would seem, then, that the commercial imperatives of ad-supported broadcast television inhibit the production of local public affairs programming," Yan noted.

The study found that stations owned by one of the four major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) were less likely to air any local public affairs programming.

Increased market competition does not spur individual stations to provide public affairs programming. The main reason, according to Yan, is competition may discourage profit-driven stations from taking the financial risk in providing local public affairs programming.

"Commercial broadcasters are ceding public affairs programming to their non-commercial counterparts," he said.

If public television is expected to be the primary source to broadcast public affairs, Yan said policy makers should be concerned about this type of programming migrating to outlets that are in an increasingly precarious financial position.

The study appears in the December issue of the Journal of Communication.

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Additional information about Yan

Department of Communication Studies

Journal of Communication

Contact: Jared Wadley
Phone: (734) 936-7819

Related Categories: Public Policy