The Federal Communications Commission today
released twelve (yes, 12) studies on the current media marketplace. There is
a press
release (pdf) available and a Public
Notice (pdf), which requests comments on the studies themselves (comments
are due December 2, 2002, reply comments are due January 2, 2003). According to
the Public Notice, "The studies, which were conducted by outside
researchers and by Commission staff, examine a range of issues that impact
diversity, competition and localism, three important policy goals of the
structural ownership rules." All of the studies are available from one
starting location on the FCC's Web
site..
There are two "batches" of studies available: consumer oriented
studies and market based studies. At first glance, they look
fascinating. Here's the laundry list (all the docs are pdfs except where noted; access to text and MS Word copies are available from the Web site link above):
Consumer-Oriented Studies
A
Comparison of Media Outlets and Owners for Ten Selected Markets: 1960, 1980,
2000, Scott Roberts, Jane Frenette and Dione Sterns, Industry Analysis
Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission (links to tables
omitted).
Consumer
Substitution Among Media, Joel
Waldfogel, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Consumer
Survey on Media Usage, Nielsen Media
Research.
The
Measurement of Local Television News and Public Affairs Programs, Thomas
Spavins, Technical and Public Safety
Division, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications Commission; Loretta
Dennison, Jane Frenette, Scott Roberts, Industry
Analysis Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission.
Viewpoint
Diversity in Cross-Owned Newspapers and Television Stations: A Study of News
Coverage of the 2000 Presidential Campaign, David
Pritchard, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Program
Diversity and the Program Selection Process on Broadcast Network Television,
Mara Einstein,
Department of Media Studies, Queens College, City University of New York.
Market-Based Studies
Broadcast
Television: Survivors in a Sea of Competition (Federal Communications
Commission, Office of Policy and Plans Working Paper), Jonathan Levy and
Marcelino Ford-Livene, Office of Policy and
Plans, Federal Communications Commission; Anne Levine, Industry
Analysis Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
(available only in Word).
On
the Substitutability of Local Newspaper, Radio and Broadcast Television
Advertising in Local Business Sales, C. Anthony Bush, Administrative
Law Division, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Communications
Commission.
Radio
Industry Review 2002: Trends in Ownership, Format and Finance, George
Williams and Scott Roberts, Industry
Analysis Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
(available only in Word).
Consolidation
and Advertising Prices in Local Radio Markets, Keith Brown and George
Williams, Industry Analysis
Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission.
Radio
Market Structure and Music Diversity, George Williams, Keith Brown and Peter
Alexander, Industry Analysis
Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission.
A
Theory of Broadcast Media Concentration and Commercial Advertising, Brendan
M. Cunningham, Department of Economics, U.S. Naval Academy, and Peter J.
Alexander, Industry Analysis
Division, Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission.
Okay, so the press release and the notice for this came out today; I haven't
read a word of any of the studies yet, but I will, and once I do, I'll let the
LawMeme readers know what I think (and I'm betting some other LawMeme regulars
will kick in with their two cents as well). I'm actually not even sure where
I'll start; the last one listed above is intriguing: "A Theory of
Broadcast Media Concentration and Commercial Advertising." The mix of
FCC and private/business folks who undertook these reports is also interesting.
Nielsen, economists (and economists pretty much run the FCC, don't they?), a few
academics . . . it's quite a mix.
But I think in the end I won't be able to
resist starting with "Consumer Substitution Among Media," which,
according to the Public Notice, concludes that the clearest evidence of
"substitution between the Internet and broadcast TV both overall and for
news consumption; between daily and weekly newspapers; and between daily
newspapers and broadcast TV news." Again (sorry, I'm getting repetitive),
interesting.
If you have any initial thoughts or comments on the studies, on the
FCC's current "Biennial Regulatory Review of Broadcast Ownership
Rules," or any related matters (including requests for which study I should
read next), post them here. I'll start reading and when I have something to
report, or something to say, I'll post it.
Stay tuned.