Statement Of Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein FCC Hearing On Media Ownership

It is great to be in the Sunshine State for the FCC's fourth official media ownership hearing. Overthe past severalmonths, we havevisited California, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania to hear how the public feels about the state of broadcast media ownership and related issues in their communities. Thank you for coming out today to tell us about what the media in Tampa Bay is doing right, what areas need improvement, and specificallywhat the Commission can do to help. You are the ones that are directly affected by the decisions we make about how many media outlets a single company can own and controlin your local community. Your opinion really matters.

TampaBayis not onlythe largest media market in Florida. Itis also the 12th largest television market and the 19th largest radio marketin the nation. Likeother media markets,a handful of companies dominate Tampa Bay television and radio. In television, two media companies control half of total revenue. In radio, three companies own almost half of all commercial radio stations in the Tampamarket and control nearly 90 percent of the market's radio revenue. In addition, only fourcompanies control 73 percent of Tampa's local news market, and one of those companies alone controls one third of the market. As alarming as these numbers are, Tampa is better positioned than manyof the major marketsin the countrybased on today's very concentrated standards. You are one of the few markets with two viable major daily, local newspapers.

It is the Commission's job to implement your right to a diverse media market,and yourright to receive, share and exchange a diversityof news, information, and music. Our ownership rules are supposed to nurture, promoteand maximize competition, localism and diversity –not just preserve the bare minimum. What better wayto find out whether the mediais fulfilling your expectations of the American peopleand their obligations under the lawthan to go out and listen to what you haveto say. Despite disagreements over the Commission's regulations, thereshould be no disagreement that media ownership isreallyabout democracy. And fundamental to itis the "uninhibited marketplace of ideas,"where everyone has a right to receive, share and exchange a diversity of news, information, and music. Bycontrolling the information you receive and shaping public discourse, media companiesinfluence our culture, politics, and ideas in a verypowerful way.

I applaud your efforts, as concerned citizens of the TampaBayarea, to come out here this eveningto express your thoughts and to learn more about our nation's media industry. The airwaves belong to you, the people, and as the Supreme Court so clearly expressed:"it is the right of the public to receive suitable access to social, esthetic, moral and other ideas and experiences."

Media consolidation is not onlya problem affecting Tampa, it also impactsthe state andthe nation. Nationally, five media conglomeratescontrol 80 percent of the primetime market. The Commission's last effort in 2003 to modifyour ownership rules would have only made the situationworse. Rather than owning 73 percent of the Tampa market local news market, the top four firms would have likely increasedtheir share to nearly 85 percent. Luckily, three million citizens nationwide from the far lefttothe far rightand virtuallyeveryone in between voiced their opposition to our reckless rules. And in 2004, the federal court did too, sendingtherules back to the Commission, and chastisingus for failing to consider how the proposed rules would affect minority and women ownership, competitionand localism. I couldnotagree more with their opinion. I hope that this time around, with your help, we can get these media ownership rules right.

I fully realize that the media landscape is evolving and our rules should keep up with the times. But the idea that further concentration of ownership in broadcasting is the onlywayfor media companies to meet the demandsof Wall Street investors is far too limited. It is easy to say, "we need to own moreoutlets." But repurposing one local newspaper storyon the radio and TV does verylittle for quality journalism, diversityand localism, and it harms small business competitors, the backbone of the American economy. The much more difficult goalis to diversify, innovateand become competitive onnew mediaplatforms. To date, media outlets havesometimesbeen slow to respondto this changing landscape. And frankly, it is wrong to blame ownership rules that are intended to protect the public interest as the reason for the failure to developprofitable business models on new platforms. Iam pleased that traditional media companies are now creating a more dynamic online presence, but they have more work ahead of them. The fact of matter is that broadcasting still dominatesthemedia today. In the 2006-2007seasons, broadcasters –not cable,satelliteor Internet programmers –had the top 200highest rated programs on television. And all but a handful of the top 500 programs were on broadcast television. On the radio, the two satellite radio companies have a total of about 16million subscribersand 50 million American last used the Internet for music, while over 240 million people listen to terrestrial radio on a weekly basis.

Broadcast radio and television continue to have a powerful influence over our culture, political system, and the ideas that inform our public discourse. Studyafter study hasshown that broadcasting is still the dominant source of not just entertainment programming, but alsolocal news and information. The broadcast industrystill produces, disseminates,and ultimatelycontrols the news, information,and entertainment programs thatmostinform the discourse, debate, and the free exchange of ideas that is essential to our participatorydemocracy.

Local news websites still do not provide a viable source of competition to traditional broadcast outlets, especially cross-owned outlets. A studyof the Tampa market by Free Press found that independent Websites in Tampa do not produce nearly enough original news, attract enough audience or generate enough revenue to compete effectively with traditional news mediaoutlets and websites. The study shows that only threepercent of the stories on independent, Tampa-focused Websites contained original reporting of any kind on "hard" news topics such as crime, education and local governmentor politics. And just last week, a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that despite the major efforts undertaken by political campaigns to get their message across on the Internet, only two percent of those polled said theyget most 2008 election news from blogs or candidate Web sites.

This hearing is about the Tampa media market and the Commission's media ownership rules. By law the Commission is responsible for promoting diversity and localism and preventing undue concentration of power in the media industry. You deserve what the law already requires—programming that serves the unique needs of your local communities. Before drafting any media ownership rules, we wanted to hear what those outside of Washington, DC have to say. We came to Tampa to hear from you about what we can do better to serve your needs and the public interest. We are anxious to listento what you have to say.