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When Being Number One Is Not Enough
Stating that "Minority broadcasters should have a fair
opportunity to compete for ad dollars," FCC Chairman William
Kennard today released a study and conducted a forum on the
impact of advertising practices on minority-owned and
minority-formatted broadcast stations. The study was done by
Kofi Ofori, Director of Research for the Civil Rights Forum.
The study provided evidence that advertisers often exclude radio
stations serving minority audiences from ad placements and pay
them less than other stations when they are included. Among
other things, the it found that:
* Ninety-one percent of minority radio broadcasters
responding to the survey indicated that they had experience
with "no urban" dictates or "no Spanish" dictates:
instructions from advertisers not to buy advertisements on
their radio stations. Those exclusions were often based on
stereotypes about the minority consumers they serve.
* The dictates that no time be bought on urban or Spanish
stations and the lower rates paid to these stations when
buys were made, reduced their revenues by an average of 63
percent.
Immediately following the release of the study, Chairman Kennard
joined high-level representatives from the broadcasting,
advertising and civil rights communities to discuss the study's
findings and plan future actions.
Chairman Kennard announced that on February 22 a summit would be
held in New York City to continue this initiative. Participants
will be representatives from the advertising industry,
broadcasters, media representatives, the Federal Communications
Commission and Congress. At that time participants will consider
the advertising study's recommendations to adopt a Code of
Conduct to oppose unfair ad placement and payment, to encourage
diversity in hiring and training and to enforce laws against
unfair business practices.
Source: http://www.fcc.gov
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Enrique Gili
Hispanic American Village
enrique@minorities-jb.com
All viewpoints are my own and not necessarily those of my employer.