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Women, minorities vie for station's license

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Women, minorities vie for station's license By PAUL SCHNITT American-Statesman Staff The Federal Communications Commission will be examining a slate of applicants dominated by women : and minorities when it awards a license to build and operate a new television station in Austin. The FCC, with a mandate from Congress to broaden ownership of television and radio stations, in recent years has looked favorably upon applications with strong representation from minorities and women. OF THE NINE applications for Austin's new Channel 54, eight would establish exclusive management of the station by minorities or women. But as strong as the emphasis is on minorities and women in the proposed management of the station, in most cases minority ownership has not caught up with minority management. "Financing still remains the single greatest obstacle to minority ownership," said Zora Kramer, the FCC's assistant director of public affairs for minority enterprise. "If, in fact, the limited partnership does work to promote minority ownership, we will abide by that policy (arrangement)." "It's called the application game by everyone involved but the commission," said Thomas Root, a Washington communications lawyer representing one of the applicants. "It's a screwy game." THE GAME, ROOT added, is played "with two categories of players - rich white boys and minorities.' The FCC is aware of how many of these applications are being put together and accepts it because of what it sees as a good end result. The minorities and women, most with modest financial resources, praise the system as an extension of affirmative action, providing an opportunity they wouldn't otherwise have. And they insist they are not being used by the Anglo male investors. Some communications lawyers, however, are sharply critical of the licensing procedure. They describe it as a policy that discriminates against white male applicants. They also say that the minorities and women are "fronting" for the investors. David Tillotson, another prominent Washington communications lawyer, said it is "nonsense" to think that investors are going to put up at least $3 million to start up a television station and not have a say in how it is going to be run by the minorities or women. A MEDIA BROKER from Dallas, who negotiates the sale of radio and television stations said there is really no way to tell how profitable Channel 54, an independent station, will be. But the broker, Dan Hayslett, said, "Any television station in a growth market will be valuable. Austin is such a viable and desirable market." The selection process has its supporters, however. "You see a homogeneous industry. What do you do?" asked Christopher Fager, vice president of Low Power Technology Inc., which is providing financial backing for two Hispanic women seeking the Austin channel. "Minorities have been tremendously disadvantaged in owning anything, and the FCC has set up incentives." Staff Photo by Bob Daemmrich Edna Ramon and Ron Oliveira represent one of the nine groups applying for the license for the new Austin TV station, Channel 54. THE FCC'S KRAMER said minorities own less than 2 percent of the nation's broadcast facilities. A common n element among the applicants for Channel 54 is that they don't have an ownership interest in any other broadcasting company. This also is consistent with the FCC wish to put these licenses into as many hands as possible, thus discouraging the concentration of ownership in the broadcasting industry. The applicants and proposed owners include: • ATV Associates Inc. Carren Silva Daigle', Penn Valley, Calif., president and director of operations; Frances Pico, Visalia, Calif., secretary; Diana Garza Louis, Austin. Balcones Broadcasting Limited. Ron Oliveira, chairman of the board and president; Edna Isabella Ramon, vice president, secretary and treasurer; and Edila Paz Goldberg. Billy B. Goldberg is a limited partner with an 80 percent ownership interest. • Capitol Area Broadcasting. Jo Cardenas Stoltz, Mary G. Diaz, general partners. Capital City Community Interests. Eddie Aurispa, president. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allandale Baptist Church. Channel 54 Limited. Noemi Correa, Berl Handcox, Ruby Handcox, general partners. Limited partners with a 70 percent ownership interest include Tobin Armstrong, Samuel E. Barship, H.C. Carter, Thomas A. Forbes, C. Patrick Oles, Jr. and The BSJ Partnership (Bruce E. Barshop, See License, L16
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