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Executives from four major television networks are backing a legislative tax proposal that would help minority companies first entering the broadcasting arena.

On Thursday, February 6, a letter signed by Peter Chernin, News Corp. president and CEO; Robert Iger, ABC president and COO; Mel Karmazin, Viacom president and COO; and Bob Wright, NBC president and CEO, was delivered to Senator John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, expressing support for his recently-introduced legislation that would give a tax break to minority companies buying into the radio and television industries.

"Despite decades of intrusive structural regulations, ownership of broadcast media by minorities and women has stagnated at unacceptably low levels. We applaud your leadership in taking a market-based, voluntary approach to facilitating ownership opportunities," the letter stated. "Our companies support your efforts now—as we have in the past—in providing incentives to augment the ownership of telecommunications facilities by small businesses, minorities and women."

In introducing his bill to the Senate, McCain noted the financial difficulty of entering the broadcasting business. "Transactions in the telecommunications industry are routinely valued in the billions of dollars," he said. "Even radio, which has traditionally been a comparatively easier telecom segment to enter, has been priced out of the range of most would-be entrants. Given the significant cost of participating in this industry, the limited club of media and other telecommunications owners may not always include certain small businesses."

McCain's proposal, and the expressions of support from industry leaders, come at a time when the Federal Communications Commission is considering further loosening regulatory restrictions on the ownership of radio and TV stations. The potential change would benefit the biggest players, and is backed by CBS and Clear Channel Communications, the radio industry's dominant force with over 1200 stations nationwide.