Missing the Bandwagon: Commercial Radio's Failure to Represent Women's Sports Within Internal and External Competition Settings

This study examines how far the public’s increasing interest in women’s sports has translated into coverage and hiring practices. Through an analysis of industry data, we examine the representation of women as on-air hosts in sports radio and the inclusion of women’s sports in station programming. We provide an empirical test of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) competition theory for the diversification of media. Findings indicate that women are severely underrepresented as on-air hosts, and only three stations provide women’s sports programming. Importantly, these findings show that the FCC’s competition theory has not increased diversity in sports radio.