When Willie Davis signed on as an investor in Qwest Broadcasting in 1995, the company was heralded as a bold step toward boosting the abysmally low percentage of minorities who own broadcast stations.

Qwest was chaired by none other than Quincy Jones, the accomplished jazz musician, composer and producer who had successfully branched into television production and magazine publishing. All the voting shares in Qwest were held by minority group owners, who also included Geraldo Rivera, "Soul Train" producer Don Cornelius and Sonia Gonsalves Salzman, wife of Jones' business partner, television executive David Salzman.

Davis, a retired Green Bay Packers defensive end, owns radio stations in Milwaukee and California. But his highest profile media play was Qwest, which was founded by acquiring WATL-TV in Atlanta and WNOL-TV in New Orleans. Tribune Broadcasting Co., Chicago, provided much of the equity for the deal but held no voting shares.

At the time, only about 3 percent of TV stations in the United States were owned by minorities. That number has since shrunk, as has the number of minority-owned radio stations, according to federal surveys.

'NOT A ROSY SCENARIO'

One major cause is the consolidation in ownership of broadcast properties since the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Another cause...