More than 500 television news directors were surveyed in a study of the effects of three factors--multiple ownership of stations, newspaper crossownership, and cable television use--on the quality of local news programing. For purposes of the study, "quality" was defined in terms of expenditures for news programing (greater expenditures generally are used for a larger or more experienced news staff, more or better news gathering equipment, or a greater amount of time devoted to broadcasting news). Data were obtained from a mail questionnaire sent to the news directors of all commercial, network-affiliated television stations in the continental United States. An analysis of the data revealed that neither of the two ownership types had an adverse effect on the quality of local television news. Increased cable use, however, was associated with a slight decrease in news quality. (Appendixes contain copies of the questionnaire and secondary analyses of the data.) (FL)