Your FM radio is about to massively change – Forward!
The FCC is meeting November 30th, and President Obama’s Harvard classmate and personal friend Julius Genachowski will decide how to implement the Local Community Radio Act, which will open up the entire FM band to be filled with Low Power FM radio stations run by non profit community organizations (think ACORN and la Raza).
Low Power FM stations currently can operate up to 100 watts which reaches up to 5 miles. There has been some talk of raising that to 250 watts.
The LPFM movement has been stalled because the FCC has been holding about 6000 FM translator applications from religious broadcasters that flooded in during the Bush administration. They’re basically both fighting for the same licenses.
Why does it seem inevitable to guess who will get those licenses?
Julius G. Is also expected to resign. The President’s party gets to control 3 of the 5 seats and name the chairman. One possibility is the black woman from South Carolina whose only credentials other than gender, skin color and party affiliation – is she ran a weekly newspaper for her local Communisty. She would be a great choice to guide decisions about Internet equality and spread spectrum technologies for wireless broadband
I predicted the LPFM logjam would be let loose before the election, but I was wrong.
Those 6000 translator licenses are mostly for a handful of religious broadcasters who are playing 24 hour a day recorded programs asking for money – the programming delivered by satellite. Basically a radio station in a box – a metal container with a dish and antenna on the roof sitting out in a corn field.
I would much prefer those licenses be used to provide AM stations with FM simulcasts – a trend well underway. The NAB undoubtedly also would like that (although they don’t like the full power FMs being hemmed in by the low power FM stations).
I generally like the concept of LPFM – being the seeds that will sprout after the forest fire burns up the old trees. The problem with LPFM is there are lots of rules to prevent them from ever being financially viable. Some of them are actually very good – run by people who used to be in the radio business.
There are currently 819 licensed LPFM stations before the FCC slammed on the brakes. Seventh Day Adventists own a lot of them, but they are not within the spirit of the rules. LPFM are not allowed to be satellite repeaters – they must be locally owned and operated, and have some original programming
286 are religious stations, 147 are Community Radio, 70 are run by schools, and then a smattering of different formats, mostly run by people who just like being on the radio, even if only 3 people are listening. Kind of like this blog 😉
This is one I’ve listened to several mornings to give you a flavor if what LPFM is like
http://www.woopfm.com/
That is so corny, but I like corn. Thanks.
So, should we apply for a license? I’ve got a corn field!
By all means!
The highlights of the rules:
The LPFM license must be held by a non- profit entity
You may not run commercials, only asking for contributions or sponsorships
The equipment will cost you $15-20k minimum
You may not sell the license, other than recovering the market value of the equipment
Unlike “real radio”, you don’t need an office, an issues folder – but you do need a working Emergency broadcast device so President Obama can cut off your signal in an emergency, even though you aren’t required to be on the air full time
Tea party – are you listening?
Ooops!!! “The equipment will cost you $15-20k minimum”
Major glitch……any grants?
Not if you suceded from the U.S.
Some of the LPFMs pretty blatantly sell commercials. For now, the FCC hasn’t got the staff to chase them. The current rules are reflecting the influence of the NAB. Forcing LPFM to be non profit keeps them away from commercial radio’s revenue stream. The leftist activists behind LPFM think radio stations should not sell ads and make money, so both groups agree.
Selling commercial time would be pretty difficult on a low power transmitter – maybe 5 miles in Indiana – once you get into ridge country it would need lots more tower height plus be on top of a ridge. What’s the best scuttle-butt on boasting power to 250 watts?
Tom Taylor mentioned it again today in his new newsletter. The idea would be to put LPFM on equal terms with FM Translators
It could well be that the owner of the station would run commercials for their own business, which is how many AM stations started in the 1920s. LPFM would fill in areas that don’t currently have any local radio – with only a $20k investment in equipment, you don’t have to sell a lot of ads to pay the bills.
The rules about operations are more relaxed, similar to college radio stations. From memory, I think you have to be on the air 6 days a week, at least 35 hours a week.