This week the FCC released another Notice of Proposed Rulemaking designed to expand the LPFM service, with special emphasis on the placement of new LPFM stations in cities. The primary point of contention is how the agency should treat LPFM stations with regard to FM translators.
(A quick overview: LPFM stations broadcast with 100 watts or less and must be live and local, while FM translators can broadcast with up to 250 watts and may not originate their own programming.)
The spectral conflict between LPFM and translator stations is a big one. On purely technical grounds they are essentially equivalent services, but by rule translators may be sited closer to neighbors on the dial than LPFM stations can. In addition, since the first round of LPFMs were licensed a decade ago (of which 829 are on the air), several thousand FM translators have begun broadcasting in the intervening years. Continue reading “FCC Considers LPFM Expansion”
Author: diymedia_tu6dox
Goddard Writes Chronicle of KISS FM
Grant Goddard, the U.K.’s go-to analyst on all things digital radio, has just finished a substantial history of KISS FM – a London commercial radio station that began as a pirate more than 25 years ago.
KISS broke new ground on London’s airwaves by giving airplay to what was once called “black music,” now more popularly identified as soul, R&B, hip-hop and various elements of electronica. Continue reading “Goddard Writes Chronicle of KISS FM”
New York Sanctions Pirate-Hunting
On June 20, the New York state legislature passed a bill criminalizing unlicensed broadcasting. The measure apparently passed the state Assembly by acclimation and cleared the Senate on a unanimous vote. Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign the bill with little fanfare. This is the fourth time an anti-pirate bill has been considered by New York’s lawmakers.
The new law makes it a class A misdemeanor to broadcast without an FCC license in the AM and FM bands, with penalties ranging from heavy fines to (very unlikely) up to a year in jail. Subsequent run-ins with the FCC or state may be prosecuted as a class D felony, which is punishable by a fine ranging between $500-$7,500 and imprisonment of up to five years. Continue reading “New York Sanctions Pirate-Hunting”
Clear Channel Pulls McKenna Podcasts
Last week, Madison’s reactionary radio harpy, Vicki McKenna, sent out a curious communique to her listeners.
Due to “harassment” she and her employer, Clear Channel Communications, have allegedly suffered at the hands of “enemies,” WIBA-AM has “temporarily removed” McKenna’s podcasts from the station web site. Continue reading “Clear Channel Pulls McKenna Podcasts”
Wave Manual to Take Free Radio Into the Classroom
Interesting project in the works: Wave Manual: An Educator’s Micro FM Handbook proposes to “bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical advantages of Free Radio.”
The publication will document the use of community radio to affect sociopolitical change, drawing from the experiences of the U.S. microradio movement and the popular appropriation of radio stations in Oaxaca, Mexico. Continue reading “Wave Manual to Take Free Radio Into the Classroom”
State-level C-SPAN: WisconsinEye Develops Fanbase
The anti-corporate uprising in Wisconsin continues. Much credit is due to WisconsinEye for showing the inner workings of a corrupt state government with such depth and clarity.
Since 2007, the nonpartisan public-affairs network has live-covered the business of the Wisconsin Legislature and Supreme Court, and features a wide variety of original programs produced around the state. It’s available to most cable television subscribers in Wisconsin and also streams online. Continue reading “State-level C-SPAN: WisconsinEye Develops Fanbase”
FCC Flexing Enforcement "Muscle"
Radio industry trades and watchdogs have played up last month’s raid and seizure of pirate station Datz Hits 99.7 FM in Boston. According to the FCC and Department of Justice, Datz Hits caused interference to a licensed commercial radio station as well as an air traffic control frequency at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Said Enforcement Bureau Chief P. Michele Elison, “This is an important issue for licensed broadcasters and for the public in general, as both groups rely on the vigilance of the FCC to keep the airwaves free of interference. This enforcement action reflects our continued commitment to that objective.” Continue reading “FCC Flexing Enforcement "Muscle"”
"Studying" the Implicatons of LPFM's Expansion
As part of the compromises made to pass the Local Community Radio Act through Congress, a provision was inserted which requires the Federal Communications Commission to examine the “economic impact” LPFM stations have on full-power FM stations.
Comments on the proposed ground-rules of the “study” are due to the FCC in a month, and the study itself is supposed to be tendered to Congress early next year.
The FCC must probe two questions: what effects will an LPFM expansion have on the advertising revenue and audience-share of full-power radio stations?
On its face, the “study” is nothing more than a make-work exercise for the FCC, arguably designed to slow down the expansion of the LPFM service. Its primary questions are absurd – and pretty simply answered. Continue reading “"Studying" the Implicatons of LPFM's Expansion”
FM Translator Abuse Creates Ownership Loophole
Nearly a year ago it came to light that radio broadcasters were using FM translator stations as a sort of “back door” to provide more exposure for their HD Radio signals.
Ironically, these translators do not broadcast in digital; rather, many HD-capable radio stations are rebroadcasting their digital-only (“multicast”) programming via analog translator as a way to recoup their investment in a technology which has no meaningful audience.
Some radio conglomerates have purchased or signed lease agreements with FM translator owners to create ostensibly “new” stations in markets around the country in this manner. The practice has caused difficulty for independent broadcasters. Continue reading “FM Translator Abuse Creates Ownership Loophole”
A Sneak Peek at Clandestine
Clandestine, a documentary about numbers stations completed last year, is screening at various festivals but has not yet been publicly released. The producers say they’re holding it close in order to cross-promote it with another project still in the works, but they were nice enough to send me a digital copy to peruse.
The short film has two interweaving threads: a relatively straightforward plot about numbers stations’ ties to the practice of espionage, and a biopic narrative about a man’s father and his unhealthy obsession with listening to these broadcasts. Continue reading “A Sneak Peek at Clandestine”