It appears that the U.S. Senate may be moving toward a floor vote on the Local Community Radio Act. This bill originally began under the auspices of undoing the Congressional fiat in 2001 which severely restricted the promulgation of new low-power FM (LPFM) radio stations. By imposing draconian channel-spacing regulations on the new service, LPFM stations were precluded from being sited in areas of the nation in which 80% of the population lives.
The Local Community Radio Act has been the focus of a seven-year campaign to right this wrong. Most importantly, it would relax channel-spacing rules for LPFM stations (allowing them to be placed in more urban areas) and give LPFM stations a semblance of parity with regard to other classes of FM station. This would make LPFMs less susceptible to being bumped off the air by a larger station looking to move or otherwise modify its own transmission infrastructure. Continue reading “LPFM: Movement in Congress?”
Category: FM Radio
Full-Power FM Filing Window Imminent; FCC in Chicago
Next month, the FCC will open a long-awaited filing window for applicants for new non-commercial FM radio stations. The FCC is currently considering placing certain parameters/limitations on how many stations a single entity can apply for – possibly in hopes of avoiding the flood of mass-applications for FM translator stations filed by greedy godcasters in 2003.
At present, the FCC is considering capping the number of full-power FM stations a single entity can apply for at 10, but it’s waffling under pressure from some incumbent broadcasters, like the aforementioned godcasters and some public broadcast outfits. Continue reading “Full-Power FM Filing Window Imminent; FCC in Chicago”
Full-Power FM Filing Window to Open in October
The FCC will accept applications for non-commercial, full-power FM stations from October 12-19 of this year. That’s a filing window two days longer than the usual, and the heads-up announcement is 4-5 months earlier than standard.
The Prometheus Radio Project calls this “your best, and possibly last, opportunity to bring full power community radio to your town.” All applications must be filed electronically. Check GetRadio.org to do a quick search and see if the possibility exists where you live.
Class Ds Survive in Washington
The on-again, off-again story of Mercer Island High School station KMIH appears to finally have a happy ending. Threatened with expulsion from the airwaves by a commercial station looking to move closer to a metropolitan market, community support rallied local, state, and Congressional officials to seek a compromise involving the FCC and affected stations. Continue reading “Class Ds Survive in Washington”
FCC FM Auction Announced
The FCC is soliciting comment on rules to govern an upcoming auction of 124 full-power FM station construction permits around the country. These channels are on the commercial portion of the FM dial; the action is set to commence on March 7.
It will be interesting to see if our translator-mongering friends will make a killing in this buying spree. Remember that it is part of their business plan to convert FM translator construction permits into cash, and use the cash to buy full-power FM stations (or station construction permits) from which to feed RAM/EB/WRL’s own network. This auction may very well usher in phase two of the ongoing invasion of godcasters onto the FM dial.
Radio, TV Stations Could Be Seized in Emergency
President George W. Bush signed several standing orders following the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and D.C. that endowed the presidency with massive power in the event of a future national emergency. These orders created the Northern Command for National Defense, the military’s first-ever command explicitly directed at “threats” on American soil. In an actual emergency, Northern Command, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency would largely become the functional executive branch of federal government, assuming direct responsibility for anything related to that now-familiar rubric, “national security.”
One of these orders also reportedly makes possible the seizure of “radio and television stations and networks.” If true, it is unprecedented, as well as somewhat redundant. Continue reading “Radio, TV Stations Could Be Seized in Emergency”
WTUL Returns; Brattleboro Community Radio Plans Launch
Good news in New Orleans: after apparently having to make an emergency move earlier this month, Tulane University’s student radio station went back on the air last weekend from makeshift space. WTUL is live during the day and automated at night.
In Brattleboro, Vermont, the community group holding a construction permit for an LPFM station on 107.7 MHz has announced its intent to begin broadcasting next spring. Vermont Earth Works just kicked off a fundraising drive to raise more than $10,000 for Brattleboro Community Radio (BCR)’s basic station infrastructure needs. Continue reading “WTUL Returns; Brattleboro Community Radio Plans Launch”
WTUL On the Move?
After an FCC visit to Radio Algiers last month, community radio activists working on the reconstruction of New Orleans brainstormed the notion of utilizing the facilities of WTUL, the student-run station of Tulane University. WTUL had plans to return to the air in January.
This blog says University officials decided to demolish the building housing the station and The Hullabaloo, Tulane’s student weekly, on Tuesday. Station and paper staffers were given a weekend’s notice to move everything. Since then, no word.
As for microbroadcast activity: there have been no reports since mid-November, and the Radio Algiers stream link has gone bad.
Press Review: RFB Follow-up and The Power of God(casting)
More newspapers now have articles on the raid of radio free brattleboro, and V-Man has an interview with station co-founder Larry Bloch. It sounds like the station is still absorbing the shock of the raid, especially since it was conducted during a time when the station was automated, thereby avoiding the outright conflict most raids cause. (FCC agents have already had one run-in with Brattleboro citizens before, which they didn’t seem to enjoy.)
The government estimates it stole about $15,000 worth of gear; the station had no backup cache. If I remember correctly rfb runs on a pretty involved consensus model, which means a rebound might take some time. Continue reading “Press Review: RFB Follow-up and The Power of God(casting)”
A Unique Perspective on Public Radio
Jack Mitchell is pretty cool. He was National Public Radio’s first hire, co-creator of All Things Considered, and rose from there to chair NPR’s Board of Directors. He’s now at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and just wrote a book on the history of public radio.
I have yet to read Listener Supported but Jack just did an hour-long interview on our local public radio station (MP3 link / RA link) and he gave a colorful description of the political origins of NPR, at one point comparing the initial work environment to a commune (check stereotypes at the door, please). He also honestly and deftly handled some critical calls about the state of public broadcasting today.
At Madison I had a chance to take Jack’s class on “public, community and alternative media,” and it was pretty good – he’s got a nice, dry wit. He even let me take half a period to spell everyone about the days I had missed class for the Seattle Mosquito Fleet operation. Knowing public radio has roots in folks like Jack gives me a semblance of hope for its future.