Low Power Radio
- Overview & Table of Contents
- What is LPFM?
- Congress Second Guesses its Expert Agency on Spectrum Allocation
- Low Power Radio: An Antidote to the Modern Radio Industry
- Demographics of Radio Station Ownership
- Participation in Employment by Minorities and Women
- Radio Consolidation and Homogenization
- Conclusion
Examples of Low Power Stations
Appendices
Congress Second Guesses its Expert Agency on Spectrum Allocation
The FCC’s rules for low power radio use scarce spectrum more efficiently, allowing more radio stations to occupy the dial. Advances in radio technology since the radio spacing rules were first created allows closer spacing of radio stations. This more efficient use would allow the nation to bring back the diversity that was a hallmark of the heyday of radio. The FCC, the government’s expert on broadcast radio, adopted a cautious and careful technical plan that would take advantage of this wasted capacity to increase the number of voices on the air and promote free speech.
The FCC studied the technical questions and adopted a proposal that would protect existing full power stations from interference.2 The FCC’s decision took into account a voluminous record that included numerous technical studies, several of which were submitted by large incumbent broadcasters. The FCC adopted a proposal that was time-tested. Incumbent broadcasters already use the spacing rules the FCC adopted for LPFM for their own small “translator” stations. In weighing all of the evidence, the FCC found that the large incumbent broadcasters’ companies’ claims that low power radio would cause “oceans of interference” was vastly overstated.3
Despite this extensive record and strong public support, Congress limited local low power radio by passing the deceptively-named “Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act.” This bill, which was tacked on to a larger must-pass appropriations bill in the chaotic closing days of Congress in 2000, prevented the FCC from implementing its full proposal. The bill eliminated about 75 percent of the original LPFM licensing opportunities (predominantly in the most densely populated areas), leaving only one new station available in the top fifty American cities.
As part of the Act, Congress also required the FCC to hire an independent contractor to conduct another study to review the technical record and report to Congress. In July 2003, the Mitre Corporation completed its review of the technical issues surrounding low power radio, at the expense of $2.2 million. Mitre found no significant problems and recommended lifting the unnecessary restrictions imposed by Congress.
Six years later, Congress has not acted. Thousands of community organizations are still unable to obtain unused airwaves to connect with neighbors and listeners and bring a local focus and much-needed diversity to the radio.
Next Section: Low Power Radio: An Antidote to the Modern Radio Industry
2. For information on this issue, see Appendix B.
3. Creation of a Low Power Radio Service, Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd at 2235-46 (2000).
