Low Power Radio Bill Clears Hurdle
Community Radio Activists Hope Bill Gets Passes This Year
© Jon Pike
Oct 8, 2009
Low power radio activists have reason to rejoice today. A bill that would essentially increase the number of low power radio stations available has cleared a key subcommittee. Low power radio, by definition, consists of FM stations that broadcast below 100 watts. They are licensed, as of 2000, by non-commercial entities to serve as community and educational radio stations. While activists were happy that they were able to get low power radio, one provision of the enabling legislation has always rankled them. Low power stations could not be licensed unless they were three adjacencies away from an existing full power FM station. In other words: A low power station has to have three blank spaces on the FM dial on either side of it. Low-power activists
The Latest Attempt To Fight The Rule
Low power radio activists have been fighting the adjacency rule since the enabling legislation was passed. They actually had bills in congress in 2005 and 2007. The House Communications Subcommittee has passed a law that would remove the restriction. This is the closest that the low power radio community has come to repealing the law. One of the bill’s main champions, Representative Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania said about the bill’s passage by his subcommittee:
“"The many benefits that more community radio stations would provide are clear. The technical issues have been resolved. There’s no reason now not to fix the mistaken policy Congress imposed on the FCC in 2000.”
The current Federal Communications Commission has expressed its enthusiasm for this bill. Everything appears to be going in the right direction for activists to get this passed this year.
Examples Of Low Power Radio
Low power radio has been successful in the Midwest and upper-plains. Populations are smaller in this area and there are fewer existing radio stations.
Some of the examples of low power FM include:
- Iconoclastic Montana broadcaster, Scott Johnson, who essentially broadcasts from his front porch with a station called Montana Radio Café’. The station features, blues, folk, and jazz music.
- KNDS in Fargo, North Dakota is jointly operated by North Dakota State University and a community group called Radio Free Fargo. It provides training for student broadcasters and features shows programmed by community members.
- The Twin Cities has a station that serves the area’s substantial Hmong community.
Low power radio enthusiasts argue that such stations offer an alternative to stations that have forgotten their local communities, as they are owned by media companies that program the stations from corporate headquarters.
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