LPFM News
President Signs The Local Community Radio Act
On Tuesday, January 04, 2011, the President signed into law:
H.R. 6533, the “Local Community Radio Act of 2010,” which modifies current restrictions on low-power FM radio stations;
Next the FCC will need to open a rule making proceeding which would take aproximatly 60 days after which time a filing window would be announced! After more than ten years waiting many new LPFM radio stations across the country will now have an opportunity to file this year! Now is the time to act if you wish to apply for an LPFM station for your community in the upcoming window.
Check back for details on this developing story.
Senate Passes LPFM Bill
12/18/2010
In a late-Saturday afternoon vote the Senate passed by unanimous consent a bill that clears the way for hundreds, perhaps thousands of new LPFM stations. At the NAB’s urging the Community Radio Act was amended to include new spacing requirements and make full-power stations the primary service in a community of license. The House passed the bill Friday, and it’s now headed to President Obama’s desk.
The bill will expand community radio nationwide – the Local Community Radio Act – passed the U.S. Senate, thanks to the bipartisan leadership of Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John McCain (R-AZ). This follows Friday afternoon’s passage of the bill in the House of Representatives, led by Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Lee Terry (R-NE).
These Congressional champions for community radio joined with the thousands of grassroots advocates and dozens of public interest groups who have fought for ten years to secure this victory for local media. In response to overwhelming grassroots pressure, Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a mandate to license thousands, of new community stations nationwide. This bill marks the first major legislative success for the growing movement for a more democratic media system in the U.S.
The Local Community Radio Act will expand the low power FM (LPFM) service created by the FCC in 2000 – a service the FCC created to address the shrinking diversity of voices on the radio dial. Over 800 LPFM stations, all locally owned and non-commercial, are already on the air. The stations are run by non-profit organizations, local governments, churches, schools, and emergency responders.
The bill repeals earlier legislation which had been backed by big broadcasters, including the National Association of Broadcasters. This legislation, the Radio Broadcast Preservation Act of 2000, limited LPFM radio to primarily rural areas. The broadcast lobby groups claimed that the new 100 watt stations could somehow create interference with their own stations, a claim disproven by a Congressionally-mandated study in 2003. Congressional leaders worked for years to pass this legislation. As the clock wound down on the 111th Congress, they worked with the NAB to amend the bill to enshrine even stronger protections against interference and to ensure the prioritization of full power FM radio stations over low power stations. Though the amendments to the bill will require some further work at the FCC, low power advocates celebrated the first chance in a decade for groups in cities, towns, and other communities to take their voices to the FM dial. |
House Passes 2010 Local Community Act
The U.S. House of Representatives today passed HR-6533, a 2010 version of the Local Community Radio Act by voice vote. This amended version of the LCRA was negotiated between LPFM advocate organizations such as Prometheus Radio Project and the National Association of Broadcasters who had allegedly used influence to block LPFM legislation from passing.
The key differences between the new HR-6533 and the previous bill HR-1147 includes: - The new bill specifies that protection will be given to co-channel, first adjacent and second adjacent channels.
- The new bill allows for a second-adjacent waiver that permits stations to be placed on second adjacent channels upon showing a technical showing that no interference will be caused. This process calls for the LPFM station to remediate any interference that takes place on a second adjacent channel by immediately suspending operations and working with the interfered station to resolve the issues. - LPFM stations as well as translators and boosters will remain at an equal level. This means that translators obtained through the "Great Translator Invasion" would be treated no differently than any other translator. An LPFM station would not be able to "bump" a translator under this legislation. |