I apologize to our readers for my absence. It’s going to be another two weeks before I’m fully back, but I just got this email from MoveOn:
There’s a bill in Congress that could put media back in the hands of the Other 98% of us instead.3 Thousands of communities could get their own community-run radio stations—think youth, civic leaders, and local musicians on your FM dial, talking about the real issues facing our country.
The low-power FM radio bill has passed the House and has a bipartisan majority in the Senate, but the corporate lobbyists at the National Association of Broadcasters are quietly blocking the bill.4 This week could be our last chance for a public outcry big enough to push the bill through.
Can you urge the National Association of Broadcasters to stop blocking the Local Community Radio Act?
Here’s where to call:
President Gordon Smith
National Association of Broadcasters
(202) 429-5300, then press 0
I don’t know whether this is a good thing for you or not. If you’re with a terrestrial station, you’d probably just as soon low power went away. If you’re an individual who wants to run a radio station, this is for you. I’m just putting it out there as information.
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There is also a move afoot — but not moving very fast — to “beef up” the current “Part 15” unlicensed class of what I guess we have to call “pseudo-stations.”
If you want to pursue this, Google “FCC Part 15” and “Part15.us” — but here’s a Q&D summary:
*Very Low Power AM or FM, limited to 100 mW (that’s 1/10 of a watt, about the energy of a single LED, but in the radio spectrum).
*Radiating antenna for AM (plus ground lead) limited to 3 meters (10 feet) long, which is ridiculously inefficient.
*In effect, a “footprint” of about 1 mile radius or 3 square miles; goes up in the daytime but down at night because of interference.
*Subject to complaints — and sometimes harrassment — by “real” broadcasters (just like LPFM) and subject to “pirate” treatment by the FCC, although you CAN stay legal if you’re careful.
*FM is even worse than AM in terms of allowable coverage and technical complexity.
*Other than that, no programming restrictions, but complaints of nastines will bring the FCC down on your head: confiscations, fines, prison. No call letters, of course, but no requirement for hourly ID, either.
*In effect, a phono-oscillator — remember those? — on mild steroids.
Anyway, the proponents want the FCC to increase it from 1/10 to maybe 1 or even 5 watts, more reasonable antenna-size rules, possibly all in trade for some operational standards and maybe even licensing. The idea is to allow more “grass-roots radio” instead of surrendering the public ether to big corporations like Clear Channel, Citadel, AGM (KHFM’s hapless owners) and NPR.
I have set up such a station in my backyard in Eldorado, a suburb of Santa Fe, NM, and program “automation” using a CD-carousel 24/7, with once-in-a-while PSAs and local messages. I have no idea if anyone listens, really, but it’s better than KHFM’s anti-intellectual inanity and commercial cupidity. If this movement ever succeeds (and under Obama, it just might, if he can clear out the really big problems first!), then I hope to be ready to jump in if it happens.