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FCC announces LPFM filing window

In the last LPFM FILING WINDOW, two groups from Indianapolis applied for 90.1 MHz Yet 90.1 has been in use since 1954. How can anyone apply for a radio station and be so ignorant about what's on the air in their city?
 
Time Warp said:
In the last LPFM FILING WINDOW, two groups from Indianapolis applied for 90.1 MHz Yet 90.1 has been in use since 1954. How can anyone apply for a radio station and be so ignorant about what's on the air in their city?
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There were a lot of garbage apps filed. Because the form is out there and there is no fee involved, people just file what they want.
 
There are people who post here who say that it is fraud if a group of citizens form a not for profit and file. As for community radio, it has been around for 50 years and legal with the FCC.
 
Will there be a "filing freeze" prior-to and during the open window for other FM applicants, e.g. routine translator/fullpower mods? I could see scenarios where a "lockdown" could create havoc for big networks that deploy a lot of translators.
 
011nerve said:
I hate to say it but a lot of these LPFM stations are off the air and only existing with the license. I know of 2 in my area. REC's name is on one of their FCC licenses for engineering so I'd think they'd do better. I don't think the engineer fixing the transmitter is REC though and I don't wanna stir the pot. But it's not fair for new applicants because of ghost signals if you ask me.
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These should be reported.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
These should be reported.
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If you report a concern to the FCC, you get the following generic email response:
"Your complaint provides valuable information to spot trends and practices that warrant investigation and enforcement action. We do not resolve individual complaints about this issue and, there will be no status information to report on your complaint."

I think you need to be "connected" or willing to be assertive in the followup in order for a concern to be taken seriously. Unfortunately the system does not seem to be set up to work for ordinary citizens.
 
Red Plume said:
If you report a concern to the FCC, you get the following generic email response:
"Your complaint provides valuable information to spot trends and practices that warrant investigation and enforcement action. We do not resolve individual complaints about this issue and, there will be no status information to report on your complaint."

I think you need to be "connected" or willing to be assertive in the followup in order for a concern to be taken seriously. Unfortunately the system does not seem to be set up to work for ordinary citizens.
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Then the system definitely does not work-it allow the bad apples to ruin it for those that are providing the service they stated they would provide.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
Then the system definitely does not work-it allow the bad apples to ruin it for those that are providing the service they stated they would provide.
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I fully agree with you, Greg - but to play devil's advocate, you're also dealing with a federal agency that doesn't receive adequate funding to do all it's tasked with, so I think the FCC needs to, at times, pick and choose its battles and prioritize what and how it enforces. It's no secret that the amount of field offices and manning for those has shrunk, for instance, so getting pirates shut down, or catching them when they spring back up a few weeks later, is increasingly difficult as well.
 
In the last three NCE filing windows, not LPFM, many CP's were granted but few were built by the applicant. During the great translator invasion many CP's were granted and licensed yet unbuilt. The unbuilt translators were than sold to AM's for up to $500,000.

I don't know of any LPFM's in my state run commercially. Some of them are a last resort for an older listener who is not the preferred listener of commercial radio.

I really doubt the FCC will put a freeze on commercial FM upgrades to protect a secondary service like LPFM. After all commercial stations pay taxes, filing fees, and usage fees.
 
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There were no filing freezes associated with either the First Generation LPFM Window Series (2000~2001) or the Second Generation LPFM Window (2013). We do not expect one for this window. The FCC did do filing freezes on secondary services for the translator auction windows (83, 99 and 100).

LPFM applicants (existing and new) are not required to protect the facilities of any application filed on or after the date of the release of the initial public notice announcing the filing window. For the Third Generation LPFM Window, this happened on June 22, 2023.
 
As long as he is not forming shell corporations and filing speculative applications all over the map, each of his "clients" can be fully accounted for, the organizations are separate and unique, and there is site assurance with all of his applications, then he has nothing to worry about. Many of the people who can make his life H-E-double-hockey-sticks, both at the FCC and in the LPFM community, are the same folks who were around 10 years ago when we did this. Many eyes will be watching.
 
011nerve said:
So there's a Spanish-speaking person going to start some sstations in November. ;)
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Guell apparently did not make it beyond 4th or 5th grade, as his spelling and punctuation errors show considerable ignorance.
 
Honestly I don't see the point with the new window given what happened to many stations in the window 10 years ago. Some of the signals in my area at least have still been struggling for months.
There are 3-1/2 silent LPFMs here (one of them uses very low power so counts as half in my book). I'm not a broadcast tech though and can't fix their transmitters and sound equipment, but there must be someone in Kansas City or around it who might help the struggling ones turn themselves in if no hope exists so new applicants can get a chance.
 
011nerve said:
Honestly I don't see the point with the new window given what happened to many stations in the window 10 years ago. Some of the signals in my area at least have still been struggling for months.
There are 3-1/2 silent LPFMs here (one of them uses very low power so counts as half in my book). I'm not a broadcast tech though and can't fix their transmitters and sound equipment, but there must be someone in Kansas City or around it who might help the struggling ones turn themselves in if no hope exists so new applicants can get a chance.
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One must be cautious when getting involved in poorly planned, poorly managed, poorly funded operations like LPFM stations: 'No good deed goes unpunished'.
 
Good point, perhaps some of them *had* others helping out...
 
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