If radio is "dying"...

[johnbasalla]

...why are there so many groups who want regular radio stations? So much so in fact that as reported in the News columns of Radio-info, the FCC Commissioners are in favor of creating little 100 watt stations to increase access and as a way to license new stations.

 

[TheBigA]

It depends on the point of view. Lots of people want to talk, but fewer want to listen.

All those 100 watt radio stations will give more people "access," but to a very small number of people. The small number of listeners means they won't be able to get enough money to support their new radio station. I've often said they'd be better off starting a club in their community, either with live or recorded music. At least they'd have the chance of making money from the food.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

...why are there so many groups who want regular radio stations? So much so in fact that as reported in the News columns of Radio-info, the FCC Commissioners are in favor of creating little 100 watt stations to increase access and as a way to license new stations.

Not sure what you are calling "regular stations". The 100 watt stations being proposed are non-commercial that must be owned by a 501(c)3 tax exempt (educational) organization. I don't know that very many people would think of those as "regular stations".

There a just under a thousand of them already in existence, and if you will track them down, either locally, or those that stream on the Internet, I think you will rather quickly realize these tend not to be "regular stations". The programming tends to be eclectic to say the least. These stations can reach out about 3 miles from the tower for "regular listeners"... table radios, portable radios, etc. A bit farther on a decent car radio. If you operate one in a rural community and you do high school sports, people who go to the trouble to have an external antenna hooked up to a serious receiver may get them ten miles out... if you are on a hill.

This proposed new wave of 100 watt stations are not going to satisfy the pent up demand to acquire "regular stations".

 

[adma]

...why are there so many groups who want regular radio stations? So much so in fact that as reported in the News columns of Radio-info, the FCC Commissioners are in favor of creating little 100 watt stations to increase access and as a way to license new stations.

Or at least it seemed that way when the FCC originally dreamed up an LPFM Utopia. How long ago was that? 1990s?

Methinks that the FCC's mouthing words while living off the fumes of the past.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Or at least it seemed that way when the FCC originally dreamed up an LPFM Utopia. How long ago was that? 1990s?

Methinks that the FCC's mouthing words while living off the fumes of the past.

It's not just the FCC looking for something that may or may not be something to do. Bills are moving through congress that would make it possible for the FCC to actually open up a window.

Speaking of windows..... since the FCC has only had the application window open for just a few days since the "idea" was dreamed up, we don't know how many people, no make that ORGANIZATIONS are actually willing to put their money where there mouth is, and what would be the outcome of such a concept.

We may find out if ONLY the FCC is living off the fumes of the past, or it a critical mass of people also like the aroma of the fumes.

 

[johnbasalla]

By "regular radio stations", I'm talking about AM or FM over-the-air stations on the current bands. Will the proposed new 100 watt facilities be on both the commercial and non-commercial bands?

 

[SirRoxalot]

I could see a large high school or college applying for a LP FM. They would have the infrastructure and wherewithall to build and staff such a facility, both as an educational tool and a way to relate to their constituency.

I'm sure that religious broadcasters will be all over this as well.

 

[radioboy]

By "regular radio stations", I'm talking about AM or FM over-the-air stations on the current bands. Will the proposed new 100 watt facilities be on both the commercial and non-commercial bands?

They are intended for the commercial portion of the FM band.

Applicants in the noncommercial part of the band have to go through the NCE applicatiion process.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

By "regular radio stations", I'm talking about AM or FM over-the-air stations on the current bands. Will the proposed new 100 watt facilities be on both the commercial and non-commercial bands?

John, do some Internet searching for "LPFM". Go to the FCC's own website and do some searching on the topic of LPFM.

The current buzz showing up in bits and pieces in the media about "100 watt stations" is about LPFM. I am not aware of any serious effort by the FCC, Congress, or any other significant group to bring about 100 watt AM stations.

The mechanism for 100 watt FM station became reality circa 2000. They open up an "application window" for a week or so at a time. I think maybe there have been three windows: 2000, 2002, 2005. You CANNOT on any day of the week, any month of any year go to the FCC an turn in your application to build and operate one of these little stations.

The traditional, commercial broadcast industry exerted some lobbying interest in shaping the laws and the rules that govern these stations. No paid, commercial, traditional advertising is allowed. Only "endorsements". The traditional broadcasters also were able to get congress to pass a law that severely limits the availability of channels for these stations. (As you do your home work assignment of searching the topic, you will come across the terminology "Third Adjacent Channel" protection. It has been a killer when seen from the viewpoint of those who would like to have their little "flea power" station. The buzz that is going around currently is the possibility that congress will do away with the Third Adjacent Channel Protection (Commercial broadcasters are not required to give each other that kind of protection, so putting that burden on the LPFM was an assurance that this "nuisance" trend would not get out of hand.

LPFMs are scattered throughout the COMMERCIAL FM frequencies.

If you think the stations aligned with National Public Radio seem to struggle with getting funding through their pledge drives, think what a struggle it is to raise money for a station that reaches out 3 to 7 miles.

If you go to the discussion group here on the R-I boards where the people who operated "Part 15"/Community Radio operations and participate in their conversations, they very much favor the idea of having 100 watt stations, with commercials, in both AM and FM. I see no evidence that these dreams have any political traction in either the FCC or the Congress. The concept of the current "LPFM" stations does have some support and constituency. If you obtain an LPFM license, then you get to strap on a lot of FCC mandated baggage such as EAS participation and rules about how many hours you operate and supposedly some rules about "local origination" (that's a laugh in actual practice.) The Part 15 stations are not licensed, thus they do not worry with these requirements. Any government actions to give the Part 15 operators more power will likely also bring to them a number of expensive requirements they would prefer to avoid if possible.

 

[TheBigA]

I could see a large high school or college applying for a LP FM. They would have the infrastructure and wherewithall to build and staff such a facility, both as an educational tool and a way to relate to their constituency.

Except schools and colleges don't have any money any more. Most cities can barely afford new textbooks. Property taxes fell with the drop in home values. Colleges have been cutting back on courses and selling their radio stations. A college in Long Island just sold their station because they couldn't afford it. College endowments fell with the stock market crash. You think staff cuts are only happening in radio? Spend some time in the education business. And there, when you cut back on the product, it might mean the life of a child.

 

[TheBigA]

The Part 15 stations are not licensed, thus they do not worry with these requirements. Any government actions to give the Part 15 operators more power will likely also bring to them a number of expensive requirements they would prefer to avoid if possible.

The big issue with Part 15s is that they're being socked with royalty bills from ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Turns out they are as liable for those royalties as regular radio, but the PROs hadn't been enforcing it...until now. A lot of those guys are doing radio for love, not money. But that doesn't matter.

 

[amfmxm]

Just last week the House Energy & Commerce committee passed a bill that would create hundreds of new LPFM stations by eliminating the rule regarding third adjacency interference. The bill is now on its way to the full house. The advocates of this bill--and LPFM, in general--are groups who maintain that corporate control of media prevents citizen participation and diversity of opinion.

As GRC noted, these are not commercial stations and applicants must be non-profit organizations.

Among the thousand-or-so LPFMs currently on-air, the vast majority are owned & run by churches, with a relative handful licensed to schools and community organizations. The third-adjacency rule kept most LPFMs out of large metro areas, so most are in very small towns.

I've personally witnessed a number of LPFMs operated by community licensees that are nothing more than commercial operations--guys who formed a sham non-profit with wife & kids as board members, snagged the license, fired it up and started selling commercials. But these little outfits are so far down the list of priorities for the underfunded and understaffed FCC that nobody has paid any attention to them, at all. FWIW, I've also seen the same thing with full-power non-commercial stations several times over the past 30+ years, so this abuse of the LPFM rules is nothing new.

At the same time, the costs involved in building and operating a 100-watt FM (basically, a small Class A FM) are beyond most hobbyists, and I've also seen a number of small-town churches jump into LPFM and then bail out when it becomes apparent that they don't have the scratch to actually do it. The ideal applicant is a retired radio engineer who has a lot of the necessary equipment out in the garage and/or just hit the Powerball...

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Except schools and colleges don't have any money any more. Most cities can barely afford new textbooks. Property taxes fell with the drop in home values. Colleges have been cutting back on courses and selling their radio stations. A college in Long Island just sold their station because they couldn't afford it. College endowments fell with the stock market crash. You think staff cuts are only happening in radio? Spend some time in the education business. And there, when you cut back on the product, it might mean the life of a child.

Every time I turn around, I am hearing another report on the effects of the current economy that surprises me. I am NOT old enough to remember "The Depression" but was raised by parents who had first hand experience. During my years of selling radio advertising, I heard a lot of war stories about The Depression from my clients. This was particularly true in smaller markets where a lot of sharp business folks stayed because they were fearful of the business style necessary in the bigger, richer markets, which they feared would be crushed if another business downturn came along. Being the Big-Fish in the Small-Pond they felt they had more control over their business exposure to risk. (obviously they chose to remain where the Upside-Potential was limited because their market was small.)

With the economics lessons I received from these folks along with what I learned from my own parents, I thought I had a good understanding of what could go wrong, what would go wrong in a drastic financial situation.... like the one we have just experienced, and are now in.

I'm sure it was not this rosy, but the tales I hear from the veterans who experienced the The Depression was that government workers in some cases were ill-at-ease and embarrassed because their paychecks kept on coming while their neighbors were destitute. Not this time around. The people who ride public transportation to their campus based jobs (whether a Ph.D. or a building custodian) thought they had made a bargain with financial stability by giving up a chance at The Gold Ring. Not so, it turns out. If all you have ever done in your working years is grind out property tax invoices each year at the county court house and you suddenly find yourself out of work, what are you prepared to do.... with the rest of your life?

We are so wrapped up today in the plight of a few big companies that bought gobs of stations... I don't think we have a grasp of what is the long term financial status of garden variety stations in all kinds of markets. We don't know what this will eventually do to their programming directions. THUS... we are all left to guess what might be the future of the humble LPFM. Some of us daydream that maybe some of the culture of radio past could be resuscitated by these flea-power operations. My own daydream would be that maybe they will have the freedom to cook up new recipes for radio that would be worthy of adoption by "traditional" radio stations. After all, our industry has ALWAYS been the place for dreams... including some nightmares.

 

[TheBigA]

Some of us daydream that maybe some of the culture of radio past could be resuscitated by these flea-power operations.

Great dream. But it costs money to do it. Flea-power isn't the way to attract money. And the government isn't helping either. No SBA loans for radio. You either have to be independently wealthy, or have an outside funding source.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Among the thousand-or-so LPFMs currently on-air, the vast majority are owned & run by churches, with a relative handful licensed to schools and community organizations. The third-adjacency rule kept most LPFMs out of large metro areas, so most are in very small towns.

Several times I have moved from one line of business to some completely new line of work. I have looked around to find out who is good at what I am moving into, who can I look to for advice and "schooling".

When I looked at the number of birthdays passed since my birth certificate was first issued, and what was in my retirement funds, I began a process of accepting the fact that I was NOT going to find that traditional community radio station that was on my "Bucket List". So, I began to observe, to study the LPFM situation.

As amfmxm pointed out there is supposedly about a thousand of them. Some are silent. Some are still in the CP stage. This number may be just a bit low, but I go on the assumptions there are 800 LPFM transmitters chugging out some kind of sounds today. I also go on the assumption that 80% of them are basically an automation machine in a closet at someone's home or at a church or college, grinding out NATIONALLY produced religious programming. If I want to get on the phone, get in my car and drive there, or buy an airplane ticket... to have conversation with people who are actually running "community based" LPFMs... the universe is 20% of 800. There cannot be more than about 160 potential role models.

Probably half of the 160 should take the advice given by "Big A" in this thread. Instead of a radio station, they should turn their building into a "Club", a coffee house, and call it a "Walk-thru iPod". (Think of the guys who have 32 Ford Roadsters they take to car shows at the mall. It's a great hobby, but like the folks who invite you into their basement to see their model train setup, it does diddly-squat for a community.

I've got it figured that at most there are maybe 50 people in the United States who are actually operating LPFMs that have something worth learning from. (And from a significant number of them all I will get... if I locate them... is a lot of bitching and moaning about the financial challenge.)

So, Fellow Dreamers... it's a wide open field. Will there someday be a Hall of Fame for LPFM? Will The broadcast Hall of Fame ever induct an LPFM operator? And what will it take to achieve that?

 

[TheBigA]

It all used to be so easy. I started a number of 10-watt NCE stations at one time. Lots of schools and municipalities were anxious to have their own radio stations, and they'd donate studio space, even tower space, for community-owned radio stations. Quite often, adjacent towns would share frequencies, and we'd have to co-ordinate sign-on and sign-offs from the various locations. Sadly, those days are gone...no money.

 

[adma]

Sadly, those days are gone...no money.

And new technology that renders those old dreams a cumbersome dinosaur, money or no money...

 

[TheBigA]

Sadly, those days are gone...no money.

And new technology that renders those old dreams a cumbersome dinosaur, money or no money...

Actually, the new technology (internet radio) is still more cumbersome than traditional radio. They're still trying to simplify the process of streaming. If internet radio was as easy as old radio to pick up and tune in, things would be far worse.

 

[Gatekeeper007]

If you searched among the 50 or so LPFM stations you would no dought find me WLRE-LPFM. I only play gospel music on Sunday's from 7am to noon the rest of the time our format is traditional to modern country music(real country most of the time). You would not want to ask me about money as that would be a real downer since we are not allowed to do commericals we can no longer afford to cover local ballgames, community events, and church events like we use to with live setups. We have two translators covering us to help our coverage and so long as we can keep going(March will be 10 years) we will never quit unless we have to.

 

[adma]

Sadly, those days are gone...no money.

And new technology that renders those old dreams a cumbersome dinosaur, money or no money...

Actually, the new technology (internet radio) is still more cumbersome than traditional radio. They're still trying to simplify the process of streaming. If internet radio was as easy as old radio to pick up and tune in, things would be far worse.

I'm not talking about internet radio, I'm talking about the internet--period.